Ray McLean

[blighty]

Has this consultant who has worked with Essendon & the Sydney Swans started work with Adelaide yet?
Craig announced when first appointed he would be developing leadership programs for all players.
Since then we've heard nothing!

 

[tribey]

Good point - in fact, I haven't even heard of him.

 

[No 1 Draft Pick]

Has this consultant who has worked with Essendon & the Sydney Swans started work with Adelaide yet?
Craig announced when first appointed he would be developing leadership programs for all players.
Since then we've heard nothing!

Good point. It has been quiet about him (although I suppose that could be the nature of the role - a behind the scenes type position)

From The Advertiser when his role was announced,

"McLean's main role will be developing leadership among the team. He runs Athlete Development Australia and has worked with Central, St Kilda, Collingwood and, more recently, Sydney."


The web site for Athlete Development Australia is http://www.ada.net.au/ which gives more info

 

[blighty]

More on Maclean........

Sydney turns to leadership guru
By James MacSmith
Sydney
May 23, 2004


He is the man charged with helping the Swans stop their season from sliding into oblivion.

Leadership consultant Ray McLean has worked with the Swans ever since Paul Roos took over as full-time coach at the end of 2002. And as the Swans last week slid to their lowest ebb under Roos's reign, McLean returned to Sydney in a bid to lift the struggling club out of its rut for today's must-win game against Hawthorn.

It wasn't a mercy dash, but another step in a calculated program designed to lift the club to a premiership. McLean's leadership program was instrumental in the Swans' charge to the preliminary final last year. But this year, their evolution as a team has stalled, and McLean has been asked to help reboot their season.

The main issues that McLean discussed with the struggling Swans included:

- Developing a trademark that defines how they want to be seen by other AFL teams;


- There is no such thing as an acceptable loss, not even a two-point loss to three-time premiers, the Brisbane Lions;

- No position, no lead is insurmountable;

- Showing courage in the face of adversity;

- Losing is not symbolic of something nasty happening in the club. In losing games, sometimes you can learn more valuable things;

- Don't wait for anyone else to act, let's all take responsibility;

- Weight of numbers wins games. If you've got a greater number of individuals beating their opposition, football becomes a very simple game;

- Be more accountable as individuals.

After spending time with the Sydney player group, McLean said he was confident the Swans would wake up from the slumber of four consecutive losses, their worst losing streak since Roos took over as caretaker coach from Rodney Eade during the 2002 season.

But he warned there would be no overnight solutions.

"We're not trying to seek some whimsical or magical answer," McLean said. "You're foolish if you're looking for a short-term fix. We need to look harder at individual performances. As a group, the players have to be honest with each other and admit it if they are down on form or if they feel a fellow player can do better. They have to look at each of their teammates and demand of themselves what they demand of them."

A director of consultancy group Athlete Development Australia, McLean holds a bachelor of education degree and spent five years in the Royal Australian Air Force as a training and leadership officer.

He has also worked with St Kilda, Collingwood, St George Illawarra rugby league club and champion basketball team, the Sydney Kings. His programs try to create an environment where everyone takes individual ownership of issues, and succession plans are made for future leadership at the club.

"Ideally, the leadership group will make me redundant as soon as possible," McLean said. "If I'm around for 10 years, they will ask the question, 'How are we improving?'. It is usually a two to three-year process about pushing responsibility back to the playing group and evaluating their form.

"But the Swans have bitten pretty quickly and that showed in their success last year. Perhaps, looking back, their success last year might have contributed to them resting on their laurels a bit this year."

McLean said the closeness of most of the Swans' losses this year could have contributed to a softening of attitude within the club.

"They lost to Brisbane in round one by two points and in some sections that was seen as an acceptable loss, but you can't let the attitude that 'Near enough is good enough' grow. Narrowness of losses can have an impact on a side in that way, a type of 'We didn't play that well but we got close' attitude."

Swans fans shouldn't expect their heroes to turn into premiership contenders again overnight. But according to McLean, there should be some discernible difference to the way Sydney approaches its football this afternoon.

"No doubt, you should see an improvement in their attack on the footy. We've given them team involvement tasks, little areas where they can do better, such as putting pressure on the team with the football, and I look forward to seeing a difference there."


This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2004/05/22/1085176039284.html

 

[Markthirtytwo]

Apparently he must now be on the payroll at West Lakes because he is listed on the AFC website staff as:
List Management/Development
Ray McLean

 

[Stiffy_18]

Yep he has started. Can't tell you any details apart from the fact that the club has identified a list of 7 or 8 potential leaders who are developing their leadership skills under Ray McLean. I am not sure if this is his only role or he is involved in something else.

 

[Jerome]

I'll be very keen to see the results of his work.

There have been interviews with Burton and Johncock in The Tiser in the past week (Johncock one is here http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/footy03/story_page/0,8747,11801234%5E21544,00.html, Burton one not online and I've lost the paper) where they have both stated that the second tier players need to lift in 2005.

Along with the emphisis on footy skills, leadership skills are a top priority at the AFC this pre season.

With a young squad and some of our best players getting on a bit we need to develop more leaders across the ground.

For example, I remember during this years pre season loss to St Kilda I was a bit critical of Bass and McGregor with Hart and Smart out of the side. I thought we lacked drive out of defence.

With Smart gone and Hart getting on a bit, Bass, Kenny and Truck now have to take more responibility down there and direct them team. I'm very keen for the 2005 pre season to start to see how they handle it.