The Board

[sambutlerfan]

So I saw on the club website today that we have a new board member. First of all, good luck to Zoe Yujnovich, don't know her, and it's nothing against her personally.

BUT as Eagle chairman Russell Gibbs said “Having someone of Zoe’s experience rounds out the skill set on the Board,”

Really? Although I do think the club has had a good track record of management, the board does seem a bit top heavy on property developers/mining executives/general corporate types, and a bit light on on people who, I don't know, have actually played or spent any time near a football field.

I know the board level is different to the football department, but would it kill us to have someone who's actually played footy? There would be any number of former Eagles players who no doubt would be happy to sit on the board. Especially considering the only pro sportsman is Justin Langer, who's going to be in all corners of the world with the cricket team.

Maybe we need a push towards a members elected board like the Dockers had. I just had a look at their member-elected board members and they've got Peter Mann and Peter Bell, exactly the kind of solid ex-players you'd want sitting on your board.

Here's our list anyway
http://www.westcoasteagles.com.au/the-club/administration/board

 

[Bender_]

First time in history the words "we should do it the same as Freo" have ever been spoken.

 

[sambutlerfan]

First time in history the words "we should do it the same as Freo" have ever been spoken.

Sad but true. It's kind of a backhanded insult to them in a way, from memory they were so rubbish at the time, that the fans were spurred into action to get more representation on the board.

 

[Bender_]

Sad but true. It's kind of a backhanded insult to them in a way, from memory they were so rubbish at the time, that the fans were spurred into action to get more representation on the board.

As a member I'd just like a chance to have a say.

As for Peter Bell, as much as I do like the guy he seems to be a massive rose tinted glasses apologist in regards to Freo - this is going off his comments on 6PR over the past 5 years. I don't think he's the model to go off.

 

[sambutlerfan]

As a member I'd just like a chance to have a say.

As for Peter Bell, as much as I do like the guy he seems to be a massive rose tinted glasses apologist in regards to Freo - this is going off his comments on 6PR over the past 5 years. I don't think he's the model to go off.

Hmm dunno about Bell. I don't listen to him on 6PR, but at least with the elections, you can vote them out, especially if it's someone who's opinion you hear regularly and you know what they're about.

With our board members, we wouldn't know them from a bar of soap.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

they've got Peter Mann and Peter Bell, exactly the kind of solid ex-players you'd want sitting on your board.

How does playing AFL footy give you the skills to sit on the board of an AFL club?

Just looking at Zoe's LinkedIn, she has a damn impressive resume. Chairman Shell Australia, President Rio Tinto Brasil, MBA & EMBA. Glad we're appointing people of her calibre.

 

[dodgie]

I don't think it really matters. I think it's much more advantageous to have good business minded people on the board to take the club forward than to have an old boys club of ex-players.

 

[ioppolo]

Dont you know, we're the corporates club.

 

[sambutlerfan]

How does playing AFL footy give you the skills to sit on the board of an AFL club?

Just looking at Zoe's LinkedIn, she has a damn impressive resume. Chairman Shell Australia, President Rio Tinto Brasil, MBA & EMBA. Glad we're appointing people of her calibre.

It's called knowledge and experience in your field. If you spend 15 years playing at a footy club, and possibly a few years as an assistant coach or whatever, then you get a good picture on how an AFL club runs. It's the experience of having been in the position that the players are in, and that being one of the voices on the board. You want a diverse range of backgrounds on your board, INCLUDING people who have played the actual game. I think it's good to have some corporate members on the board, but I think you need a balance. Apart from JL and Nisbett, it's 100% non-football/sporting corporate types.

As I said before, no slight on Zoe and nothing personal, but I don't see how running an oil company or whatever industry it is makes you more insightful on football matters than someone who has been ensconced in the football system for the most part of their life, especially when we've already seemingly got the corporate side of things covered. It's like being in a room with Glen Jakovich and a director from BHP Billiton, for example, and going up to the BHP guy instead of Jako to ask them their opinion on the shape of the Eagles. It's counter-intuitive to me.

 

[wirra44]

Have to remember the club is a business/company, cant just get a spot because you were a legend of the club.

 

[Rowan18]

I disgaree strongly with the idea of football types or ex players with no commercial experience being on the board. I think one of the big reasons for the Club's success is that it attracts some of the best leaders in WA who know how to run/govern an organisation and turn a profit. That is the board's role. It is the football department's job to take care of on field performance. The delineation between the two is crucial, the board lets the football department do what they need to do without day to day interference. Many clubs have set themselves back decades with non-football people meddling with on field ( Melbourne tanking scandal, Bulldogs fall from premiers to bottom 4 thanks to their president).

Also, don't underestimate the benefits that the influence from the big end of town via the board members can have for the club. A quick look at the current members shows they represent most of the main industries in the state as well as media connections. That goes a long way to ensure good sponsorship and exposure, allowing strong profits which gives the stability and resources to ensure good on field results. It is no fluke that West Coast is so much more succesful than freo.

 

[Doashuey]

I agree with SBF. Having some representation with an ex player or coach or someone who has spent time at the coal face would improve the board and add a voice with an understanding of the actual blokes that make the product.

 

[ZergMinion]

I've no problem with the idea of having someone with AFL playing or coaching experience on the board, but seeing as our only options there are all dudes, we should probably flick one of the existing boys to make room.

 

[Ok Boomer]

I think having one board member with afl playing experience would be a good thing. That said, having Langers experience in international sport is a good alternative.

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Wouldn't be the worst idea to have someone with football experience on the board to oversee the footy department. Not sure who (if anyone) would have responsibility for that at the moment, possibly Nisbett.

The guys who have held that sort of role at other clubs have typically been footballers who've gone into the business world after retiring - Tony Free at Richmond, Jason Ball at Sydney (and now on the AFL Commission).

 

[Turboman1994]

our board is a bunch of nazi's massive boys club going on and a really tight grip on the club. They turn a good profit very well and do well from a business sense. But our club needs more fan representation and accountability its us fans that make this team a strong club

 

[sambutlerfan]

Have to remember the club is a business/company, cant just get a spot because you were a legend of the club.

Obviously they would pick someone who made valid contributions and who had an idea of business sense as well. Or even if not, they wouldn't be there solely for their business knowledge, but their football knowledge. When the ex-players spend 10-15 years around the club during their playing days, the management know who the cluey ones are. My point was we've got enough people on there to cover the business side. Or they could get ex-players with business experience.

I disgaree strongly with the idea of football types or ex players with no commercial experience being on the board. I think one of the big reasons for the Club's success is that it attracts some of the best leaders in WA who know how to run/govern an organisation and turn a profit. That is the board's role. It is the football department's job to take care of on field performance. The delineation between the two is crucial, the board lets the football department do what they need to do without day to day interference. Many clubs have set themselves back decades with non-football people meddling with on field ( Melbourne tanking scandal, Bulldogs fall from premiers to bottom 4 thanks to their president).

Also, don't underestimate the benefits that the influence from the big end of town via the board members can have for the club. A quick look at the current members shows they represent most of the main industries in the state as well as media connections. That goes a long way to ensure good sponsorship and exposure, allowing strong profits which gives the stability and resources to ensure good on field results. It is no fluke that West Coast is so much more succesful than freo.

The board isn't a solely financially-minded instrument. They're who the football department have to justify themselves, and who keeps them in line and on the right track. Coaches regularly talk about having scheduled meetings with the board. Even though he has his critics (possibly with some justification for 00's drug stuff, possibly not), I think we've been pretty lucky to have Nisbett there for so many years (and were lucky to have Brian Cook before that as well). He gets the club, he know how things are and should be done from both a business and football sense. I'd be pretty sure he's the one who oversees the football department.

Having said that, Nisbett won't be around for ever, so when he goes, unless you get as strong a business and football personality as a CEO as Nisbett is, then our board isn't going to be at its peak level of football knowledge and accountability unless we've got other 'career' football people around to help carry the load. This is how structural problems develop.

Also, a lot of the ex-players going into business roles after football, so we don't have to miss out based on that. To use Freo as an example again, they've got Peter Mann and Stephen O'Reilly, both of whom have decent experience in the corporate world (http://www.fremantlefc.com.au/club/administration/board). So you can gain more than you lose if you get the right guys.

As for your point about us having to stay cosy with the business elite, it helps to a degree to keep the sponsorships rolling in, but you don't want to let that overtake your solid football knowledge on the board. True, we've done well financially, but so have Freo. I think Freo's problems have been more cultural and just getting a few wrong people at the wrong time than financial, and they probably would have won the flag in 2013 if they'd kicked straight, so there can be a fine line between success and failure some times.

I think for the situation we're in, being in an AFL city of 2 million people split between two teams, we're in a pretty good position and I definitely don't think we have to worry about a crash in sponsorship if we put a couple of ex-players on the board.

 

[donpyke92]

Wouldn't be the worst idea to have someone with football experience on the board to oversee the footy department. Not sure who (if anyone) would have responsibility for that at the moment, possibly Nisbett.

The guys who have held that so. rt of role at other clubs have typically been footballers who've gone into the business world after retiring - Tony Free at Richmond, Jason Ball at Sydney (and now on the AFL Commission).

Agree with your thoughts there Miguel, but I think there are plenty of examples where ex footy guys have no idea and f88ked their club over. So, she's a board member...is she overlooking the footy dept...? or any other board member?
Original Post seemed to be suggesting that we need more ex-footy guys on the board....I'd prefer bright minds TBH.
Quite happy with how the corporate WCE & footy WCE is going..always looking to improve though.
Quick one, footy player/corporate.. Allen Cransberg anyone?

 

[Jiggyman]

We're a more successful club, business and brand than Fremantle. Our corporate side has been a key to our continuous growth. So I ask you, why tinker with what works?

 

[sambutlerfan]

We're a more successful club, business and brand than Fremantle. Our corporate side has been a key to our continuous growth. So I ask you, why tinker with what works?

I'm not saying we should shelve the corporate side. Far from that. I'm just saying that we need to make sure we still have enough people with direct football experience, either playing or administrative, over years and years, not solely corporate types who ring in from their day jobs. As I said before, Nisbett, who's been a strong force on the football side of things, won't be CEO forever, so when he eventually goes, we need to make sure that we're ready for that.

So why not chuck someone like Andrew Embley on the board? I've heard him talk plenty of times, he's a smart guy, he seems to get what really makes football teams tick. He doesn't have to run the show, it's just to have an additional voice on there to give more a footy-background perspective.

Case in point of why that genuine football experience is important. I saw Peggy O'Neill from Richmond being interviewed on Fox Footy after the GF, very good interview. She's been involved with Richmond directly for around 25 years. She also has Brendan Gale as the CEO. So, what was happening at the end of the 2016 season? Everyone was saying Richmond was a rabble, Damien Hardwick was a joke, and they needed to get rid of him. What did they do? Stuck fat, and 12 months later they had a nice shiny cup for their cabinet. If they didn't have that football experience at a board level and had sacked Hardwick, odds are pretty strong they wouldn't have won the flag.

 

[Selurs]

Yeah, nah. The board can give each other secret handshakes, and we as fans can go sit silently in the stands. Been working for over 30 years, why change it...

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Agree with your thoughts there Miguel, but I think there are plenty of examples where ex footy guys have no idea and f88ked their club over. So, she's a board member...is she overlooking the footy dept...? or any other board member?
Original Post seemed to be suggesting that we need more ex-footy guys on the board....I'd prefer bright minds TBH.
Quite happy with how the corporate WCE & footy WCE is going..always looking to improve though.
Quick one, footy player/corporate.. Allen Cransberg anyone?

Yeah I was thinking more about adding someone to complement the existing directors' expertise. I wasn't proposing that Yujnovich be replaced by Chad Fletcher, just that the club should be considering adding some football experience. No idea what the Indian Pacific constitution allows but i'd imagine it lets them appoint anyone they consider will bring particular skills to the table, and that they haven't reached the max number of directors yet.

Maybe they are looking but haven't found the right candidate, for all I know.

 

[Marlin01]

The last thing the football department needs is board members who think they know about football.

 

[ioppolo]

Priddis is getting into a business degree or similar isn't he? Jobs for the boys.

 

[kranky al]

The chairman of bhp doesnt have to be a mining engineer or a geo

He/ she has to know how to assemble a team of the best of them and motivate them.

Having said that - it would be advantageous to have at least one person on the team whos actually been an operator