16 hours ago, adonski said:

Have a nice cup of tea and a sandwich

2 minutes ago, Dante said:

“I love my job, I’m passionate about footy, that’s all I’m really focused on now.”

I would have preferred Tracc to have said after footy, "and the Melbourne Football club".

But he didn't. Not reading anything into it, but it would have stopped any speculation.

I picked up on that as well. but I've heard plenty of players declare their love for a club, only to leave. Pretty sure LJ declared his love for the club.

Trac's contracted long term and we'll do what's best for the club.

13 minutes ago, Dante said:

“I love my job, I’m passionate about footy, that’s all I’m really focused on now.”

I would have preferred Tracc to have said after footy, "and the Melbourne Football club".

But he didn't. Not reading anything into it, but it would have stopped any speculation.

Thought the same myself Dante, it would have been a small acknowledgement to the club and team, another missed opportunity.

2 hours ago, Grapeviney said:

Leaving the politics out of it, dumping and trying to bury all this stuff at once is the best thing to do after a year of bad headlines.

The alternative is that each story receives maximum coverage and drags on for as long as possible .. and then just when the air clears, another stink bomb drops. 

Much prefer to get it all over and done with at once, rather than trickling out one at a time and prolonging the agony.  

I agree entirely, hence my congratulations

Far better than the tedious post season perpetual news cycle we've endured for the last 6-8 weeks 

Good wins ridiculous and outdated game plan the real issue here, not if he should lighten up.

Just noticed the face palm has gone as well! Has it been mentioned before?

15 minutes ago, old dee said:

Just noticed the face palm has gone as well! Has it been mentioned before?

I had thought the quality of my posts had improved

Thanks a lot!

 

I wonder where Choco fits in this review...

4 minutes ago, demon3165 said:

I wonder where Choco fits in this review...

🤔

3 minutes ago, demon3165 said:

I wonder where Choco fits in this review...

Maintains a fantastic relationship with all players and staff, performs role of development coach very well, specialising in skill/decision making areas and has an overall positive influence on morale, ethics. 👍

2 minutes ago, Dannyz said:

Maintains a fantastic relationship with all players and staff, performs role of development coach very well, specialising in skill/decision making areas and has an overall positive influence on morale, ethics. 👍

Delighted to hear of his positive impact around the club but not sure about the bolded. Our skills are not good.

50 minutes ago, old dee said:

Just noticed the face palm has gone as well! Has it been mentioned before?

Mentioned in the Pert thread at the time the missing 🤔 was discussed.

I would say the 🤮is more a problem than 🤔.  The latter makes me laugh whenever @beelzebub uses it which is all.the.time.  He will be lost without it ...

17 hours ago, beelzebub said:

Cheers...but pay wall 

Precis ? 

Don't worry ...lol  

12ft.io

 

2 minutes ago, BDA said:

Delighted to hear of his positive impact around the club but not sure about the bolded. Our skills are not good.

The skills in the age group in which he's work with are quite strong. McVee, Bowey, Rivers, Windsor, Pickett, Woewodin.

To my eye the skill execution deficiencies lie with Viney, Oliver, Trac (At times), Lever, Gawn and Hunter. 

7 minutes ago, Dannyz said:

The skills in the age group in which he's work with are quite strong. McVee, Bowey, Rivers, Windsor, Pickett, Woewodin.

To my eye the skill execution deficiencies lie with Viney, Oliver, Trac (At times), Lever, Gawn and Hunter. 

Fair comment

2 hours ago, Dante said:

“I love my job, I’m passionate about footy, that’s all I’m really focused on now.”

I would have preferred Tracc to have said after footy, "and the Melbourne Football club".

But he didn't. Not reading anything into it, but it would have stopped any speculation.

I'm not sure we're entitled to that from Trac to be honest, i think to pretend we've handled him and Clarry perfectly is foolish, regardless of what mistakes the players themselves have made. 

I think it's going to take time for wounds to heal and relationships to strengthen, if we're playing in and winning finals in 2025 it's going to be a non issue, if Trac does decide to go, we're going to get a war chest of draft assets right before Tasmania join the league from a club like Collingwood standing on the edge of the cliff looking down (Age wise)

I agree with the 2nd part of your response Ted but it’s not the Pies or Media that are paying for his services, hopefully we as a club can resolve our differences.

55 minutes ago, Dannyz said:

Maintains a fantastic relationship with all players and staff, performs role of development coach very well, specialising in skill/deciesion making areas and has an overall positive influence on morale, ethics. 👍

Well our ball skills were average by foot and the same with decision making needs a bit of work over summer.

Email from Green about the review.

Chaplin to fwd line coach, CHunk and Sam Radford as mids coaches, Bassett to the backline coach.

Change to the playing style and a focus on 1-3yr players

 

Workshops with leaders ie Gawn and Viney, as expected most will remain confidential.

Edited November 1, 2024Nov 1 by Gorgoroth

Sam Radford an internal promotion to midfield coach is a bit meh, but they’ve had him at the club for a while so he’s clearly valued.

Jones stoppages coach. Not sure Nath was ever a stoppage guru but it’s pretty clear he’s there to sort Viney, Tracc and Oliver’s BS out. 

Chappy back to the future swung forward. Don’t mind that. Had to get him away from the backs.

Fred Bassett down back, hmmmm, think he did his best work as a forwards coach but our backs need a fresh voice and someone who will challenge them to run and take the game on.

Letter from Brad Green

Dear Members,

I hope this message finds you well, and that, like me, you’re looking forward to some positive results this weekend to help secure our AFLW team’s place in the finals. After a challenging start, our women’s team has shown tremendous resilience, emerging as one of the form sides in the competition as they prepare for Saturday’s clash against Collingwood. Let’s rally behind them and hope to see them in finals footy this November.

As President of the Melbourne Football Club, I want to be up front with you. We know that 2024 was a tough year, both on and off the field. We faced some big challenges, and we recognise that certain off-field issues caused disruptions. We admit that some situations could have been managed better, and we're committed to learning from these experiences to handle the inevitable challenges more effectively in the future.

Yesterday was a significant day for our club. While the focus was, deservedly, on acknowledging retiring CEO Gary Pert’s contributions, the announcement of Steven Smith’s commitment to stand up and support the club, the Board, and myself was equally important. The Board and I have been working hard to bring Steven into a position where he can contribute, and we look forward to the potential of him joining us in driving the club forward.

As I’ve mentioned in previous communications, we have some important updates regarding both the AFL Football and Board reviews and at the bottom of this letter you will find details regarding Call for Nominations ahead of our Annual General Meeting.

AFL Football Review

The purpose of the review was to identify opportunities for the AFL Football program to return to finals in 2025. Over the past four years, the AFL program has achieved significant milestones, including a drought-breaking premiership in 2021, three consecutive top four finishes, and the inaugural McClelland Trophy (in conjunction with the success of our AFLW team). We entered 2024 with the expectation of playing finals, and not doing so was incredibly disappointing for our members, players, staff, and everyone associated with the Club. We understand that this competition demands continual improvement, and we are committed to doing the work in every aspect of our football program.

This review involved over 40 interviews with players, coaches, football department staff, and external industry experts. Ex-All Blacks Manager Darren Shand, Gary Pert, and I conducted these interviews and meetings to gather comprehensive feedback.

Darren Shand then used the interview findings to lead a series of workshops and collaborative meetings with on-field and off-field leaders, including Max Gawn and Jack Viney, to establish key priorities for improving our program in 2025.

While much of the review’s details must remain confidential to maintain a competitive edge, we felt it was important to share the high-level findings and priorities with our members.

Key Findings:

- Our Playing List:
The review identified strong confidence within the playing group and football staff that we can play finals next season. We have a very strong core group of players, but fast-tracking the development of our talented young players will be essential.

Throughout the pre-season and into the season, we will prioritise and dedicate additional time in our schedule for coaches to focus on developing our first to third year players, ensuring their growth and progression remain a top priority.

Members may have noted our commitment during the trade period to secure an additional top 10 selection ensuring we have two early picks in this year’s draft. This aligns with our decision to continue bringing in high-end young talent to complement our core group and return to AFL finals next year.

- Staff and Structure:
The review confirmed the strength of our football program’s leadership and staff, while identifying an opportunity to refresh energy and leadership within the Assistant Coaching group supporting Senior Coach Simon Goodwin. The review also reinforced the importance of our midfield as a critical driver of success, prompting us to create two dedicated midfield coaching roles as detailed below:

Troy Chaplin will transition from managing defence to overseeing our forward line and team offence. Troy has successfully built one of the league’s highest-performing defensive units while nurturing emerging talent. The review recognised our highly talented young emerging key forwards, as well as our dangerous mid and small forwards. Troy's focus will be on developing cohesive structures and disciplines within our forward line.

Nathan Jones joins us as a midfield coach focusing on stoppages. Known for his football intelligence and drive for success, Nathan is highly respected by the playing group. His recent playing experience brings fresh perspectives to the role which the review identified as an opportunity for improvement.

Sam Radford will work alongside Nathan as midfield coach. Together, they aim to maximise our current midfield group’s strengths while integrating new talent in the midfield mix.

Nathan Bassett joins the club and will lead our backline and team defence. With a wealth of experience, including a decade in coaching roles with Essendon and Port Adelaide and most recently at Norwood in the SANFL, Nathan’s fresh outlook will greatly benefit our program.

- High-Performance Environment:

The review highlighted the importance of empowering the player leadership group to play a greater role in shaping and sustaining our High-Performance environment, setting clear expectations and driving performance outcomes. This includes preparing our next generation of leaders through education and development.

To support this, we have engaged an external leadership expert to implement a club-wide program with a dedicated focus on our player leadership group, set to commence when players return for pre-season training.

In addition, Darren Shand will mentor both our on-field and off-field leaders, as we implement the various initiatives that resulted from the review.

- Game Style:

The review emphasised the need to refine our method of play, focusing on all facets of the game— with the ball, without the ball and in the contest. During the pre-season, our coaches will work on evolving our game style to maximise the strengths of our playing group, aiming for a style that not only propels us back into the finals but withstands the pressures of finals football. As a competitive measure, specific details of our game style remain confidential.

While the review has highlighted areas for improvement, it also reaffirms that we are well-positioned to turn challenges into opportunities. With strong foundations in place and a clear path forward, we are committed to driving the Melbourne Football Club back to success in 2025.

Board Review

In tandem with the football review, the Board initiated an external governance review in September, conducted by governance and culture expert Megan Dwyer. This review assessed our structure, practices and composition to identify areas for alignment with best practice and our strategic goals.

Key Outcomes:

- Commitment to Improvement

While the review acknowledged our commitment to improvement, it also identified areas where further changes would support our objectives. The Board is committed to embracing these recommendations and will continue evolving our practices as we implement them.

- New Committees

As part of our strategy to meet member expectations and bolster on-field success, we will establish two new committees: a High-Performance Committee and a Member Engagement Committee. These committees will bring in additional expertise to strengthen our approach in these areas.

- Governance Working Group

To maintain focus on continuous improvement, a Governance Working Group, chaired by Director Sally Freeman, has been established. This group will guide the implementation of review recommendations.

- Strengthening Board Skills and Experience

The review’s skills matrix analysis supports and expands on the Board’s objective to recruit highly skilled and experienced individuals who can support our strategic objectives and foster a culture of TRUE (Trust, Respect, Unity, Excellence).

In closing, I want to extend my gratitude to all who contributed to these reviews. We acknowledge the honest feedback from our players, coaches and staff, which will be invaluable as we strive to improve. Most importantly, we thank you—our members and supporters—for your unwavering trust and passion.

As we enter the Call for Nominations period, members can nominate for a Board position. As mentioned yesterday, Chris Barlow will be nominating alongside Steven Smith, while incumbents Sally Freeman and Dr. Angela Williams will stand for re-election.

Our path forward relies on collective effort. With the reviews complete, our players and coaches are ready to put in the work needed to return to the finals in 2025 and we ask that they feel the support and energy from you, the Demon faithful, as we prepare for the 2025 season.

Thank you once again, and as always—Go Demons!

Brad Green
President
Melbourne Football Club

Am I being pessimistic or does the Jones and Radford promotion read like we couldn’t get anyone more highly regarded into the club? Teague said no to us for instance 

Having said that I’m glad they’re being transparent about the findings - let’s hope some of these changes are what we need to get back into finals

13 minutes ago, demoncat said:

Am I being pessimistic or does the Jones and Radford promotion read like we couldn’t get anyone more highly regarded into the club? Teague said no to us for instance 

Having said that I’m glad they’re being transparent about the findings - let’s hope some of these changes are what we need to get back into finals

We were only linked to Teague and Sloane, I don't think we had a great range of options to select from.

Overall I'm pretty excited about the proposed direction from the club.

So, the only head to roll was Pert's. Surprised.

Great news moving forward.