Review The Ziggy Skitkowski Report: The bigger picture

[Kong]

Thought it might be worthwhile taking a look a few things from the Ziggy report, somewhat unrelated to the entire ASADA investigation.

Ignoring the reasons for the investigation to an extent, I'm a bit excited about what this external review could do for the club.

It seems like most clubs would benefit from this sort of thing from time to time, just to fine-tune or address areas of the business that might have otherwise gone unnoticed.

I'll start with this:

http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2013-05-06/dr-ziggy-switskowski-report

6. RECOMMENDATIONS (many already underway)

3) There may be a case for the employment of full time medical staff but this needs to be balanced against the advantages of part time doctors with active private practices which keep them abreast of best external practices.

http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2013-05-06/dr-ziggy-switskowski-report

I remember that the club first suggested having Dr Bruce Reid employed full-time back in 2012, and thought it was a great way of getting an advantage on the other clubs.

I wonder whether this entire ordeal will make the case even stronger, particularly as Reid is obviously so well regarded at the club, and has been for 30 years.

Hird has spoken about having a weekly wine with him, too, so the relationship is obviously a really healthy one.

I really like the idea of having access to this guy at the club 24/7, allowing him to focus entirely on the players, and long-term probably saving a lot on external appointments and technology.

 

[Synth]

Agree that this review will be great for the club irrelevant of any ASADA outcomes.

Complacency in any department can be a problem and we know from this point onwards all t's will be crossed and is' dotted.

Regarding a full time doctor, I remember Eddie McGuire commenting not long ago that even Collingwood couldn't employ one on a full-time basis as they all had their own practises and didn't want to give that up.

 

[Phone]

well I'd rather give him 300K a year than some other people

 

[Tommy08]

The average wage of a GP in Australia is around 200k a year. That seems like a small price to pay for a 24/7 Doctor at the club considering what's transpired over the last season and a half.

Although the problem seemed to be the Doc being overruled, bypassed and potentially ignored over the last 18 months, not the fact that he wasn't there full time.

 

[Phone]

there was one brief thing troubled me about the Ziggy Skitkowski report. That the person doing the report is an Essendon fan who used to be on the same board as David Evans. It just seemed like we didn't particularly spread our wings in looking to find a guy for this role, and I think you could probably make the same criticism for a lot of our recent additions to the Football department. They're either great essendon people, or got established links with someone already at the club. (Dank came because the Weapon said so and who told us to get the Weapon...) I just thought it was weird that when a whole heap of people could have been tasked with the review, we, just for a charge, picked someone with a clear link to the club.

 

[Synth]

there was one brief thing troubled me about the Ziggy Skitkowski report. That the person doing the report is an Essendon fan who used to be on the same board as David Evans. It just seemed like we didn't particularly spread our wings in looking to find a guy for this role, and I think you could probably make the same criticism for a lot of our recent additions to the Football department. They're either great essendon people, or got established links with someone already at the club. (Dank came because the Weapon said so and who told us to get the Weapon...) I just thought it was weird that when a whole heap of people could have been tasked with the review, we, just for a charge, picked someone with a clear link to the club.

Or, maybe, he was actually the best person available.

 

[Maddogm]

because it wasn't about a witch hunt, It was about working out where our processes failed us and what needs to be so it doesn't happen in the future. Irrespective of who's at the club

 

[bombre-boy]

http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2013-05-06/dr-ziggy-switskowski-report​

5. Sidelining of the medical staff​

The attitude of some in the new fitness team was that EFC's medical personnel were yesterday's men - not abreast of the most modern sports science methodologies, excessively conventional, and pharmacologically illiterate. They were 'part of the problem, not part of the solution'.

The climate in the football department created conflicts. The fitness team had a mandate for change, to push to the legal limit with formulae which were assumed as effective and safe, if mysterious.

This led to poor internal processes with improvised fixes to ensure authorisation of some, but not all, supplements and a lack of any overall documented strategy to guide the steps taken in a coherent way.​

http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2013-05-06/dr-ziggy-switskowski-report​

This was the most interesting bit for me....might go some way to explain our falling apart in the second half of last year. if DOc Reid was being marginalised, and considering his close friendship with hirdy, you would assume there was a bit of angst around those in charge.​

Not looking forward to the rest of the week, as it will be full of those opinions from those who ring talk back shows....​

Hope it doesn't derail our prep for this week.​

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

It was odd, not sure who else was listening to SEN however Patrick Smith was actually being quite reasonable in his assessment of both the press conference and the report.

He also suggested that while Hird had a lot to consider and be accountable for, he moved away from previous calls that he should stand down.

The report itself is quite damning about the lack of processes and accountability at the club last year. It also suggested Hird trusted the employees too much and the lack of processes and clarity in the football department management allowed this trust to be stretched, if not breached.

In addition to clarifications surrounding administrative staff roles and responsibilities, I think we'll see a clarification on the roles and responsibilities of the senior coach.

 

[Jimbone]

i agree, hard to see it as a good place to be right now... but putting our internal processes through the ringer and the galvinisation of the players throughout this mess could only be beneficial going forward.

bring on the interviews as it is one step closer to all this being dealt with

 

[The Dustbin]

there was one brief thing troubled me about the Ziggy Skitkowski report. That the person doing the report is an Essendon fan who used to be on the same board as David Evans. It just seemed like we didn't particularly spread our wings in looking to find a guy for this role, and I think you could probably make the same criticism for a lot of our recent additions to the Football department. They're either great essendon people, or got established links with someone already at the club. (Dank came because the Weapon said so and who told us to get the Weapon...) I just thought it was weird that when a whole heap of people could have been tasked with the review, we, just for a charge, picked someone with a clear link to the club.

Could not disagree more. Your reasons are irrelevant. Ziggy (and David Evans) is a high end professional. Do you think Ziggy in particular would put his integrity and credibility at risk?

I am very happy and comfortable with how the club went about the internal review.

 

[The Dustbin]

Vote 1 - David Evans.

 

[Mr_McBoogerBalls]

there was one brief thing troubled me about the Ziggy Skitkowski report. That the person doing the report is an Essendon fan who used to be on the same board as David Evans. It just seemed like we didn't particularly spread our wings in looking to find a guy for this role, and I think you could probably make the same criticism for a lot of our recent additions to the Football department. They're either great essendon people, or got established links with someone already at the club. (Dank came because the Weapon said so and who told us to get the Weapon...) I just thought it was weird that when a whole heap of people could have been tasked with the review, we, just for a charge, picked someone with a clear link to the club.

Nothing to see here mate. Ziggy is the former CEO of a multi billion dollar organisation, Australia's largest Telco network and was employed to audit our governance against injuries and supplements. You can't fudge up an audit, especially when the entire code, ASADA, WADA and even political figures are keen on your input

 

[vast]

Should have got a big 4 to do this review if they were fair dinkum.

 

[NAB777]

http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2013-05-06/dr-ziggy-switskowski-report
5. Sidelining of the medical staff
The attitude of some in the new fitness team was that EFC's medical personnel were yesterday's men - not abreast of the most modern sports science methodologies, excessively conventional, and pharmacologically illiterate. They were 'part of the problem, not part of the solution'.

The climate in the football department created conflicts. The fitness team had a mandate for change, to push to the legal limit with formulae which were assumed as effective and safe, if mysterious.

This led to poor internal processes with improvised fixes to ensure authorisation of some, but not all, supplements and a lack of any overall documented strategy to guide the steps taken in a coherent way.
http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2013-05-06/dr-ziggy-switskowski-report
This was the most interesting bit for me....might go some way to explain our falling apart in the second half of last year. if DOc Reid was being marginalised, and considering his close friendship with hirdy, you would assume there was a bit of angst around those in charge.
Not looking forward to the rest of the week, as it will be full of those opinions from those who ring talk back shows....
Hope it doesn't derail our prep for this week.

Doc Reid is a legend..
I am astonished that he was being marginalized, and this is the thing that concerns me the most. Hird would have known this, yet the program went ahead anyhow. Very, very disappointing.

 

[Phone]

I'm not questioning whether the man himself is capable or incapable of doing the job. I'm just troubled we've again got a mate to do the job. It's more than a coincidence, and possibly played a part in creating this whole mess

 

[Kaiser Powser]

there was one brief thing troubled me about the Ziggy Skitkowski report. That the person doing the report is an Essendon fan who used to be on the same board as David Evans. It just seemed like we didn't particularly spread our wings in looking to find a guy for this role, and I think you could probably make the same criticism for a lot of our recent additions to the Football department. They're either great essendon people, or got established links with someone already at the club. (Dank came because the Weapon said so and who told us to get the Weapon...) I just thought it was weird that when a whole heap of people could have been tasked with the review, we, just for a charge, picked someone with a clear link to the club.

I think it was actually important to get someone who cares about the club, but is intelligent and honest enough to highlight the issues and how to fix them.

Imagine asking someone like Dermie to do it; It would be one line and read: Lock the gate, throw away the key.

 

[snax]

Should have got a big 4 to do this review if they were fair dinkum.

dunno about this one though mate

 

[Mr_McBoogerBalls]

It shouldn't matter if Dermie, John Elliot or Adolf Hitler audit the club. Anything less than 100% accurate contradicts the purpose of an audit

 

[Essendonia]

I understand the concerns of possible bias, but as previously posted by others, Switkowski has held a number of big roles in the past, and his credbility and integrity was on the line in taking this job on. Anything less than completely honest and unbiased in the report would be sure to draw substantial criticism from media and damage his professional reputation.
In reading the report, I found it to be honest, emotionless and unbiased. There were parts that could have been sugar-coated, but were not.

I agree with the OP that - as the report itself states - clubs will benefit from periodic reviews of its internal processes and procedures, if they elect to act on recommendations and take steps to rectify matters that require attention.

 

[kfc1]

Surprised the media hasn't run with "Essendon abuse 457 via program to steal jobs from aussie battlers" in regard to appointing the man with the funny sounding now

 

[The Goon]

The reasons for the report being undertaken aside, the recommendations will be looked at very closely by all clubs.

Thanks for the free kick.

 

[The Jet]

there was one brief thing troubled me about the Ziggy Skitkowski report. That the person doing the report is an Essendon fan who used to be on the same board as David Evans. It just seemed like we didn't particularly spread our wings in looking to find a guy for this role, and I think you could probably make the same criticism for a lot of our recent additions to the Football department. They're either great essendon people, or got established links with someone already at the club. (Dank came because the Weapon said so and who told us to get the Weapon...) I just thought it was weird that when a whole heap of people could have been tasked with the review, we, just for a charge, picked someone with a clear link to the club.

Being a fan of the club counts for nothing. Look at Mark Robinson, supposedly a massive bombers supporter, yet he has enjoyed every moment he has dragged the club through the mud just to get his own jollies.

 

[Kaiser Powser]

The reasons for the report being undertaken aside, the recommendations will be looked at very closely by all clubs.

Thanks for the free kick.

Many clubs will benefit from this situation.

As he described it as an 'arms race'. We were not the only club pushing boundaries. Other clubs have now had a chance to tighten their procedures without the intense scrutiny applied to Essendon.

 

[The Goon]

Many clubs will benefit from this situation.

As he described it as an 'arms race'. We were not the only club pushing boundaries. Other clubs have now had a chance to tighten their procedures without the intense scrutiny applied to Essendon.

The bolded is pure supposition, surely you don't want to engage in that?

But you are completely correct in that your situation and the Ziggy report will benefit all clubs. The AFL is about to be dragged into the international-modern-professional era.