Throughout the season many of us have asked where has it gone so wrong? Who is and should be held accountable? We've pointed the finger at the coach, assistant coaches, captains, and players alike. One thing is for sure, we cannot have a repeat next year or we'll be soon seeing an exodus of quality talent and yet another rebuild.

I'll admit I've requested certain heads to roll, but in fairness I've based this on only my observations and theories (like many of us).

 

What I do request from the board is a thorough third-party and unbiased club-wide review.

As there is clearly something or multiple things wrong, they need to be fixed and amended immediately. I truly don't think we can point the finger at "lazy" "unskilled" players, as they showed us what they were capable of one season prior. Likewise, the "injury" excuse is just that, an excuse. These are the things that come to mind:

- The new CEO and how he works needs to be evaluated.

- The coach, his game plan, adaptability on match day, and his weekly roster (e.g. are there too many meetings and not enough skill sessions, e.g. B.Bolton) needs to be evaluated.

- The assistant coaches, are they leaders, are they knowledgeable, do they fill players with confidence, are they approachable, are they good communicators or simply ex-players etc.?

- List management, many of us have criticized Josh Mahoney's ability to negotiate at the trade table. Furthermore, is there friction from him regarding the rejection of Jackson's CEO succession plan?

- The captains, are they actually leading on the field. Are they constantly moving and placing their troops in the right positions around the field, or are they just trying to lead by example (playing)?

- The players, are there any particular one generating a toxicity and disdain towards others within the group?

- Are there any tensions between sectors and groups above. Why?

 

With that said, I think the players at least for now should be spared (unless if there is a bully). I hope each player gets the opportunity to privately and confidently inform a third-party as to what they think is wrong because I guarantee you the answer lies within the opinions of the collective playing group.

 

Once the pain points are identified, the best way to get back on track is to amend relationships over the preseason. If we fix what's wrong between the player's ears, other things such as skill and ability to execute will follow. The worst thing that comes to mind is yet another push for a special forces training camp. Instead, do something like a 9-day trek along the Kokoda track, with a skills session each evening in the rural villages along the way. Hawthorn have done it multiple times, one of which at the end of 2011 prior to their 4 consecutive grand final appearances. I also did it when I was 21 and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I couldn't think of any better relationship building excise.

 

 

Needs more than this. A Royal Commision would go close!!

President, Board, Coach, CEO, All staff, players, no one should be spared thorough and systematic appraisal. And if accountability is to be transparent half the club might and should be gone by start of next year!

8 minutes ago, ignition. said:

Throughout the season many of us have asked where has it gone so wrong? Who is and should be held accountable? We've pointed the finger at the coach, assistant coaches, captains, and players alike. One thing is for sure, we cannot have a repeat next year or we'll be soon seeing an exodus of quality talent and yet another rebuild.

I'll admit I've requested certain heads to roll, but in fairness I've based this on only my observations and theories (like many of us).

 

What I do request from the board is a thorough third-party and unbiased club-wide review.

As there is clearly something or multiple things wrong, they need to be fixed and amended immediately. I truly don't think we can point the finger at "lazy" "unskilled" players, as they showed us what they were capable of one season prior. Likewise, the "injury" excuse is just that, an excuse. These are the things that come to mind:

- The new CEO and how he works needs to be evaluated.

- The coach, his game plan, adaptability on match day, and his weekly roster (e.g. are there too many meetings and not enough skill sessions, e.g. B.Bolton) needs to be evaluated.

- The assistant coaches, are they leaders, are they knowledgeable, do they fill players with confidence, are they approachable, are they good communicators or simply ex-players etc.?

- List management, many of us have criticized Josh Mahoney's ability to negotiate at the trade table. Furthermore, is there friction from him regarding the rejection of Jackson's CEO succession plan?

- The captains, are they actually leading on the field. Are they constantly moving and placing their troops in the right positions around the field, or are they just trying to lead by example (playing)?

- The players, are there any particular one generating a toxicity and disdain towards others within the group?

- Are there any tensions between sectors and groups above. Why?

 

With that said, I think the players at least for now should be spared (unless if there is a bully). I hope each player gets the opportunity to privately and confidently inform a third-party as to what they think is wrong because I guarantee you the answer lies within the opinions of the collective playing group.

 

Once the pain points are identified, the best way to get back on track is to amend relationships over the preseason. If we fix what's wrong between the player's ears, other things such as skill and ability to execute will follow. The worst thing that comes to mind is yet another push for a special forces training camp. Instead, do something like a 9-day trek along the Kokoda track, with a skills session each evening in the rural villages along the way. Hawthorn have done it multiple times, one of which at the end of 2011 prior to their 4 consecutive grand final appearances. I also did it when I was 21 and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I couldn't think of any better relationship building excise.

 

 

Watch out for falling Bricks

8 minutes ago, ignition. said:

The worst thing that comes to mind is yet another push for a special forces training camp.

Couldn't be more wrong. Mental fragility and lack of resilience needs to be addressed. These are professional sportsman and not kindergarten students. Good hard or go home. That camp in 2018 preseason (or lack thereof) was overlooked and I believe lies at the heart of all of our woes.

 

Going from 4th (post finals) to 17th in less than a year, it can't be half the club. But something has changed, something/someone has created tension and friction which has caused a flow-on effect. This needs to be properly identified by an unbiased third-party. From there things can get fixed. 

Knee-jerk reactions to make heads roll so it looks like the club is doing something may damage things further.

2 minutes ago, CYB said:

Couldn't be more wrong. Mental fragility and lack of resilience needs to be addressed. These are professional sportsman and not kindergarten students. Good hard or go home. That camp in 2018 preseason (or lack thereof) was overlooked and I believe lies at the heart of all of our woes.

 

They're elite athletes, not SAS or Commando units. Subjection to the likes of sleep and food deprivation as well as hyperthermic conditions will not improve the "mental resilience" of a collective group. These tasks are designed by special forces to ween people out of their courses so they are left with the top 1% of soldiers capable of performing near-impossible tasks. I'd rather see them work on their relationships and skills, which they so desperately lack.  

18 minutes ago, ignition. said:

Going from 4th (post finals) to 17th in less than a year, it can't be half the club. But something has changed, something/someone has created tension and friction which has caused a flow-on effect. This needs to be properly identified by an unbiased third-party. From there things can get fixed. 

 

Its too early to review Pert's role.  And not everything can be fixed at once.

The podcasts in these two posts indicate to me that Pert is controlling the show, it is broad and that there has been external analysts involved with input from the AFL. 

While not necessarily satisfying those that want a full blown external consultant rake over the club I am ok with how it has been set up and look forward to the outcomes.

Edited August 19, 20196 yr by Lucifer's Hero

When they're reviewing recruitment and drafting,  find out why they failed to recognise we desperately need outside ball users with pace when all we went for was more of the same hard bodied inside players.

Every single one of us on here could see this was a requirement..... How did they not?? 

Fix the injured players or move them on!  The club can not afford to carry players who are injury prone.  Some of our list have played little or no football for 18 months.  

This list has more than a handful of players that are not AFL standard, move them on.  

Change the Captain to Gawn it’s a no brainer.

Recruit speed and a decent KPP for FF.

send the complete list to resilient training

Bring in support for Goodwin

change the game plan.

4 hours ago, Hell Bent said:

When they're reviewing recruitment and drafting,  find out why they failed to recognise we desperately need outside ball users with pace when all we went for was more of the same hard bodied inside players.

Every single one of us on here could see this was a requirement..... How did they not?? 

right on the money. I watched Weagles yesterday with Jetta, Liam Ryan, Petroocelli, Rioli all in the one side and we have none of those types since recruiting Garlett what 5 years ago ?

astonishing.

Edited August 19, 20196 yr by Bay Riffin

4 hours ago, Hell Bent said:

When they're reviewing recruitment and drafting,  find out why they failed to recognise we desperately need outside ball users with pace when all we went for was more of the same hard bodied inside players.

Every single one of us on here could see this was a requirement..... How did they not?? 

Arrogance!

Despite all the game plan tinkering which Goodwin has admitted to as a failure, I still think the lack of preseason to a lot of players is still the major factor. 

Goodwin stated on radio that he had some severe doubts about the prospect of the season as early as the summer and by round 3 those doubts were full blown alarms. Goodwin knows his footy and he knows exactly how hard a playing group has to work and he knew we were miles behind the pack.

As supporters, we’ll be acutely aware of how well we’re going to fare by February when we start seeing intraclub matches and our first JLT. We won’t have to wait for round 1. We should, in theory, witness a massive up swing in two way running, spreading from the contest, spread on transition, defensive efforts, skills execution and more.

I request the club recruit 2x quick small marking forwards that can apply pressure. Outside midfield pace also a necessity.

13 hours ago, Soidee said:

Fix the injured players or move them on!  The club can not afford to carry players who are injury prone.  Some of our list have played little or no football for 18 months.  

This list has more than a handful of players that are not AFL standard, move them on.  

Change the Captain to Gawn it’s a no brainer.

Recruit speed and a decent KPP for FF.

send the complete list to resilient training

Bring in support for Goodwin

change the game plan.

And its taken a season from hell to make this call

The horse bolted after the Prelim final.

I don't think Goodwin can change enough but some on here do 

I guess we will see next season because this club is not tough enough.

12 hours ago, picket fence said:

Arrogance!

11 hours ago, At the break of Gawn said:

Despite all the game plan tinkering which Goodwin has admitted to as a failure, I still think the lack of preseason to a lot of players is still the major factor. 

Goodwin stated on radio that he had some severe doubts about the prospect of the season as early as the summer and by round 3 those doubts were full blown alarms. Goodwin knows his footy and he knows exactly how hard a playing group has to work and he knew we were miles behind the pack.

As supporters, we’ll be acutely aware of how well we’re going to fare by February when we start seeing intraclub matches and our first JLT. We won’t have to wait for round 1. We should, in theory, witness a massive up swing in two way running, spreading from the contest, spread on transition, defensive efforts, skills execution and more.

Faith and hope is all that sustains this club

1 hour ago, Kent said:

Faith and hope is all that sustains this club

Then we're in a lot of trouble because I and many other supporters have lost all faith and hope in this club.

We need a credible group to come in and challenge the board.

I believe the club needs to conduct an independent external review. I don't believe an internal review can be conducted without bias. Our club is broken an a good and healthy preseason alone will not fix it.

Roos and Whately have strongly condemned Adelaide's external review respectivley saying it was 'alarming' and 'risky' and a 'flawed methodologhy'.

Recent history is on their side with them quoting the most successful reviews are by insiders.  eg Cook at Geelong, Murphy at Collingwood, Gale at Richmond.

Crows External Review.

Agree with them and I think Pert (with external/AFL  input/feedback) and Mahoney are the right combo for us.

Edited August 27, 20196 yr by Lucifer's Hero

Roos slammed the idea of an external review of a football club, going so far as to say that you should just fire the coach and CEO if you feel there is a requirement for a third party review. 

He went on to say a review of operations is the weekly, monthly and yearly job of those inside the club, and they are the ones who should be tasked with conducting any review.

I’ll side with Roosy on this one.

22 minutes ago, P-man said:

Roos slammed the idea of an external review of a football club, going so far as to say that you should just fire the coach and CEO if you feel there is a requirement for a third party review. 

He went on to say a review of operations is the weekly, monthly and yearly job of those inside the club, and they are the ones who should be tasked with conducting any review.

I’ll side with Roosy on this one.

Goodwin is on extremely thin ice, there is no other way to look at it. Hopefully he has been given triggers that must be met. 

He is on a crash course of serious learning from now till next year

On 8/19/2019 at 12:17 PM, CYB said:

Couldn't be more wrong. Mental fragility and lack of resilience needs to be addressed. These are professional sportsman and not kindergarten students. Good hard or go home. That camp in 2018 preseason (or lack thereof) was overlooked and I believe lies at the heart of all of our woes.

 

This is pointless post, forget about the camp has nothing to do with anything anymore, and what do u think should happen force everyone to go on this pointless camp which is for soldiers, it a easy thing to point to without actually thinking

Weak Crows

A scathing attack by Blight on the Crows and their external review on two counts:

1. "...to have an external review on what a lot of people are getting paid internally to actually make those decisions...”
2. “How are they (external reviewers) going to judge the coaching fraternity...and how are they going to judge what they do with the players...when the players aren’t there they’re on holidays?”

To wrap up:  “Stupid, mediocrity at its best. It is a lack of leadership. I’m telling you now, it is one of the worst decisions..."

If I put my Corp Consulting hat on this smacks of a review where the outcomes are predetermined and the powers to be want an 'independent' report to justify those outcomes.  Its an easier sell to the affected people and other stakeholders than if someone internally stood up and took responsibility.  I agree with Blight.  It is a sign of weakness when management won't own the tough decisions.

Very glad our club has avoided the condemnation by not going for an external internal review.

Edited August 28, 20196 yr by Lucifer's Hero

Does a CSI team go into their work with the culprits in tow ?

No

Many want to brand the idea of external as being by people who have no understanding of the game and it's administration. This  is a croc.

It means by OTHER people who understand exactly what ought to be and may not be happening.

Audits are never done by people WITHIN a company. There's a reason for that.

A review is essentially an Audit.

It needs people WITHOUT any stake to make impartial assessment.

Again..you don't send Foxes into the Hen house to do a count