Lucifers Hero

So saying nothing is slander.

My point was about uber professionals and wanting their club to be the best they can be. Yet you find an angle to malign Petracca, again. I said it weeks ago, its time to get behind him.

Slander? Or hearsay?

For all those praising Bontempelli's loyalty: frustrated-superstars-future-in-doubt "However, it is the understanding of Gullan that his continued faithfulness to the club that drafted him at Pick #4 in 2013 is no longer guaranteed, should cultural differences between key personnel and team success not be positively rectified. “He’s very loyal Bont obviously – he wants to be there – but this is a reality, and if things continue to go down this path, and he get to the end of this year and he still hasn’t re-signed, that is trouble". It is now the end of the season and he hasn't signed. Team success is what the uber professionals like Petracca and Bontempelli work so hard for. They want the rest of the team to lift to their standards. They want their club's to be culturally strong. If folks reckon Bontempelli isn't checking other clubs they have their heads in the sand! The media has said little about Bontempelli. Lets wait and see if he signs beyond 2025.

Hawks @ Dingley Essendon Fields To a lesser extent Adelaide (Thebarton) and Bulldogs (Ballarat) as a community oval already existed.

I reckon without Kate with the backing of the Board to change its leadership early in 2021 we would not have the Premiership. The club would have laboured under the heavy cloud of a Board leader that wanted to get rid of our coach. For that alone she deserves our eternal thanks. She has represented us very well and the odd slip up means diddly squat. She has brought us stability and engineered a clean entry and exit from her role leading the Board. That is a pretty good track record, in my book.

🤷‍♀️

How did you read the Roffey/Green statement?

Good question. Maybe how they handled the court cases but who knows. imv its difficult to review themselves and say it is independent and objective. Also Board reviews are quite specialised so hopefully Green has a qualified external advisor.

See post below. Green is leading a Board review not an organisational review of CEO etc.

The Board statement said: Green said he would lead a review of the Board aimed at resetting and refreshing its performance. Doesn't seem to include Pert or the organisation. iirc, Roffey said Pert is leading an internal reiview, which sounds like the usual EOS review. Could be wrong.

There has been a fair bit of change in Constitution, election processes etc at Board level and on the basis of 'one can't review onself' a Board review would need to be driven by AFL House which I doubt would happen. Sure there was a need to honour existing contracts. There were other ways of doing it without putting them in charge of departments. Those contracts would have expired sometime in the last four years which was the time to change personnel if there was a will to do so.

Crikey!!! That floored me 😊 Too much politics in Boards and Clubs for my liking !!! Message to self: stop making 'sensible comments' !!!

General Comments A review needs to be objective and stand up to scrutiny. Preferred review period: 2021 - 2024 Roles to Review CEO FD Management (incl Coaching) List Management Communications Management Methodology - Measurable Stuff Locate existing KPI’s (ie goals) for each role Locate 3 year performance for each KPI Identify performance gaps for each KPI Identify objective causes for those gaps Is the org structure appropriate Are the reporting lines/structure being adhered to There is a high probability the performance in most cases has met the KPI’s during those 3 years BUT the trend will be poor. eg Increased membership rose but has dropped off. Ladder position was high but has gradually dropped off. Perhaps similarly for sponsorships etc Methodology - Less/Non Measurable Stuff It is much harder to assess the ‘soft’ stuff like decision, relationships, standards, discontent, etc and will need to be assessed by interviewing staff. Hopefully, they are structured questionnaires that are tried and tested. An important area is 'external image' in the industry because that has such a critical affect on sponsorships, recruiting etc It would take to long to list the type of questions for each role to be reviewed. BUT Are they the right KPI’s What should the KPI’s be How will those KPI’s be measuerd Reviewer(s)? The recent trend has been for a panel of ex-footballers (Freo and Adelaide) to undertake it. I doubt they have the methodology for the above review. When Pert reviewed the FD at the end of 2020 he engaged an external person. I don't know if that was an AFL person or an outside consultant. To be fair, I thought the 2020 FD review was very good. It resulted in a more appropriate organisation structure and made some badly needed personnel changes. imv the error was the choice of personnel replacements .

Re this "It's not just about performance on the field, it's about what you contribute off the field too" I think some facts around Christian's off field contributions have been forgotten. Some that I am aware of: In 2016 before Christian had even played a single game he befriend a young lad, Lucas Peters, at training. . Lucas suffered from MDT. Their friendship continued and Christian kept in touch with him, and made his dream come true - Christian invited him to the 2021 GF. In 2023 Christian took a road trip with Kozzie to Raukken - The Meeting Place. to better understand Kozzie's background and indigenous culture In 2024 Christian befriended 4 yo, Eddie at training. There are various videos of the two of them together. In this link is an adorable and entertaining video of them. https://www.instagram.com/melbournefc/reel/C5k6sR1yiAw/ I'm not suggesting the above deeds are anything special as many players contribute to fans and the community in a variety of ways. But they shouldn't be forgotten when comparing him to other players be they mfc or other teams. I get folks are angry. I am too. And I'm not happy with how he has conducted himself over recent weeks. Nonetheless, it doesn't imv, wipe out all the good he has done and the joy he has brought fans on and off the field over the years. I hope everyone's anger eases soon and a more balanced narrative develops around him.

Small world, eh! Very sad day when The Conti closed down.

Agree 100%, dc At one stage, I worked for a large Management Consulting company and what you describe was the client's MO every single time, - regardless of the industry or size. imv, an organisation wide review should be commissioned by the Board. If the scope is narrower then Pert but hopefully it is organisation wide.

That brings back memories. In the 90's I would see his and other muso's concerts ( Vikka and Linda Bull, Vince Jones (until he lost the plot) , Archie Roach etc) at The Continental (The Conti) in Prahran. A little gem of a place; small room with cabaret style layout: tables near the low stage and a few stools at the bar to the rear. I chuckle that today, Paul Kelly is famous among the young brigade! Not sure if they have musical heroes of their own generation...🤷‍♀️

Yeah, little Atticus is special. The little kids in my life are Pies supporters or Bulldogs ... shame. Glad you like the new pic of 'my boy'. Thought it was time for a McVee update. I love the new pic; he is in full flight and moves so gracefully.

I'll be renewing my two Redleg memberships and hoping for more day games. A delightful part of day games is a little 4 yo named Atticus who sits nearby. Little Atticus and I hi-5 every goal and when we win (we always do when he goes) he stands on the seat and belts out A Grand Old Flag as loud as his little lungs allow. All the while he is dancing just like in 'Happy Feet'. He is a joy to behold.

@Demonland Change of title and move thread to the main board, please. It was all so 'much ado about nothing' !!!

The last line is interesting. My interpretation is senior players are not getting enough support and/or not ok with some FD decisions ... ?

It was a drive-by sniper comment. Until recently we had Toby Bedford and have never shied away from recruiting indigenous players or NGA players. Maybe he should produce a ladder of which clubs has the most indigenous players !!! He needs to get his facts right. I totally trust @WalkingCivilWar report that Ardu's sister lives in Melbourne not Kozzie's sister as Ralph reported. Also, iirc Kozzie's mother sadly passed away in SA several years ago where as he says she lives 3 hrs from Perth. Ralph like many of his cohorts is an 'unreliable witness reporter. Worth keeping this handy when reading their reports. Edit: My bad: thanks to @Dee Boys for clarifying it was Kozzie's 'old Mum' who passed away. His Mum is in WA.

I heard Ralph's comments differently. I heard that: Christian and his partner have been driving this - via other reports this is correct Christian spoke with rival teammates - not that they both personally approached other clubs. Christian was even keen to talk with pro scouts and list bosses - not that they exhaustively approached pro scouts. I took 'keen to' to mean he wanted to but didn't. It was reported elsewhere that Christian consulted close confidants within the club and outside the club, which is his right. For example we know for a fact he had coffee with Lachie Neale. Doubt that was to discuss going to Brisbane. Unfortunately, Ralph generalises without context or back up. If I may say, we need to be really careful in paraphrasing what someone says as it can give negatively trigger people. I may have misheard Ralph so am happy to be corrected. In the meantime I encourage people to listen to OTC before getting into Christian and his partner.

Yep, they should have named the premiership medal after him. I vaguely recall reading some clubs objected to that as it would be linked to a particular player/team, conveniently ignoring that he played/coached 10 premierships in 17 appearances. Played for or coached 4 clubs in two states. If some clubs objected I know which didn't: Melbourne, Carlton, North and Sydney.