gameplans

I had the great experience of watching a game recently with two great Melbourne people, both of whom have had a profound influence on my life.

Has our game produced any greater stories than Ron Barassi and Jim Stynes?

I wrote the following in the weeks after I started back as CEO of Melbourne in late 2008. Whilst clearly progress has been made since I penned this, and this season reinforced the direction we are taking to build our team, importantly we are also creating a seamlessness between past, present and future. Heritage as it relates to hope, a constant for 152 years.

This is what I wrote in October 2008…

A few weeks ago I had reason to entertain an overseas guest at the MCG. It was the Monday after the Grand Final, and our guest who had never been to the MCG nor seen a live game of AFL football, remarked how he was amazed that the streets of Melbourne had been so empty that previous Saturday afternoon. 

He watched the game on the television, and was smitten.

Our game does that, and has been doing so for a century and a half.

As we wandered around the cathedral of sport, we came across the Jamie Cooper painting depicting the Melbourne Team of the Century that hangs in the MCC members.

We explained to our guest that the man who stands in the front of the young players is Norm Smith. Not only was Norm coach of the Melbourne Team of the Century, he was also coach of the AFL team of the Century. He is the greatest coach our game as produced.

Norm Smith also sits amongst the players. So great were his coaching exploits, it often forgotten he was a champion player before he became a champion coach.

As a player, Norm formed a close friendship with Ron Barassi. I am sure they would have celebrated the birth of his son, Ronald Dale Barassi in 1936, the year that Ron Snr debuted for the Demons. Tragically Ron Barassi Senior was killed in Tobruk in 1941, the first VFL footballer to lose his life in WWII. Ron Junior was left fatherless as a young child. It is now part of football folklore that Norm Smith helped fill this breach and young Ron lived with the Smith family in his formative teenage years.

Ron Barassi Jnr sits near the young Norm Smith in the Team of Century painting, for he was to become arguably Melbourne’s greatest player in the Norm Smith coached teams. He was also the first man to wear the moniker ‘Super Coach’ so great were his exploits as a mentor of Premiership teams. Is there a more famous name in the game?

As a player, Ron toured Ireland with a team famously named the Galahs. He was taken by the talent of the Gaelic footballers, and in particular their ability to transition to our game. As is Ron’s want, he simply asked “Why couldn’t they?”.

He returned to Ireland fifteen years later and returned with a tall skinny youngster who could run like Forrest Gump. That youngster went on to win a Brownlow and play a remarkable 244 games in a row. Jim Stynes sits in the back row in the painting, respectful, in the same team as a young Norm Smith and Ron Barassi.

Today Jim Stynes stands before you as President of the Melbourne Football Club.

Our overseas guest was captured by this story, the same way as generations of Melbourne supporters have. Norm Smith first stepped nervously into the Melbourne changerooms in the mid 1930’s and Jim Stynes assumes the role of President over 70 years later, at a time of absolute need. Three great men who established three great legacies - and with more to come.

For all of us, a significant part of our heritage is tied to the Melbourne Football Club. This is the reason Jim stepped into the role of President and the reason I have taken the role of CEO. Without wanting to sound indulgent, the Melbourne Football Club has provided me with moments so memorable and meaningful that I measure every other moment against them.

Our club does that, and has been doing so for a century and a half.

These however are difficult times.

Without putting too fine a point on it, for the Melbourne Football Club it is a question of survival. Simply, the cumulative effect of the club’s inability to develop and sustain a successful business model in the era of professional sport has placed the club in a most precarious position. This remains our greatest challenge.

The appointment of Jim Stynes as President has already been a catalyst for change. He has put together a Board that both reflects and complements him. The Board echoes his values as a person, but also recognises that a modern football club requires a broad range of skills and expertise from very committed individuals. They are bound by their values and an overwhelming loyalty and devotion to the Melbourne Football Club.

Jim and the Board have created hope, and with that the prospect of unity, evidenced by a Debt Demolition programmes that generated $3m in a few months. The next stage must focus on performance - across the organisation.

Since becoming CEO of Melbourne, I have been asked many times about some of the concepts and initiatives that have been spoken about in recent years. All of these will be reviewed, in the context of the vision of the current administration and not simply because they seemed like good ideas at the time.

Central to our future is our relationship with the MCG. It still captures the generations, just as it did my overseas guest. Melbourne grew out of the stadium - it is central our identity, our sense of place - our home now and forever.

If the MCG is the paddock that grew, it is the Melbourne Football Club that cultivated it.

Over time this fact has been both the envy of others, but has become central to our struggles. Simply, what was once our competitive advantage has become our disadvantage. To survive, the Melbourne Football Club needs to reverse this position, and this is ultimately achievable and some very positive steps have been taken.

In terms of the football, we will be committed to establishing a great football team that represents much more than simply assembling talent. We must find the resources to support Dean Bailey and Chris Connolly and our young team in this regard. We cannot be compromised by lack of funding and poor facilities.

By working collectively, we are convinced that the Melbourne Football Club will not only survive, it will be recognised as one of the game’s greatest success stories.

And we will celebrate together.

On draft day Melbourne will have the first selection. We will call out a name and he will be presented with a Melbourne jumper. It will have number 4 on the back. It was the number worn by Norm Smith. The proudest heritage - the most exhilarating future.