RickyD

All good. I think I've said everything I came on Demonland to say. Thanks for reading everyone. Go Dees! www.change.org/MFC_review

Let's do a hypothetical... - Assume I was paid by someone else to post here - Assume someone helped me get published in the Age because of a vendetta against the club. - Assume someone with a connection to my work at Tourism Australia has other motives and was involved somehow - Assume I've never actually watched a demons game, was not a member and don't support the club - Assume I copied everything I've written from other blog posts that use Z instead of S. None of that changes the very clear argument that there is a conflict of interest in the way the review is being conducted. My letter clearly states - make the review independent and I'll sign up as a member again My petition states the sole objective of making the review independent However you want to spin it, the cause I am advocating has nothing to do with me. I'm simply using what I have at my disposal to gain awareness of the issue - whether that's a video on social media or answering ridiculous questions on here. You have not 'fact checked' my case, whether intentional or not, you've simply convoluted the issue by raising a whole bunch of points that have nothing to do with what I and others are fighting for.

Fair points. I obviously believe that if we want the sustained success that other clubs have enjoyed, our issues may need to be exposed and addressed. It may not be fun and it there could be some short term embarrassment but I'd rather get answers than continue down the current path. The way things are going now with lawsuits and a fair degree of supporter disenchantment doesn't seem like the right path.

I'm not sure why I'm still bothering... Decision on the review process. Decision led by self interest = Pert (and others with conflicts of interest) - deciding they'll oversee a review of their own performance. Good way to ensure you keep your job. Decision not led by self interest = Independent review allowing for accountability at all levels of the club, including from those at the top - e.g. Pert.

Hey BDA (and everyone else) I appreciate much of what’s been said here and respect that you would have done things differently regarding The Age. I know plenty share your view and that’s obviously fine. What frustrates me is that I’ve made a genuine attempt to come on here, have an open dialogue and answer questions about my letter, the petition and related matters. I haven’t hidden my identity and have done my best to respond to every point raised, no matter how absurd it seemed to me. You’ve praised @Skuit for his 'investigative journalism,’ which involved digging up my public social media profiles and using irrelevant information to distract from the issue, turning it into something about me. I am irrelevant to the cause and the issues being raised. What @Skuit has done is the same BS technique often used by dishonest media organisations to spin the narrative and avoid addressing the actual topic. In my opinion, it's a cancer on society. As a few have highlighted already, the personal scrutiny over the last few days has been full on. I’m not gunning for a position at the MFC – I’m advocating for a cause! It shouldn’t matter what my background is, if someone has pushed me to do this and if I've supported the club for a day or for my entire life. The point is simple: have a transparent review process and hold the MFC administration accountable. A lot of you want to trust the club officials and don’t want an independent review. That’s OK, I respect your opinions. I haven’t suggested you’re paid by club officials or have connections to Pert or anyone else, but looking over this forum, that seems more likely than the far-fetched accusations thrown my way. Anyway, I’m not sure I can add much more to this conversation, but the petition is still available for those who wish to sign it www.change.org/MFC_review. I have no doubt we all share the same aspirations for the MFC and I reckon we'll get there a lot easier and enjoy life more if we stop treating supporters that have different views as the enemy. All the best and Go Dees! Ricky

Yep, this is where we differ. I don't think there's a perfect way to handle a situation like this and I know my approach has it's down-sides... but I also know a good number of supporters agree with me. If people within the club choose to let self-interest govern decisions, I'm happy for the media to call that out. Fix it and move on.

Yeah I get that. I reckon this is just the nature of sport these days though. Lots of money = lots of media, both good and bad. At the end of the day, we all want success for the club and to be proud of the Dees.

Hey mate Yeah I I wish I'd got onto all of this earlier. I assumed pressure would build after details of the review were first called out by some media and the club would then change their approach. Obviously that didn't happen... one thing led to another and here we are. I still believe a fully independent review should be conducted.

I have nothing to hide. I just wish you'd apply the same level of scrutiny to the MFC club admin as you are to me.

Hey Skuit I'll try address everything you've written but I'd rather not keep writing about myself and my intentions. This really should be about the club and what's going on - not about me. I'm answering all your questions because I don't want skepticism to hinder anything, so here you go: - My actions relating to the MFC were not intended to be self serving and I can't see any benefit I'm gaining from this. I started a petition after receiving no response from the club and getting encouragement from some other supporters to do so (family, friends and some on a FB group that saw the letter). - I'm not paid by anyone. My opinions are not for sale. Have you ever made a petition? The only way to get signatures is to try and get the word out. It's why I made a video on social media and it's why I'm on this forum. The Instagram account used has 2 posts in the last 4 years and this is the only video on there with me talking to camera. I don't see how this would help me with anything, in any way. I don't engage much on Twitter normally either, but thought I should put it on multiple platforms. - I'm sorry that you're not convinced I'm a supporter. My Dad grew up barracking for the Dees and raised me to do the same. Despite living overseas for a lot of my adult life, I've still purchased a membership almost every year since I started working full time. I reckon I've watched every game (albeit on TV) that we've played in the last 30 years. Yes, I'm also a West Ham supporter. - I've continued to go 'hard' because I'm frustrated at what the club is doing. After my letter was published I saw an opportunity to actually make an impact and bring positive change. - I tagged a handful of media people who I thought could bring attention to the petition. I've never done something like this before and just doing my best to raise awareness of the petition. Nobody picked up on it, so I guess I did a poor job. - Funnily enough, I was on Koh Samui when I filmed the video 🤣 It was at 9am in the morning though so no cocktails comped at that time. I'm a happy go lucky person. I smile a lot - some people might find it weird. I'm Sorry. I very much doubt I would have that smile filming a hostage video in Thailand.... but this is footy - it's not life and death and there's a degree of amusement at the ridiculousness of the situation. - I try to proof read things I put out. I lived in America for a bit and my wife teaches kids in America. I've had to use different grammar interchangeably and I can inconsistent. I'm really baffled at the degree of scrutiny here. - If you give me names of the people at Tourism Australia you're referring to, I'm happy to clarify - but to the best of my knowledge, I don't have a relationship with any of these people. I haven't talked to anyone from my professional life about this. I'd really love to keep the talk on here about the footy club. Unless it's something you feel the world needs to hear, I'd prefer other questions about my personal life off a public forum. You can DM them if you wish. Hope you understand.

Jeez there's a lot of skepticism here. Not sure why it's important, but yes, Ricky Dunn is my name mate 🤣

A lot of points there: 1. The reviews being conducted are not just about our on field performance and I think there's been plenty documented to warrant them. 2. I'm no expert on Lawrence's legal battle with the club but my understanding is that the court validated at least some of his concerns. Seems to me the club cost themselves money by not giving better consideration to his requests for fairer and more transparent board elections. 3. I'm asking people to sign the petition because I don't want self interest to dictate the direction of the club I love and support. Perhaps fortunately for those who oppose my opinions, I won't pursue it much further. I jumped onto this forum to explain my perspective in the hope some more of you might understand or even agree. 4. I don't think my background is really of relevance here but I share your frustrations with how our state and federal Goverments operate. So we can at least agree on that 😁! The thing is, many of the reasons we keep having budget blowouts and poor decisions from our state and federal leaders is due to a lack of accountability. Many have excellent CVs and probably try their best... but self preservation is a driving force for a lot of people over and whoever or whatever they represent. It's the same reason I want club leaders to step back from the review and for the MFC to employ a third party who they don't already have a relationship with. No conflict of interest. I think that's a good thing for any organisation, especially those that rely on donations and memberships.

Does anything I’ve written make my point less valid? It shouldn’t matter who is saying this.

Sure. Writing this on my phone so sorry if I’m missing anything. 1. I have written, other family members have too. Club never bothered to respond. 2. Not much… but enough. I’ve worked for government organisations and in various roles where reviews like this have been conducted. I’ve tried to avoid passing judgement on Pert (and likely failed).. I believe there are better people to do that… they should just be independent of the administration. 3. I have not. Can’t do much about the past but I wojld like to in future. I don’t think that stops me from being able to share an opinion, does it? 4. I think there’s been enough speculation about what’s been going on at the club. It’s the reason they’re chosen to conduct a review in the first place isn’t it? I don’t want to be the one passing judgement on management, I’d like a more knowledgeable third party to do that. My name is on the article, I’m not hiding my identity. 5. I have never met Peter Lawrence and prior to starting the petition I had never had any communication with him. Like many, I only saw club communications regarding his lawsuit along with a bit in the press. It’s easy to draw opinions when you mainly hear one side of the story and from what I can gather he is a thoroughly decent guy who simply wants the best for the club. I think his legal actions achieved good. He’s dedicated more time and money to the club than I could even dream of. While raising my own grievances with the club I’ve realised how hard it is to get anything meaningful from them and I have a great deal of respect for his commitment. I’ve spoken to him recently and it seems many of our views are aligned. 6. No. I have tried to contact Brad Green without success. I’d really just love for someone to say why they wouldn’t want independent voices as part of the review. It makes no sense to me.

No high ground mate, I just believe it’s common sense. It’s not ‘the club’ I don’t trust, it’s certain executives at the club who would (understandably) like to maintain their roles. These are the same people who are responsible for the current situation(s). You don’t see where I’m coming from?