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

 

[faible]

Which i think you need to assess your constant within the team when you review.
Is it fluke that some clubs nail these drafts, or bring in culture builders (i.e. leaders), or game changers....all of this we seem to fall short of.

It is very hindsight. But that's the nature of this part of the business.
You aren't necessarily assessed in the moment. It should be your tenure.

that period you highlight above, the top-up post 2016, the left field picks, the lack of some AFL basics (bigger mids, KP depth).

I'm surprised it hasn't had more light focused on it.
So far, all i can tell is Dodoro has had his boss changed because they were clashing. And Merv is back. but i reckon that was more getting him back to work and doing the right thing than us being proactive in beefing up the recruitment team.
And it looks like Mahoney still has oversight but Dodoro doesn't report to him.

It seems when Melbourne decided to start drafting with competitiveness as a high priority that they got competitors, not every one of those picks made it, but draft enough of them and some will make it, and then they'll be competitive types.

We've drafted a lot of 'nice' leaders, good schools, no off-field issues, but probably not much in the way of hard-nosed competitive types.

 

[yodellinhank]

We've never truly had a s**t enough list to cut every senior player all at once

 

[Doss]

That's just so Essington quick fix. Get rid of Sheeds and everything will be okay. It didn't work last time.

It didn’t work not because we got rid of Sheeds but because we got the wrong replacement and didn’t do a proper slow build post 2004.

Sheeds was cooked.

And me wanting him gone this time has everything to do with him continuing to natter in the background. I’m not operating under the assumption all is fixed if he’s gone though either, and I’m pretty sure you know very well I’m not.

 

[citizen-erased]

It seems when Melbourne decided to start drafting with competitiveness as a high priority that they got competitors, not every one of those picks made it, but draft enough of them and some will make it, and then they'll be competitive types.

We've drafted a lot of 'nice' leaders, good schools, no off-field issues, but probably not much in the way of hard-nosed competitive types.

yeah. from what i've heard from their somewhat inner sanctum - Mahoney, Taylor & Roos really focused on it. I think Roos drove the idea and Mahoney really took it on as an ethos. I've seen it start to seep in with us, but it's not 100% there.

Whilst Hobbs is a classic example, i also think Hobbs was impossible to ignore at his draft pick. Had slid so much already.

 

[yodellinhank]

It didn’t work not because we got rid of Sheeds but because we got the wrong replacement and didn’t do a proper slow build post 2004.

Sheeds was cooked.

And me wanting him gone this time has everything to do with him continuing to natter in the background. I’m not operating under the assumption all is fixed if he’s gone though either, and I’m pretty sure you know very well I’m not.

I don't think background is Sheedy's style.

 

[andleanback]

Of course the first 10 minutes of classified caro blabbering on about back room essendon.

 

[DallasCrane316]

Of course the first 10 minutes of classified caro blabbering on about back room essendon.

I didn’t realise Brad Scott all but confirmed the issues between Dodoro and Mahoney on radio.

 

[TheGrizz]

Of course the first 10 minutes of classified caro blabbering on about back room essendon.

In fairness, it's not like the club doesn't give them the fodder to do so

 

[andleanback]

In fairness, it's not like the club doesn't give them the fodder to do so

But to lead off the top after round 1, in a round where essendon performed well. It’s not the biggest story in footy right now.
And apparently Scott was the one that said he didn’t want Doddoro in match committee? And he was there regularly in the past being asked his opinion on players according to Lloyd, I don’t like the sound of that. Thank god Scott got rid of that. Also mark Harvey coming into match committees previously wtf has been going on down there. Coteries group leader has no place in match committee.

 

[DallasCrane316]

For those that wanted to watch the clip

 

[Don Won]

For those that wanted to watch the clip

Must have been really annoying for her that we didn’t implode on Sunday to fit the script

 

[Lore]

For those that wanted to watch the clip

You listen to that and you find yourself agreeing with everyone except Matthew Lloyd. Feels dirty

Club has been drinking it’s own bath water for so long they don’t even know it’s bath water

 

[TheGrizz]

For those that wanted to watch the clip

I disagree with absolutely zero of what Caroline Wilson said there. None

That might be the only time I have ever uttered that sentence, and hopefully the last. But it is 100% spot on.

This 1000% should have been dealt with last year.
It is absolutely correct that Vozzo has shirked his responsibility. If he was there long enough to notice a restructure was needed, he has been there long enough to move one or other of them on.
It is a slap in the face to Scott that Sheedy wasn't made to walk after his comments last year.

It is all correct, and if you are sitting there agreeing with Lloyd over Caro, then you are either toxically parochial and part of the problem, or Mark Robinson.

 

[yodellinhank]

Sack Vozzo and Barham.

 

[andleanback]

I disagree with absolutely zero of what Caroline Wilson said there. None

That might be the only time I have ever uttered that sentence, and hopefully the last. But it is 100% spot on.

This 1000% should have been dealt with last year.
It is absolutely correct that Vozzo has shirked his responsibility. If he was there long enough to notice a restructure was needed, he has been there long enough to move one or other of them on.
It is a slap in the face to Scott that Sheedy wasn't made to walk after his comments last year.

It is all correct, and if you are sitting there agreeing with Lloyd over Caro, then you are either toxically parochial and part of the problem, or Mark Robinson.

Except vozzo started at essendon in late jan, so she’s wrong there. I agree with what she’s trying to say, but it’s clear she doesn’t have the whole picture and just has bits of information from her sources, which is standard for her. And in a situation like this, the information you get can be skewed depending on what side they’re on.

Be interesting to know what Brad scott wants, because with his direct line to vozzo and being barhams man, whatever he wants I reckon he’ll get. Maybe he doesn’t want upheaval with the season in full swing, which would lead distractions for the playing group with either the footy boss or list manager leaving start of the season/mid season. With likely 1 or both of them being moved on after the season has finished.

 

[citizen-erased]

Dodoro has some spell over the players, even lloydy protects.

I like that Scott is a bit of an assassin. He's thrown a bit of shade there.

also, gotta love the excuse on Sheeds.
He was drunk. FMD.

 

[citizen-erased]

For those that wanted to watch the clip

Lloydy likes a contradiction
Development the issue not recruiting. Mcgrath is better than he's been

But then wright is doing better with us than at GCS.

 

[Lore]

Dodoro has some spell over the players, even lloydy protects.

I like that Scott is a bit of an assassin. He's thrown a bit of shade there.

also, gotta love the excuse on Sheeds.
He was drunk. FMD.

I think Dodoro does have a kind of spell over them yeah. It’s like instead of being loyal to the club for giving them a chance and facilitating their dreams to play AFL, they seem to be loyal to Dodoro instead. And there are now 3-4 generations of footballers who have never known anything different.

I sort of wonder if Dodoro goes if there might be players and former players who won’t have anything to do with the club anymore as a result.

Like I feel like they’d be more acrimonious about Dodoro getting sacked than they were about the saga. And probably that leads to a board spill and a gamut of former players riding in on unicorns, fairy dust, and the blind votes of the ignorant, if not handled incredibly carefully

 

[andleanback]

Lloydy likes a contradiction
Development the issue not recruiting. Mcgrath is better than he's been

But then wright is doing better with us than at GCS.

I don’t think we developed wright we all, we just allowed him to play . Eventually if you give key forwards with talent some continuity, they’ll eventually break out. Hard to play when your the whipping boy of the coach and after a bad game your first to go. Also think wright loves playing under the roof at marvel compared to playing on the gc in humid conditions.

 

[citizen-erased]

I think Dodoro does have a kind of spell over them yeah. It’s like instead of being loyal to the club for giving them a chance and facilitating their dreams to play AFL, they seem to be loyal to Dodoro instead. And there are now 3-4 generations of footballers who have never known anything different.

I sort of wonder if Dodoro goes if there might be players and former players who won’t have anything to do with the club anymore as a result.

Like I feel like they’d be more acrimonious about Dodoro getting sacked than they were about the saga. And probably that leads to a board spill and a gamut of former players riding in on unicorns, fairy dust, and the blind votes of the ignorant, if not handled incredibly carefully

Here's my thing.
If vozzo, being the astute operator i hear he's supposed to be, acts on his GM of footballs recommendation to sack dodoro....what is going to happen?

The board and/or coteries revolt?
Im not sure they would. The club can't afford more controversy.

Ex-players and board challengers...have we ever had an external challenge infiltrate the board.
The only real concern would be a sheedy coup. So not without risk i guess

 

[Burzum]

Lloyd is embarrassing in his defensiveness and obvious bias in the Dudoro situation.

 

[Lore]

Lloydy likes a contradiction
Development the issue not recruiting. Mcgrath is better than he's been

But then wright is doing better with us than at GCS.

Puts up a list of first round draft picks and complains none of them have been AA…

Except that Parish did get AA in 2021, they forgot the asterisk on Caldwell, and most of the rest of them arrived in the last 5 minutes or have been injured as hell. That isn’t down to development

The only accurate target for complaint on that list really is Andy McGrath, and he did get 22under22 selection four years in a row and was captain of it in 2020. Pick 1 was always going to be underwhelming.

A poor team doesn’t really showcase its talent so there is that, but it’s not necessarily a development issue that we haven’t had AAs coming out our ears.

And AA is 80% bullshit anyway.

The development/recruiting issue is more about what you do in the second and third rounds than with a gimme pick in the top 10.

 

[citizen-erased]

I don’t think we developed wright we all, we just allowed him to play . Eventually if you give key forwards with talent some continuity, they’ll eventually break out. Hard to play when your the whipping boy of the coach and after a bad game your first to go. Also think wright loves playing under the roof at marvel compared to playing on the gc in humid conditions.

Im not one to deny development has been bad. It has been.

But to stick your head in the sand and say the recruitment hasnt been an issue is dumb.

 

[andleanback]

Puts up a list of first round draft picks and complains none of them have been AA…
View attachment 1635215
Except that Parish did get AA in 2021, they forgot the asterisk on Caldwell, and most of the rest of them arrived in the last 5 minutes or have been injured as hell. That isn’t down to development

The only accurate target for complaint on that list really is Andy McGrath, and he did get 22under22 selection four years in a row and was captain of it in 2020. Pick 1 was always going to be underwhelming. And he’s still more highly decorated than either McCluggage or Taranto.

A poor team doesn’t really showcase its talent so there is that, but it’s not necessarily a development issue that we haven’t had AAs coming out our ears.

And AA is 80% bullshit anyway.

The development/recruiting issue is more about what you do in the second and third rounds than with a gimme pick in the top 10.

Mccluggage has made like 3 or aa40s and taranto won a bnf in a team that made a gf. I’d argue they both have Mcgrath covered for achievements so far.

 

[citizen-erased]

Puts up a list of first round draft picks and complains none of them have been AA…
View attachment 1635215
Except that Parish did get AA in 2021, they forgot the asterisk on Caldwell, and most of the rest of them arrived in the last 5 minutes or have been injured as hell. That isn’t down to development

The only accurate target for complaint on that list really is Andy McGrath, and he did get 22under22 selection four years in a row and was captain of it in 2020. Pick 1 was always going to be underwhelming. And he’s still more highly decorated than either McCluggage or Taranto.

A poor team doesn’t really showcase its talent so there is that, but it’s not necessarily a development issue that we haven’t had AAs coming out our ears.

And AA is 80% bullshit anyway.

The development/recruiting issue is more about what you do in the second and third rounds than with a gimme pick in the top 10.

Lol
Setterfield was 2016 too. But that would point out the master dodoro probably should have bid on him or someone similar
I do wonder what Ch9 see in Lloyd for that show