4 wins on ANZAC Day.
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I’ll preface this by saying that Merrett is a stud and I love him.
But, what he lacks (and we as a club) is a leader who makes others around them better. We just don’t have THE guy who will bring the best out of players around them.
Hopefully he gets there.
We haven’t had a player good enough to say “■■■■ you, I’ll do it by myself” and drag us over the line since Hirdy.
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A serious misstep at that time was Docklands. Graeme McMahon told us how great it would be to have a ground full of bomber fans. After all the national initiatives, we suddenly wanted to be a big fish in a small pond.
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People are, quite rightly, piissed off and reserve the right to voice it loudly and regularly.
On a personal level, I was a member (with seat) from 1994 to 2023… a nice, round 30 years. At an average of 700 bucks a year, that’s an investment of roughly 21,000 spondulicks.
For one flag, a handful of wasted opportunities and, frankly, a whole pile of shitt (along with with an increasingly unbearable match-day experience).
I can cop not winning many flags… law of averages tell you we should win one every 18 years, all things being equal. They’re not handed out like lollies… they’re bloody hard to win.
What I resent entirely is wasting my money on a poorly-run enterprise which lurches from one catastrophe to another, which doesn’t learn from its mistakes, which has no hunger or desire, and which is content to simply exist, congraulating itself over its 16 cups from days long gone. A fat, bloated, lazy relic which coasts its way through season after season.
If there was another palatable option I probably would’ve looked elsewhere by now.
We are lamentable… there is just no other way of putting it. To pretend otherwise is delusional.
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Go away then, grump.
Agreed. I still hold out hope that things will one day change.
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I was a huge fan, still am of McMahon. But that was his greatest mistake. In hindsight, it was a terrible decision.
I can accept being ■■■■ for a few years and going through a rebuilding period, thats part of the game. But when you’re constantly ■■■■ for 2 decades and cant even win a single final or finish in the top third of the ladder, it all gets a little bit tiresome and boring. No wonder people are over this clubs bullshit, stop trying to justify it.
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It’s our fault as members really. We’ve got largely the same board as we’ve had for 20 years, sure there’s a few different people on it but the people are all appointees of previous failed administrations.
As members we are too complacent, we let the people that presided over one of the biggest fuckups in Australian corporate governance history convince us that it was ASADA and the AFL to blame, not them.
We should have torn the whole administration down in 2013 and started again with fresh people and fresh ideas. Gone out and seen what the better clubs were doing both locally and internationally and built something better. Instead we let them fix the shitbox they’d created with gaffa tape and WD40.
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I don’t think this is entirely true. Once the “please forgive us” stuff from the saga ran its course we as a membership base for the most part have been very vocal
These people voted Sheedy back on the board and would continue to do so even if he was 95. They’d probably vote Dodo onto the board too if given the chance
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Good points. Though I would argue in Barham and Vozzo we are seemingly for the first time in 18+ years, not in denial we have deep and entrenched cultural shortcomings that have led to on field failure and are steadfast in their determination to fix it. I’m more confident in systemic change this time and I think we have good evidence supporting this. A reorganised board, new football director, President, CEO and Footy Ops Manager. And the external review.
My only concerns with are that the Club has seemingly decided to go into a cocoon and this has maintained the introverted and less aggressive persona which I can’t stand. Appearing happy to not play an influential role in the games direction, not being bold, aggressive or picking fights when they need to be fought. I hope these characteristics reemerge and Essendon returns to being a strong and powerful football club. Both on and off field.
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These people? You mean members?
Apathy is the problem… we continually whinge and moan but very few vote or choose not to sign up.
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Dodo’s board appointment (or nomination) after he’s officially left the club will end me
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No point in signing up anyway when the club takes us for absolute fools year in year out, so why bother
We did…….and we built Tullamarine facility!
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The following quotes taken from the article below, may shine a light on some of the cultural issues left over from the saga.
“I reckon my leadership went to another level since. To be honest, I reckon I’m a far better person for that experience.
“It’s hard to know what my footy career would have done, it may have given me extra drive and focus towards my footy."
“One thing I will say, I wouldn’t change a thing about the way I went about it and the way I held myself.”
“Just keep checking in and making sure they were in a good headspace to be able to, not only being able to continue with footy, but more so just be happy with life and enjoy that year out of footy.”
I don’t think we will see an aggressive Essendon Football Club until every last member of the administration that oversaw the ‘supplements saga’ is gone. But I do agree that Barham and Vozzo have taken a really positive step and are finally focusing on the one aspect of the program that actually matters, ie the football department.
Imagine if we got our first choice CEO, the banker, instead of a football CEO. Omg. Marketing department would have been flush with funds.
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