GVGjr
11-02-2008, 06:34 AM
The rumours snapping at Dogs' heels (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23191054-5013459,00.html)
WESTERN BULLDOGS chairman David Smorgon is bemused. Every second day it appears there is a new rumour. Smorgon's gone, coach Rodney Eade will be gone, chief executive Campbell Rose is going. Going, going, gone. The dogs are barking.
Last week radio talkback had Eade with six weeks to prove himself or he would be out. Little matter that he has a couple of years left on his contract. Then came the scuttlebutt that Rose was stepping down today. Maybe because of business reasons, maybe because he had lost a power struggle between himself and Eade.
The Bulldogs board meets tomorrow and a new item is on the agenda. How does the club stop the football community talking such nonsense? Ignoring the rumours has not worked. Probably Smorgon, Eade and Rose need to call a news conference and answer everyone's questions.
Not your Ben Cousins-Anthony Mundine type of news conference. They are called boxing promotions. Where the host - in this case Mundine - says the issue they are about to discuss is so important and critical to the youth of the nation that no more than three questions can be asked of any of the panellists at the news conference. The gullible were taken in with the colour and movement. And the media list of sycophants grew some more.
There is no hiding that the Bulldogs went through some particularly awkward times at the end of the year. The season had been a poor one. Tipped by some experts to be the best team in Victoria and the one best placed to tackle the dominance of West Coast and Sydney, the Bulldogs won just nine games and finished 13th.
Worse, it was the manner of some of the losses. A 63-point loss to the Kangaroos in round 22, an 84-point loss to Hawthorn in round 21. Even Melbourne, which could win just five games for the season, beat the Bulldogs by 42 points in round 19.
The Bulldogs board called for a review of the football department. Critical problems were identified. Importantly a lack of communication, even good will, between the football department and the administration was palpable. So Smorgon and his board authorised a reorganisation of the administrative structure throughout the club.
Eade had been appointed director of coaching when he arrived at the club. That went well enough while the Bulldogs were learning to win again. The club had won just three games the season before Eade arrived at Whitten Oval. In his first season, Eade collected 11 wins, then 14 and a place in the finals in his second. And then came last year. Just nine wins brought grumblings and the review.
It didn't help that there was constant chatter that recruiting manager Scott Clayton was being wooed by Richmond. Ultimately, the club called in experienced recruiter James Fantasia to oversee the football department, including Eade and his coaches. He became the conduit between the football department and the administration and the board. Eade's role was restricted to coaching the senior team and Rose was given more scope to concentrate on strategic matters.
Smorgon could not give all the usual time to the club as he cared for his dying wife, Rosalyn. His wife, a much loved and respected woman, died in January. Last Friday, Smorgon called a meeting with Rose and Eade to address how the new systems and infrastructure was working.
"Rodney and Campbell are thrilled with the way things are working out," Smorgon said yesterday. While the chairman was full of optimism after the meeting, he immediately took two calls from the media about the pending dismissals of either Eade or Rose. "We are simply bemused," Smorgon said. As yet the club has not fingered those responsible for attempting to destabilise the club.
"We'll talk about it at Tuesday's board meeting," Smorgon said. "But we just don't know who is doing or why they are doing it."
When contacted by The Australian, Rose was cheekily offensive. He said he knew what the call was about but there had not been a fight between himself and the coach. Rose was going nowhere, nor was Eade. "I have got some unfinished business here with the redevelopment. I'm not going anywhere," Rose said. In fact, the club plans to announce another new community development this week.
It excites Smorgon. "We are going to put the Lexus Centre (Collingwood's home base) in the shade," he said. Fair enough, but first he must convince the community that Rose and Eade aren't wrapped in a death lock on the floor of the change rooms. And that is proving more than a little difficult.
WESTERN BULLDOGS chairman David Smorgon is bemused. Every second day it appears there is a new rumour. Smorgon's gone, coach Rodney Eade will be gone, chief executive Campbell Rose is going. Going, going, gone. The dogs are barking.
Last week radio talkback had Eade with six weeks to prove himself or he would be out. Little matter that he has a couple of years left on his contract. Then came the scuttlebutt that Rose was stepping down today. Maybe because of business reasons, maybe because he had lost a power struggle between himself and Eade.
The Bulldogs board meets tomorrow and a new item is on the agenda. How does the club stop the football community talking such nonsense? Ignoring the rumours has not worked. Probably Smorgon, Eade and Rose need to call a news conference and answer everyone's questions.
Not your Ben Cousins-Anthony Mundine type of news conference. They are called boxing promotions. Where the host - in this case Mundine - says the issue they are about to discuss is so important and critical to the youth of the nation that no more than three questions can be asked of any of the panellists at the news conference. The gullible were taken in with the colour and movement. And the media list of sycophants grew some more.
There is no hiding that the Bulldogs went through some particularly awkward times at the end of the year. The season had been a poor one. Tipped by some experts to be the best team in Victoria and the one best placed to tackle the dominance of West Coast and Sydney, the Bulldogs won just nine games and finished 13th.
Worse, it was the manner of some of the losses. A 63-point loss to the Kangaroos in round 22, an 84-point loss to Hawthorn in round 21. Even Melbourne, which could win just five games for the season, beat the Bulldogs by 42 points in round 19.
The Bulldogs board called for a review of the football department. Critical problems were identified. Importantly a lack of communication, even good will, between the football department and the administration was palpable. So Smorgon and his board authorised a reorganisation of the administrative structure throughout the club.
Eade had been appointed director of coaching when he arrived at the club. That went well enough while the Bulldogs were learning to win again. The club had won just three games the season before Eade arrived at Whitten Oval. In his first season, Eade collected 11 wins, then 14 and a place in the finals in his second. And then came last year. Just nine wins brought grumblings and the review.
It didn't help that there was constant chatter that recruiting manager Scott Clayton was being wooed by Richmond. Ultimately, the club called in experienced recruiter James Fantasia to oversee the football department, including Eade and his coaches. He became the conduit between the football department and the administration and the board. Eade's role was restricted to coaching the senior team and Rose was given more scope to concentrate on strategic matters.
Smorgon could not give all the usual time to the club as he cared for his dying wife, Rosalyn. His wife, a much loved and respected woman, died in January. Last Friday, Smorgon called a meeting with Rose and Eade to address how the new systems and infrastructure was working.
"Rodney and Campbell are thrilled with the way things are working out," Smorgon said yesterday. While the chairman was full of optimism after the meeting, he immediately took two calls from the media about the pending dismissals of either Eade or Rose. "We are simply bemused," Smorgon said. As yet the club has not fingered those responsible for attempting to destabilise the club.
"We'll talk about it at Tuesday's board meeting," Smorgon said. "But we just don't know who is doing or why they are doing it."
When contacted by The Australian, Rose was cheekily offensive. He said he knew what the call was about but there had not been a fight between himself and the coach. Rose was going nowhere, nor was Eade. "I have got some unfinished business here with the redevelopment. I'm not going anywhere," Rose said. In fact, the club plans to announce another new community development this week.
It excites Smorgon. "We are going to put the Lexus Centre (Collingwood's home base) in the shade," he said. Fair enough, but first he must convince the community that Rose and Eade aren't wrapped in a death lock on the floor of the change rooms. And that is proving more than a little difficult.