Likewise here I must admit, it’s obviously an operational issue rather than something the board would influence but I’ll find out more about it before attempting to answer.
Very unfair given everyone’s circumstances are different. I gave up my AFL Membership during the saga but totally understand why people buy them, it’s a compelling package. Each to their own I say.
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seems a lot of whinging about not being able to double dip grandifnal tix.
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Katie & Paul you have my vote and thanks for your input on our Blitz forum. It would be good to to have another female on the Board to keep Katie company. Nicole Waldron and Gai Williams have put their hat in the ring. We’ve heard briefly from Gai on this thread and I’ve read her Candidate Profile which is quite extensive, and having a Pharmacy background would get on well with Woosha. Haven’t heard much of Nicole other than her profile which suggests high level management, community and legal expertise. My question to you guys is the AFL womens competition disappointedly is minus the famous red sash. What steps will you be taking to address this situation ?
by which you mean she’s answered 1 question and none that have been directed at her specifically…
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Thanks for the support Blitzmenow - it’s always strange calling people by their handles!
I thoroughly look forward to the day that we have more woman on the board. We do have internal diversity goals and a diversity committee that are committed to ensuring diversity and parity in all areas of the football club. If we are to be top 4 in all areas, that should be one also.
The AFLW decision was incredibly disappointing. We were actually told by the AFL - and I’m sure no one minds me sharing this - that our proposal set a new standard for what AFLW proposals should be. It was thorough, well thought out, and looked at the pathway to AFLW, the AFLW career holistically and then career development and post AFLW opportunities. Everyone at the club was incredibly proud of what we put together. We are committed to delivering it.
Unfortunately the ruling around provisional licences came into play and we, alongside Hawthorn, were not given licences for the immediate future. We are, I believe, still awaiting direction on when the next round of licences will be available, and I’m sure we won’t be waiting long.
In the mean time I hope to see us create and become a ‘football factory’ for AFLW players via our VFLW team. I want to see us bring the best talent from our NGA regions in Tiwi, West Arnhem and the north west corridor of Victoria together, train them and be extremely successful in the VFLW. I want out VFLW players to feel welcomed and as important as their male counterparts, and inevitably I want us to have a long list of young women desperate to come play in the inaugural Essendon AFLW team.
In short, I want to take the slogan ‘two pathways, one dream’ and make it a reality.
Success is the best way to prove a decision wrong.
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you don’t double dip, you have to chose either to obtain a ticket via the AFL allocation or via the Essendon allocation
in my case I am a full AFL member w/Essendon club support so am guaranteed a ticket via the AFL allocation if Essendon makes it, but my wife and 8 year old are Silver members and still 7-10 years away from full membership
in the past 2-3 years we’ve bought the Essendon Grand Final Guarantee so I automatically give up my AFL Grand Final ticket right via the AFL Member allocation (if Essendon make it) so can be together as a Family
but from 2018 silver club support AFL members get locked out under new Essendon rules and can’t purchase either the GFG or even go into the Essendon Priority 3 ballot which combined with the fact that AFL Silver members have no chance at all in getting a grand final ticket from the AFL Member allocation, the entire cohort of club support silver members are totally screwed now in not having even the minuscule chance of obtaining a Grand Final ticket via Essendon yet the club will happily take their $160-170 membership cost passed on by the AFL
Even the 4 game members get Priority 3 GF ballot & GFG access FFS
Hi. Pharmacy ownership and management skills - admittedly these might have been more useful a few years ago! However they still add value. Board skills - I was the first female chair of Guardian Pharmacies Australia and I currently serve as deputy chair on the Board of our 2 local Bendigo Community banks. An attitude that every member matters from a 3 game member to a top coterie member-our club survived the last few years largely due to nearly 70,000 members joining up and turning up. They should be recognised and rewarded and catered for with affordable club functions. Of course the club management played a big part too! A female perspective encompassing customer service, player family nurturing and membership value. Need to improve communication from some departments within the club. Strategy, planning, governance, community, on-field performance and finance are important skills to have but retaining and gaining more passionate members has to be a focus - just look at the Tiger Army!
Bert. This is an AFL person who had to leave because of an affair with a young female staff member and he admits that. I just think it would be an inappropriate appointment at this time… What if it happens again-we have a women’s VFL team and looking to obtain a licence for a women’s AFL team plus I don’t know what player’s parents would think plus he has no experience in this role. You may think I am being a real female here but I can live with that. I am sure there will be other candidateswith impressive credentials.
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I would push to reject him based on his past admitted behaviour - this is not innuendo but fact. I may be playing the girl card but the risk is great.
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I didn’t know about this either and will make some enquiries. My guess would be that as membership grows, the ability to guarantee enough grand final tickets decreases. I have a friend who is a Collingwood supporter (I know - poor bugger). He always had a guaranteed grand final ticket but that has now been removed from his membership. I was also unaware that new members cannot purchase permanent seats to away games. They have to purchase them week by week. I am never giving up my reserved seat membership for both home and away games!!.
Actually I have answered all the questions addressed specifically to me.
That’s the misconception though, it’s not a double dip at all. A Silver AFL Member is no chance at getting a GF ticket, just ask the same Richmond club support members this year. Granted, category 3 club ballot chances are slim also. I guess it’s the clubs way of trying to get AFL & MCC members back into club memberships instead.
But what about the donuts Gai?
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You choose to give your money to the AFL and have some of that go to the club. Others choose to give the entirety of their membership cost to the club.
I understand there are a wide variety of benefits to the AFL membership that the club can’t match, so fair enough if that is the option that you wish to pursue, but I don’t think you can’t be angry at the club for not bending over backwards to help you (or your family given their silver AFL membership) get Grand Final tickets.
If Grand Final tickets for an Essendon GF are your #1 priority, the club has membership options that will service that. It’s your choice whether that is worth giving up your AFL membership perks for, or purchase on top of your AFL membership.
You want the best of both worlds. This is understandable, but unrealistic as club and AFL membership numbers continue to increase without venue sizes also increasing.
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All I want is club support members to be treated equally as they have been in the past since the day dot
Essendon on one hand can’t take our membership money and give us everything that goes along with being an Essendon Flexi 11 member but then on the other hand say to us “sorry go buy an Essendon membership” (where we already have one and they should know that) and being told to buy pointless duplicate memberships just to get in the Priority 3 GF Ballot queue
The slyness of it all gets me … if we didn’t have the GFG pack add-on and got a rejection/refund e-mail last week, we would never know of this change. The club better get extra staff to handle the abuse if Essendon make the Grand Final as there will be 8000 odd irate Essendon AFL silver club support members (all of whom are voters) calling in unison asking why can’t they register for Priority 3 GF ballot
Why should they be treated equally?
You claim that the AFL gives the club $160 from your membership as the AFL has decided that is the base cost of a club membership. An 11 game flexi membership from the club costs $190, so presumably at a minimum you are paying them $30 less than a club member. That’s presuming you are correct about your $160.
AFL membership with club support is not the same as a regular club membership to the club, notwithstanding your voting rights etc.
In any case, this conversation should probably be moved to your other thread, rather than being here if the mods feel like moving my posts :).
To all candidates: Is the almost complete lack of recruitment of indigenous players of concern to you?
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Hi!
Not a concern no. I would be more concerned if we were recruiting players purely based on their background and not on talent or needs if I’m honest.
Having said that, the future looks incredibly bright. Our NGA areas of West Arnhem and Tiwi have so incredibly strong talent coming through - and I’m not even talking about the Benfti age group.
Last year I went up to Maningrida as part of the clubs community trip as I wanted a closer view of how we could improve and give back more in our academy areas. Some great learnings came back, mostly around trying to keep a 12 month presence in the area rather than popping in once or twice a year.
We held a whole day football clinic for the kids of every year level, and let me tell you - the talent! And the girls! Some of the girls could kick the ball better then the boys in the same year.
The real key, and challenge for our academies team as they work through how the operations will work in the area, is how we create supportive pathways for these kids as they get older, and how we support their whole family unit as they progress in their careers. One of the reasons I am incredibly proud of the clubs relationship with The Long Walk and why we must continue to strengthen our relationships with our local and national indigenous communities to ensure we know what we need to provide a pathway to success for every player that enters our football club, no matter what race or religion.
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Thanks Katie… The question wasn’t so much directed at you because I know you have answered it earlier on and have put a lot of time and effort into NT. This is the major reason I will vote for you once more (that and your engagement with the supporters which has changed whether there is an election or not).
I too don’t think players should be chosen “purely based on their background” but it does concern me very much our lack of recruitment of indigenous players. On our list now we have Walla - who, lets be honest, almost recruited himself, and Jake Long via father and son. You can’t tell me that there have been no other ‘best available’ indigenous players we could have picked up over a number of seasons now.
Hopefully you are right and this will change. But I have to say, I am extremely disappointed that we didn’t select one in this draft…