Opinion Jeff Kennett News, Media etc.

[stemline]

the supporters, the members, voted for him to return

Um, no... no they didn't.

 

[Lickmesocks]

Gee I loved Gary Ayres this morning. Anyone not hear the interview find it and have a listen.

Lyon was trying everything he could to bait him and he calmly had a dig back at Lyon about Melbourne finally having some success compared to us who has had sustainable success over a long period of time.

It was calm, measured and shut whispy and Lyon up perfectly .

 

[Flukey!]

To be fair, The Club, the supporters, the members, voted for him to return because the place was being held ransome to utter incompetence.

It is very fair to suggest that this has gone to the head of JGK who clearly sees himself as the saviour. Ironically our position onfield has deteriorated during the same time underlining his lack of footy nous. He and his Board provided little check to the excesses of AC although I freely admit I supported same strategy. Like many, we trusted the strategy and AC.

My point has always been, the Kennett Board has failed to take responsibility for its error, sacked the guy to absolve itself of any responsibility and allowed the President to run amok, like the HFC has become his play thing. There have been a multitude of poor decisions and poor judgement. Time to be rid of him and his influence.

Excesses of AC?
What were they?

And you are linking the fortunes of our club on-field to the footy nous of our President?
I cant think of a club president who has played football at the elite level.
That is why there is a board that serves to advise the president and the club on footy and non-footy matters.

 

[Hawkk]

Gee I loved Gary Ayres this morning. Anyone not hear the interview find it and have a listen.

Lyon was trying everything he could to bait him and he calmly had a dig back at Lyon about Melbourne finally having some success compared to us who has had sustainable success over a long period of time.

It was calm, measured and shut whispy and Lyon up perfectly .

Gary Lyon like David Schwartz has a soft spot for the HFC given his fathers connection to the club.

That said, he’s also very close to Clarkson but I don’t think it was overly negative about Hawthorn at all…

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Gee I loved Gary Ayres this morning. Anyone not hear the interview find it and have a listen.

Lyon was trying everything he could to bait him and he calmly had a dig back at Lyon about Melbourne finally having some success compared to us who has had sustainable success over a long period of time.

It was calm, measured and shut whispy and Lyon up perfectly .

Interesting take. I didn’t think the interview was at all combative or pointed. It was very much just 3 footballers from the 80’s talking about the current state of affairs at the club.

 

[Mississippi]

Not really, Dicker was that in the 90s with the Merger but that's not the only issue that the club has gone through. It was pretty tumultuous in 04-05 when Dicker was replaced by Jeff. As others in this board said, Jeff was hardly the only well known Hawk to be pro-merger.

We were trading out good, recognised players, we had just appointed an inexperienced and hardly known Clarkson as coach when key players at that time in Dicker and Scott were hell-bent on bringing Terry Wallace to the club. Jeff did as much as anyone to provide stability at that point, and taking over the Tasmania contract from St Kilda was one of the best things this club has done considering our record there. It's when we became a good, stable club and won that premiership that his public commentary on Clarkson and his performances became an issue.

Actually Dicker wanted Gary Ayres as coach (because that’s who Dermott wanted) - and it was Dunstall who persuaded them to go for Clarkson. Wallace who was also in the running wanted a 5 year term which the board sensibly rejected.

Scott didn’t want a change of coach. His position was that Schwabby had another year on his contract and the club should honour that contract.

 

[Mississippi]

Not sure the Club has even figured this out yet.

If you have registered your details on hawksforchange.org you can expect to receive information about this as soon as it is to hand.

It is noteworthy that polls close 48 hours prior to the AGM.

It’s all a bit tricky really - and deliberately so in my view to discourage the average flunkey from nominating to be a director of the club. The club must give at least 21 days notice of the AGM. But a person wishing to nominate as a director, must lodge his nomination with the club 37 business days before the scheduled AGM !!

Poison is correct in pointing out that, under the constitution, a vote for a director cannot be by proxy (unlike all other resolutions which can by proxy). Voting is either by the electronic means set up by the club or by post. Votes will be invalid if received late (less than 48 hours before the AGM as pointed by by Poison) or if the member doesn’t vote for the number of candidates for which there are vacancies - appears to be 2 at this AGM.

Really important to read the fine print at the appropriate time or to call the club if you haven’t received the notice in due course because you’ve changed address. Make sure your vote counts.

 

[KermitJagger]

Actually Dicker wanted Gary Ayres as coach (because that’s who Dermott wanted) - and it was Dunstall who persuaded them to go for Clarkson. Wallace who was also in the running wanted a 5 year term which the board sensibly rejected.

Scott didn’t want a change of coach. His position was that Schwabby had another year on his contract and the club should honour that contract.

I knew it was Ayres, Eade or Wallace and that Dunstall essentially made the decision on Clarko - point stands though. Don Scott was the one who needed to leave the club at that point, which he did... and now hates it. Fickle old man.

 

[Pessimistic]

Donald McDonald stood in for the last few games of 2004

 

[Topiary]

Excesses of AC?
What were they?

And you are linking the fortunes of our club on-field to the footy nous of our President?
I cant think of a club president who has played football at the elite level.
That is why there is a board that serves to advise the president and the club on footy and non-footy matters.

That does not mean they unilaterally don’t have nous about a footy club and what makes it work. Kennett has never understood how a footy club works.

 

[Steven Tyler]

Donald McDonald stood in for the last few games of 2004

Incredible that we went from Donald McDonald coaching to a Premiership in 4 years

 

[Topiary]

Excesses of AC?
What were they?

And you are linking the fortunes of our club on-field to the footy nous of our President?
I cant think of a club president who has played football at the elite level.
That is why there is a board that serves to advise the president and the club on footy and non-footy matters.

My take on the AC excesses was the strategy to remain on top, to remain relative, to remain a “destination club”. I again say I freely supported it, but it failed. Just remember there is a standard procedure. The Board needs to approve the trading of a first round pick. The Board cannot deflect responsibility.

 

[matsta1975]

Why is the richest Victorian club so reliant on pokies revenue and a major sponsorship where we have to play 4 of our home games in the Launceston tram yards?

Because Jeff has business interests that benefit from it

 

[matsta1975]

She’s awesome. At least they’re on the right track by including her. No idea who the other 2 are.

She is everything I hope my children do not grow up to be.
She is an absolute stain on society how Rita is given a voice is beyond me

 

[killerspud]

Each to their own. In my view she is a fwit.

Yeah she might be Hawthorn but she's toxic in every other sense. Tom Elliot hahahaha if ever there was a bloke who is living off the family name and what a name it is hahahaha

 

[Goldhawk]

That does not mean they unilaterally don’t have nous about a footy club and what makes it work. Kennett has never understood how a footy club works.

I think he would have a better idea than you would.

 

[deanc]

I knew it was Ayres, Eade or Wallace and that Dunstall essentially made the decision on Clarko - point stands though. Don Scott was the one who needed to leave the club at that point, which he did... and now hates it. Fickle old man.

Correct, also Ayers didn't do himself any favours (which he has publicly conceded later) when he waltzed into the first interview without even a basic Powerpoint presentation, assuming his previous involvement with the club and recent coaching roles would basically place him at the top of the list and all he needed to do was negotiate a salary and other terms...
Allegedly it was Dunstall who said to him; "Mate, respectfully, we are not picking a team for the 1988 Grand Final here!"...

Also, I doubt Dicker was strongly advocating for Ayers, given he'd already seen the failures with former players coaching, being Knights/Judge/Schwab...

 

[Pessimistic]

Correct, also Ayers didn't do himself any favours (which he has publicly conceded later) when he waltzed into the first interview without even a basic Powerpoint presentation, assuming his previous involvement with the club and recent coaching roles would basically place him at the top of the list and all he needed to do was negotiate a salary and other terms...
Allegedly it was Dunstall who said to him; "Mate, respectfully, we are not picking a team for the 1988 Grand Final here!"...

Also, I doubt Dicker was strongly advocating for Ayers, given he'd already seen the failures with former players coaching, being Knights/Judge/Schwab...

also even a little contact with Wallace and Eade helped Richmond and the bulldogs along with their decision to employ them It was quite useful for those guys, intentional or otherwise

 

[Mississippi]

I think he would have a better idea than you would.

That’s arguable. And I don’t know Topiary from a bar of soap.

But let’s say Topiary had been president for the last several years (instead of Kennett), what would you say to Topiary if he had buggered up his job in the following ways?? Some random examples off the top (no pun intended) of my head……

* Needlessly telling Geelong they’re our bitches - causing years of cringeworthy embarrassment. Precisely what our coaches didn’t want over the following years in preparing for crucial games against the Cats.

* Telling the press that he may demote Clarkson to coach Box Hill and then having to apologise to the coach for his ill chosen comments (sounds like a poor example, too unlikely to be true)

* Telling the Hawthorn board that they’re to resign if he makes that demand (completely undermining any notion of proper corporate governance)

* Making racist comments about AFL security employees and then apologising for his ill judged comments

* Sticking his nose into the club’s trading intentions “you may be surprised if we trade out our senior players“ and then forcing the administration into damage control and, of course, then coming out and saying no one’s being traded - more cringeworthy headlines and damage control - and of course utterly sabotaging any chance the footy dept had of quietly trying to engineer any trades

* Announcing that Hawthorn could relocate to Tassie (blindsiding the board and everyone else, and blindsiding the Tassie premier) thus causing more unwanted headlines and forcing the administration into damage control and a retraction

* Orchestrating the Clarkson retirement debacle at great cost and embarrassment to the club.

I’d suggest that if “president Topiary” - or anyone else for that matter - somehow managed to do all of those things and more, you’d say he wasn‘t a president’s a***hole.

 

[Pessimistic]

That’s arguable. And I don’t know Topiary from a bar of soap.

But let’s say Topiary had been president for the last several years (instead of Kennett), what would you say to Topiary if he had buggered up his job in the following ways?? Some random examples off the top (no pun intended) of my head……

* Needlessly telling Geelong they’re our bitches - causing years of cringeworthy embarrassment. Precisely what our coaches didn’t want over the following years in preparing for crucial games against the Cats.

* Telling the press that he may demote Clarkson to coach Box Hill and then having to apologise to the coach for his ill chosen comments (sounds like a poor example, too unlikely to be true)

* Telling the Hawthorn board that they’re to resign if he makes that demand (completely undermining any notion of proper corporate governance)

* Making racist comments about AFL security employees and then apologising for his ill judged comments

* Sticking his nose into the club’s trading intentions “you may be surprised if we trade out our senior players“ and then forcing the administration into damage control and, of course, then coming out and saying no one’s being traded - more cringeworthy headlines and damage control - and of course utterly sabotaging any chance the footy dept had of quietly trying to engineer any trades

* Announcing that Hawthorn could relocate to Tassie (blindsiding the board and everyone else, and blindsiding the Tassie premier) thus causing more unwanted headlines and forcing the administration into damage control and a retraction

* Orchestrating the Clarkson retirement debacle at great cost and embarrassment to the club.

I’d suggest that if “president Topiary” - or anyone else for that matter - somehow managed to do all of those things and more, you’d say he wasn‘t a president’s a***hole.

id be interested in comparing it to Garveys list (bomber supporter ignored for now) of indiscretions which meant he was booted and that was applauded by many

 

[Mississippi]

id be interested in comparing it to Garveys list (bomber supporter ignored for now) of indiscretions which meant he was booted and that was applauded by many

Yep
Probably the best approach - comparing Kennett to other mediocre performers.
But Kennett certainly wins when it comes to making cringeworthy headlines.

 

[Topiary]

I think he would have a better idea than you would.

Is that right. Each to their own, my friend.

I have been President of three footy clubs and heavily involved with the HFC over many decades. I assure you, based on conversation with Mr Kennett, knowing anything enough about footy was certainly not his forte. By his own admission as well.
That is not to say I am the font of all footy club knowledge. Far, far from it.

 

[Rhayader]

 

[Flukey!]

Who do we support?
Silk and Gowers I imagine.

 

[Steven Tyler]

Who do we support?
Silk and Gowers I imagine.

Can’t have Kennett “yes men” only on the board

Silk and Gowers, with a view to have Silk take over as President next year