Club Mgmt. Board of Directors as led by President Dave Barham

[Lore]

Spoiler: Timeline of events

• 15/8: President, Paul Brasher resigns, replaced by Dave Barham who foreshadows external review
  • Votes for Brasher: Peter Allen, Simon Madden, Sean Wellman
    Sean Wellman

    Age

    50

    Ht

    193cm

    Wt

    90kg

    Pos.

    Def

    Career

    Season

    Last 5

    D

    14.1

    4star

    K

    9.7

    4star

    HB

    4.5

    3star

    M

    4.5

    4star

    T

    1.0

    3star

    No current season stats available

    D

    8.0

    2star

    K

    4.4

    2star

    HB

    3.6

    3star

    M

    2.6

    3star

    T

    0.8

    3star

  • Votes for Barham: Andrew Muir, Dorothy Hisgrove, Melissa Green, Kate O’Sullivan, Kevin Sheedy
• 21/8: Senior Coach, Ben Rutten
  Ben Rutten

  Age

  41

  Ht

  190cm

  Wt

  98kg

  Pos.

  Def

  Career

  Season

  Last 5

  D

  13.4

  3star

  K

  6.3

  2star

  HB

  7.0

  4star

  M

  5.3

  5star

  T

  1.3

  3star

  No current season stats available

  D

  10.6

  3star

  K

  6.2

  3star

  HB

  4.4

  4star

  M

  3.6

  4star

  T

  1.0

  3star

  sacked
• 24/8: CEO, Xavier Campbell resigns
• 24/8: Directors to resign
  • Paul Brasher, immediately
  • Simon Madden, immediately
  • Sean Wellman, after new football director is appointed
  • Peter Allen, after AGM & finance portfolio handover in December
• 26/8: Details of coaching selection committee appointment
  • Sub-committee of 6: Josh Mahoney
    Josh Mahoney

    Age

    47

    Ht

    180cm

    Wt

    83kg

    Pos.

    Fwd

    Career

    Season

    Last 5

    D

    11.3

    3star

    K

    6.8

    3star

    HB

    4.5

    3star

    M

    3.5

    4star

    T

    1.6

    4star

    G

    0.9

    4star

    No current season stats available

    D

    9.2

    3star

    K

    5.4

    2star

    HB

    3.8

    3star

    M

    2.2

    3star

    T

    1.6

    4star

    G

    0.4

    3star

    (Chair, GM-Footy), Robert Walls, Jordan Lewis
    Jordan Lewis

    Age

    38

    Ht

    186cm

    Wt

    86kg

    Pos.

    D/M

    Career

    Season

    Last 5

    D

    23.5

    5star

    K

    12.1

    4star

    HB

    11.5

    5star

    M

    5.5

    5star

    T

    2.7

    4star

    MG

    310.5

    4star

    No current season stats available

    D

    15.0

    4star

    K

    6.8

    3star

    HB

    8.2

    5star

    M

    4.8

    5star

    T

    2.8

    5star

    , Simone McKinnis OAM, Andrew Thorburn and Dorothy Hisgrove (board member).
• 26/8: Details of external review process
  • Ernst & Young to coordinate with support from Andrew Thorburn, working closely with Nick Ryan (Acting CEO) & Dorothy Hisgrove (board member)
  • Focusing on four areas: (1) Board effectiveness & composition, (2) a review of leadership, operations and culture including the footy department, (3) the senior coach appointment and (4) the new CEO appointment.
• 26/9: Andrew Welsh appointed to the board of directors, replacing Simon Madden
• 29/9: Brad Scott appointed as Senior Coach
• 30/9: Kevin Sheedy claims decision to appoint Brad Scott was 6-1 against him
• 3/10: Andrew Thorburn appointed as CEO - alternative link
• 3/10: “External review to be handed to the board next week”: Andrew Thorburn, Crichton Medal Address
• 4/10: Andrew Thorburn resigns as CEO
• 11/10: External review preliminary findings
• 24/10: External review preliminary findings II
• 2/11: Dan McPherson appointed as General Manager of Performance & Cam Roberts as Head of Development
• 11/11: Dean Rioli appointed to the board of directors, replacing Paul Brasher
• 14/11: Tim Roberts & David Wills appointed to the board of directors, replacing Sean Wellman and Paul Allen respectively
• 28/11: Dorothy Hisgrove announced as first female vice-president (at the Essendon Women's Best and Fairest night)
• 1/12: Craig Vozzo appointed as CEO
• 13/12: Board director election results: Andrew Welsh and Andrew Muir elected
• 15/5: The club's First Nations Advisory Council established, to be led by Dean Rioli (chair, Indigenous board member), and including: Leanne Brooke (EFC EGM – Community & The Long Walk. Essendon FC), Dorothy Hisgrove (EFC VP and National Manager Partner KPMG), Kane Ellis (CEO of Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service), John Evans (Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Engagement at Swinburne) and Che Cockatoo-Collins (EM, Indigenous Affairs NBN, EFC Past Player)
• 16/5: Board of Directors declare support for the First Nations Voice to Parliament, after consultation with the new First Nations Advisory Council
• 28/8: EGM - Football, Josh Mahoney has accepted a role as GM Football Operations at the AFL
• 10/10: GM - Performance Daniel McPherson, and Head of AFLW/AFL Operations Manager Aysha Ward have been elevated to the club executive as joint leaders of the club's football department, as GM-AFL and GM-AFLW respectively

 

[Lore]

Not sure. Just saw it on the AFL site.

Would be a bit odd if it was on the club board given it is clearly an opinion piece advocating for particular outcomes of a supposedly democratic board election.

The last two paragraphs:

"Solomon has been vocal in supporting the current board and Barham's presidency but is hoping to add his expertise to the mix: from his 24 years in the industry, from the business world and also in pushing to connect the supporter base with where the club sees itself placed.

Weston has called into question the culture and character of the club, saying he has not seen any change at Essendon. But the scoreboard is often the final piece to move."

 

[Call Me Cake]

Scott has had way more support than Truck and hasn't outperformed him

Rutten was afforded an entire wasted year prior to his coaching role to "get a feel of it".

Not only have we become more consistent/defensive and less prone to blowouts (as many analysts pointed out this year) but we've also won more.

2024 - 46
2023 - 44

2022 - 28
2021 - 44

Mind you Scott had to come in off the back of the mess Rutten left and had to do so with no year to "learn" the list.

Truck was a mindless appointment and a coach who had NFI.

 

[windyhill]

I shoot.And I vote.

 

[ant555]

‘Players don’t come to bad clubs’: Bombers boss’ board plea after ‘20 years of shortcuts’

‘Players don’t come to bad clubs’: Bombers boss’ board plea after ‘20 years of shortcuts’

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[Rick Ross]

 

[brutus76]

Loved Solly and Weston as players

Clearly have no business being on the board apart from being finger puppets for Hird and co.

 

[yodellinhank]

We need stability - the guy who organised the last board spill and further agitated for control.

 

[Old Campaigner]

The really dumb part of Westerns comments about needing premiership experience on the board is the fact that under Brasher they had Madden and Wellman on the board and Sheedy was also on the board with them for a while.
This is 100% about those wanting Hird as coach.

His bit about culture is dumb too, the current board appointed one of the toughest blokes to play for the most physically intimidating side of the modern era. Short of giving the entire list a cement enema there's not a lot more they could have done to harden them all up.

 

[Old Campaigner]

I see Brasher as someone who has either gradually come around to the realisation that the way the club has been run needs to change or was simply part of a minority who were consistently overruled by the forces of Old Essendon.

I think he's been clumsy at times and certainly isn't the best possible person in the country to run the board, but I think he's a mile better than undoing a heap of progress the club has made by electing a couple of outright wreckers.

To not reappoint him is to run the very high risk that we give Scott the Rutten treatment before he's had a chance to implement some important changes. We move from a board where the majority support Vozzo and Scott and the improvements they are making to a board where that effort is undermined by a lack of support, lack of resources, or pressure to chase short to success at the expense of the longer term.

 

[Lore]

We need stability - the guy who organised the last board spill and further agitated for control.

When you break the wheel inevitably someone ends up at the top of the heap. That it happens to be someone who has arsed his way into doing the things that have needed doing for the last 20 years is pure luck.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Vote MFers!

 

[Lance Uppercut]

 

[DapperDon]

I voted for Kodos

 

[faible]

Its the arrogance of the candidate statements from Solomon & Weston that really makes this whole thing stupid.

Solomon - Owner/Director of multiple business - great, like what? Fantastic you played for us & coached at a few clubs, but unless you're putting the boots back on, nobody gives a shit. This is far more of a business role, not a footy role, try demonstrate that you're at least across that.

Weston - Congrats on playing in 2 flags 40 years ago, what the hell do you know about being a board member of a business of $80mill per annum? Demonstrate that.

I'd vote for the random fan before voting for those 2.

Lots of the older cohort still romanticise Sheedy despite everything that's gone on.

 

[Yoda_]

why the actual upheaval?


iven to followed deeply all the good and bad Barham (& Co.) have done since his appointment but it feels like the club is finally going in a reasonable direction and then this

As for Paul Weston himself, where has he been for however long he's considered doing this? sounds suss to me

 

[Bjchan13]

Green and Barham, easy one for me. Vozzo, McPherson, Scott and Rosa should get a few years at things without Sheedy, Dodoro and the idea of Hird lingering in the background. We only just got rid of them. No need to bring them back through Weston and Solomon. Welsh already on the board is enough of a sheedy player connection.

 

[thebigboy]

why the actual upheaval?


iven to followed deeply all the good and bad Barham (& Co.) have done since his appointment but it feels like the club is finally going in a reasonable direction and then this

As for Paul Weston himself, where has he been for however long he's considered doing this? sounds suss to me

Weston’s interview on SEN this morning was as big of a train wreck as it gets IMO. That interview did more for Barham & Green’s campaign than anything they could say themselves

 

[faible]

why the actual upheaval?


iven to followed deeply all the good and bad Barham (& Co.) have done since his appointment but it feels like the club is finally going in a reasonable direction and then this

As for Paul Weston himself, where has he been for however long he's considered doing this? sounds suss to me

I assume with Sheedy out, his little cohort of allies are upset and want to fix it.

 

[Nicholas61]

Weston’s interview on SEN this morning was as big of a train wreck as it gets IMO. That interview did more for Barham & Green’s campaign than anything they could say themselves

Did he give any specifics on why he is unhappy with our current setup and what his plans are?

 

[Donflicted]

Voted for Barham and Melissa

I am doing my part!

 

[Nicholas61]

One of the criticisms on Blitz was that it took 2 years for the club under Barham to remove Dodoro. There are a couple of things there - first at least it was done, it isn't easy removing someone like that with those tentacles. Second if Sheedy faction gets in there is the real possibility he is back given his current involvement with Hird and the optics that he is still involved in recruitment.

 

[Yoda_]

I know we are all on about what if Weston gets on, who (on the current board) is openly supporting him? Could they be removed if the support doesn't get up or is it member driven hence is difficult to remove people?

 

[Phone]

One of the criticisms on Blitz was that it took 2 years for the club under Barham to remove Dodoro. There are a couple of things there - first at least it was done, it isn't easy removing someone like that with those tentacles. Second if Sheedy faction gets in there is the real possibility he is back given his current involvement with Hird and the optics that he is still involved in recruitment.

so did they not see the article about Dodoro taking us to Fair Court, or what.

that is an insane critique imo. it seems perfectly reasonable to form a view that based on the events of the last ~2 years removing Dodoro was not as easy as say, sacking Matthew Knights or Ben Rutten.

 

[Nicholas61]

so did they not see the article about Dodoro taking us to Fair Court, or what.

that is an insane critique imo. it seems perfectly reasonable to form a view that based on the events of the last ~2 years removing Dodoro was not as easy as say, sacking Matthew Knights or Ben Rutten.

Sheeds leaving at the same time Dodoro took leave (probably preparing his Fair Work case at that point) I think shows how deep his fangs have been embedded into the club. Not to mention his other connections and the people he had conflict with over the years getting run out of the club.

 

[thebigboy]

Did he give any specifics on why he is unhappy with our current setup and what his plans are?

It was heavily around the teams lack of development and playing groups commitment, however his only plans were to point it out & get the right people in place to address it.

The peak of the train wreck was citing the 2km time trial last week and claiming a senior player & rookie didn’t run it hard like TD used to in the 80s.

It’ll be up on the SEN podcasts, but I dare say anyone listing to that and thinking he was a viable candidate would have a very different opinion now.