Bartram_Class
Brownlow Medallist
Great article. 
You've been in office for almost 50 days. How have you found it so far?DB: It's been really good. The people here have been fantastic and with Chris Connolly coming on as footy ops [manager] – he's very excited and on the front foot with a lot of things, so that's really good.
The staff at the Junction Oval have been fantastic. There are some really good people there and I'm really glad that they're still with us, so that's exciting.
The club's in a really exciting opportunity at the moment with our new facilities being built and the chance for us to rejuvenate the list, so it's been fantastic. The time has gone very, very quickly, but I can't wait for the pre-season.
With so much to organise and prepare for the season ahead, how many hours are you doing a week at the moment?
DB: A lot. It's not a job I look at and think about the hours I put in. When I say that, we're going to put in a lot of hours in. As far as I'm concerned, you never clock off in AFL footy – you're at it all of the time.
Hours are irrelevant. I don't know how many I do, but it's going to be 100-plus [hours per week], but you're doing a job you love and the hours are insignificant. The more hours you can put in it, the better we're going to be.
You mentioned Chris Connolly earlier. How much influence did you have in getting Chris on board as the football operations manager after you both went for the Melbourne coaching position?
DB: [Melbourne chief executive] Steve Harris spoke to me and said that we need to have a chat about our footy operations person'. He suggested that I have a talk to Chris Connolly because all the way through the coaching interview process, he dispalyed the qualities that would actually fit the football operations manager's role.
So with Steve's advice, I sat down and spent a full day with Chris and at the end of it, [I realised] he had a huge passion for the Melbourne footy club. Obviously his links and contacts with the club are fantastic and at the end of the day, he's coached senior AFL footy for six years.
He's gone through a lot of experience and the experience he's had is going to be invaluable. The great thing is that he does not want to coach – he wants to be the best footy operations manager that he can and he really has a passion for this club to be back up the ladder again, competing for finals and the ultimate.
He's working with me and a lot of other people at the Junction Oval to make sure we've got the right structures in place to go forward, so it was a pretty easy decision in the end.
You've also appointed Josh Mahoney and Sean Wellman as assistant coaches – can you talk about them from your perspective?
DB: I coached them both when I was at Essendon for two years, when I was a development coach. Sean Wellman is a very, very smart operator. As a player, he was a great reader of the play and a great thinker. He was very much a team-man and he was enormously respected at Essendon amongst his peers.
His values and character – you could not question. He's had a couple of years at the Bulldogs, which I think has been really good for him, under a very good coaching structure under 'Rocket' Eade and other assistants at the club.
I spoke to him up at the Draft Camp, where he was doing the level three coaches' course and I asked him what he was doing. He said: 'I'll apply for the job'. He then asked for an interview and he got it, so he's going to be very good for our young backmen in particular. His backline experience will be invaluable – no doubt.
Josh Mahoney, his story is fantastic for a bloke who played at a couple of clubs and got delisted. He played at the Essendon reserves, where I was a coach, and for a young man playing in the VFL, he had such a professional attitude. He had an underlying determination to make it. He was one of those guys you could see was going to make it somehow, until someone gave him a chance.
When he got to Port Adelaide, I spoke to 'Choco' [Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams] about him and the club decided it would give him another go and he's now a premiership player.
He's a very, very smart thinker about the game. He had a really good input this year with the leadership group and the forward structure at Port. He's a very, very good team-man and a loyal person, so he'll bring a lot of good qualities.
Mark Riley moved on from the club after he missed out on the permanent senior coaching position. Did you spend much time together when you came on board and he was still at the club briefly?
DB: We spoke to 'Bomber' and he was up front with us and we were with him. After about a week together, we both actually really enjoyed each others' time at the club. I've got a lot of respect for 'Bomber'. What he and the other coaches did over the last eight weeks was very good, considering what happened with Neale [Daniher] and the situation the club was in.
The last two-and-a-half weeks with 'Bomber', I think we established a very good rapport with each other and he's a great character. He's going to be a good coach. I think he's going to bring some really good elements to Carlton. We get along very well and good luck to him.
What did you make of the whole Chris Judd process?
DB: We did everything we could to get him to Melbourne. Our presentation was fantastic. Garry Lyon and Jim Stynes were brilliant and they were first class. I'd like to think Chris Judd walked out of the room thinking: 'The Melbourne Football Club is serious about where they are going over the next three to five years with their new facilities and their change of coaching staff'.
I think he walked out with a better impression and understanding of how far Melbourne will move forward in the next two or three years and they have been doing that with the development of the new facilities etc. I think he walked away impressed with the whole presentation. He was very professional about it and the guys who helped us were outstanding.
The club made a tough call when it traded Travis Johnstone to the Brisbane Lions. How hard or easy in the end was it to make this decision?
DB: I spoke to a number of people – players and staff – and we went to enormous lengths in discussing Travis Johnstone. This was not an easy decision to make because he is a very good player. At the end of the day, our priority was getting another first round pick and Travis was the person Brisbane saw as someone who they could get, if they gave up a first round pick.
First round picks are very hard to get, so in that sense you've got to give up a good player to attract a first round pick. For the development of the Melbourne footy club, unfortunately Travis had to be that player. We've now got a first round pick and we've got to ensure that our first three picks in the draft are going to be players who represent the Melbourne footy club well.
I think one or two of them actually might represent the Melbourne footy club next year and we're looking for players under 23 or 24 [years old], so we can build a team that's going to be competitive every week – not just in three or four years' time.
On the flipside, the club has managed to re-sign two key players – Russell Robertson and Brock McLean – how important were those signings?
DB: Along with Brad Miller. Those three players are important. Brock McLean was on the verge of a great year last season, until injury broke him down.
For what 'Robbo' did last year, booting 42 goals from 15 games, he really stood up [despite playing with injury] and that really says a lot about 'Robbo' as a person and as a character.
At the moment, Brock McLean seems to be setting himself for a really important year. He's played enough games now to take the next step or two. Most people say: 'Take the next step', but you don't want to limit them. Let's see if he can take another two steps because he's got the qualities and toughness about him.
I think Brad Miller's best footy is still ahead of him in the next two years. I think those three guys' signings are really good bonuses for us.
On Brad Miller, do you prefer him as a forward or defender?
DB: Both. He has to be able to play at both ends of the ground. It's as simple as that. Over the pre-season we'll get him up to that level where he can play back or forward. Players need to have versatility at that size these days – at 190 to 194cm. It adds another dimension to their game and I think Brad's got that.
How did you find attending the club's best-and-fairest, considering it was one of the first opportunities to meet and greet the supporters and address a large Melbourne contingent?
DB: Considering the year we had, there was a lot of support in the room. It was great to see someone like James McDonald win two best and fairests – a massive achievement for James. He's very well respected and I know that from the other AFL clubs, particularly at Port Adelaide, because he is a very tough competitor. He's got a lot of admiration from clubs. There was also a great tribute to David Neitz, who is obviously a fantastic player.
But I got the feeling from talking to a few players in the room that there was a real desire and eagerness to get on with pre-season and get into next year. With the year the club had, you still feel tainted and you're still washed up in last season, so you can only get rid of it until you start playing the games.
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Not hard to see how he got the job, terrific speaker. Seems theres a bit of Miller love going on too.
You've been in office for almost 50 days. How have you found it so far?DB: It's been really good. The people here have been fantastic and with Chris Connolly coming on as footy ops [manager] – he's very excited and on the front foot with a lot of things, so that's really good.
The staff at the Junction Oval have been fantastic. There are some really good people there and I'm really glad that they're still with us, so that's exciting.
The club's in a really exciting opportunity at the moment with our new facilities being built and the chance for us to rejuvenate the list, so it's been fantastic. The time has gone very, very quickly, but I can't wait for the pre-season.
With so much to organise and prepare for the season ahead, how many hours are you doing a week at the moment?
DB: A lot. It's not a job I look at and think about the hours I put in. When I say that, we're going to put in a lot of hours in. As far as I'm concerned, you never clock off in AFL footy – you're at it all of the time.
Hours are irrelevant. I don't know how many I do, but it's going to be 100-plus [hours per week], but you're doing a job you love and the hours are insignificant. The more hours you can put in it, the better we're going to be.
You mentioned Chris Connolly earlier. How much influence did you have in getting Chris on board as the football operations manager after you both went for the Melbourne coaching position?
DB: [Melbourne chief executive] Steve Harris spoke to me and said that we need to have a chat about our footy operations person'. He suggested that I have a talk to Chris Connolly because all the way through the coaching interview process, he dispalyed the qualities that would actually fit the football operations manager's role.
So with Steve's advice, I sat down and spent a full day with Chris and at the end of it, [I realised] he had a huge passion for the Melbourne footy club. Obviously his links and contacts with the club are fantastic and at the end of the day, he's coached senior AFL footy for six years.
He's gone through a lot of experience and the experience he's had is going to be invaluable. The great thing is that he does not want to coach – he wants to be the best footy operations manager that he can and he really has a passion for this club to be back up the ladder again, competing for finals and the ultimate.
He's working with me and a lot of other people at the Junction Oval to make sure we've got the right structures in place to go forward, so it was a pretty easy decision in the end.
You've also appointed Josh Mahoney and Sean Wellman as assistant coaches – can you talk about them from your perspective?
DB: I coached them both when I was at Essendon for two years, when I was a development coach. Sean Wellman is a very, very smart operator. As a player, he was a great reader of the play and a great thinker. He was very much a team-man and he was enormously respected at Essendon amongst his peers.
His values and character – you could not question. He's had a couple of years at the Bulldogs, which I think has been really good for him, under a very good coaching structure under 'Rocket' Eade and other assistants at the club.
I spoke to him up at the Draft Camp, where he was doing the level three coaches' course and I asked him what he was doing. He said: 'I'll apply for the job'. He then asked for an interview and he got it, so he's going to be very good for our young backmen in particular. His backline experience will be invaluable – no doubt.
Josh Mahoney, his story is fantastic for a bloke who played at a couple of clubs and got delisted. He played at the Essendon reserves, where I was a coach, and for a young man playing in the VFL, he had such a professional attitude. He had an underlying determination to make it. He was one of those guys you could see was going to make it somehow, until someone gave him a chance.
When he got to Port Adelaide, I spoke to 'Choco' [Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams] about him and the club decided it would give him another go and he's now a premiership player.
He's a very, very smart thinker about the game. He had a really good input this year with the leadership group and the forward structure at Port. He's a very, very good team-man and a loyal person, so he'll bring a lot of good qualities.
Mark Riley moved on from the club after he missed out on the permanent senior coaching position. Did you spend much time together when you came on board and he was still at the club briefly?
DB: We spoke to 'Bomber' and he was up front with us and we were with him. After about a week together, we both actually really enjoyed each others' time at the club. I've got a lot of respect for 'Bomber'. What he and the other coaches did over the last eight weeks was very good, considering what happened with Neale [Daniher] and the situation the club was in.
The last two-and-a-half weeks with 'Bomber', I think we established a very good rapport with each other and he's a great character. He's going to be a good coach. I think he's going to bring some really good elements to Carlton. We get along very well and good luck to him.
What did you make of the whole Chris Judd process?
DB: We did everything we could to get him to Melbourne. Our presentation was fantastic. Garry Lyon and Jim Stynes were brilliant and they were first class. I'd like to think Chris Judd walked out of the room thinking: 'The Melbourne Football Club is serious about where they are going over the next three to five years with their new facilities and their change of coaching staff'.
I think he walked out with a better impression and understanding of how far Melbourne will move forward in the next two or three years and they have been doing that with the development of the new facilities etc. I think he walked away impressed with the whole presentation. He was very professional about it and the guys who helped us were outstanding.
The club made a tough call when it traded Travis Johnstone to the Brisbane Lions. How hard or easy in the end was it to make this decision?
DB: I spoke to a number of people – players and staff – and we went to enormous lengths in discussing Travis Johnstone. This was not an easy decision to make because he is a very good player. At the end of the day, our priority was getting another first round pick and Travis was the person Brisbane saw as someone who they could get, if they gave up a first round pick.
First round picks are very hard to get, so in that sense you've got to give up a good player to attract a first round pick. For the development of the Melbourne footy club, unfortunately Travis had to be that player. We've now got a first round pick and we've got to ensure that our first three picks in the draft are going to be players who represent the Melbourne footy club well.
I think one or two of them actually might represent the Melbourne footy club next year and we're looking for players under 23 or 24 [years old], so we can build a team that's going to be competitive every week – not just in three or four years' time.
On the flipside, the club has managed to re-sign two key players – Russell Robertson and Brock McLean – how important were those signings?
DB: Along with Brad Miller. Those three players are important. Brock McLean was on the verge of a great year last season, until injury broke him down.
For what 'Robbo' did last year, booting 42 goals from 15 games, he really stood up [despite playing with injury] and that really says a lot about 'Robbo' as a person and as a character.
At the moment, Brock McLean seems to be setting himself for a really important year. He's played enough games now to take the next step or two. Most people say: 'Take the next step', but you don't want to limit them. Let's see if he can take another two steps because he's got the qualities and toughness about him.
I think Brad Miller's best footy is still ahead of him in the next two years. I think those three guys' signings are really good bonuses for us.
On Brad Miller, do you prefer him as a forward or defender?
DB: Both. He has to be able to play at both ends of the ground. It's as simple as that. Over the pre-season we'll get him up to that level where he can play back or forward. Players need to have versatility at that size these days – at 190 to 194cm. It adds another dimension to their game and I think Brad's got that.
How did you find attending the club's best-and-fairest, considering it was one of the first opportunities to meet and greet the supporters and address a large Melbourne contingent?
DB: Considering the year we had, there was a lot of support in the room. It was great to see someone like James McDonald win two best and fairests – a massive achievement for James. He's very well respected and I know that from the other AFL clubs, particularly at Port Adelaide, because he is a very tough competitor. He's got a lot of admiration from clubs. There was also a great tribute to David Neitz, who is obviously a fantastic player.
But I got the feeling from talking to a few players in the room that there was a real desire and eagerness to get on with pre-season and get into next year. With the year the club had, you still feel tainted and you're still washed up in last season, so you can only get rid of it until you start playing the games.
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Not hard to see how he got the job, terrific speaker. Seems theres a bit of Miller love going on too.
