Peter Jackson helping Dogs with review

[Grantysghost]

Message from KWW.


With that mission in mind, Club CEO Ameet Bains will be undertaking an additional process of reviewing various aspects of the administration, operation and integration of the AFL men?s program, the program?s overarching environment and how the Club best maximises the opportunities of on-field success. This is an important step that will benefit the AFL men?s program, our players and our staff.

To gain additional perspective, the Club has engaged experienced football administrator Peter Jackson to assist with this further process.

Peter has extensive leadership and high-performance expertise built on his 30 years working across a range of senior executive, Board and management consulting roles, including two successful decades in the AFL industry as CEO of both the Essendon and Melbourne Football Clubs, as well as serving as Chairman of AFL Victoria.

Peter will provide his advice to Club leadership outlining his perspective on our men?s program and any recommendations he has for enhancing our AFL team's future success, which we will consider, and share relevant details of in due course.

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Full message

To our Bulldogs members and fans,

At the conclusion of the AFL men’s season, the Club spoke of our ongoing process to identify improvements to the AFL program to underpin our future success. We started a process during the latter stages of the 2023 season and ramped up the day after our season’s conclusion.

Through the process, and some organic shifts that can be expected at the end of a season, several changes have been made to our AFL program to strengthen our football department, as shared in recent weeks.

Key people we have welcomed to the Club recently include Matt Egan (Coaching & Performance Manager), Daniel Pratt (Backline & Defensive Systems coach), Jarryn Geary (Development & Player Leadership coach), Alex Johnson (Development Coach), Daniel Duvnjak-Zaknich (Head of Physical Performance) and Dr Anthony Hipsley (Chief Medical Officer).

This comes on top of the on-field changes that saw the Club welcome players James Harmes and Nick Coffield during the AFL Trade Period, in addition to securing a top five pick in the upcoming National Draft, a selection that will headline the Club’s acquisition of another talented group of young players that should include father-son prospect Jordan Croft.

With the significance and depth of these changes, combined with the exciting new football facilities arising from the transformational redevelopment of Whitten Oval, we now need to ensure these changes seamlessly translate into the operation of the most effective, integrated and high-performing AFL men’s program possible for our 2024 season.

With that mission in mind, Club CEO Ameet Bains will be undertaking an additional process of reviewing various aspects of the administration, operation and integration of the AFL men’s program, the program’s overarching environment and how the Club best maximises the opportunities of on-field success. This is an important step that will benefit the AFL men’s program, our players and our staff.

To gain additional perspective, the Club has engaged experienced football administrator Peter Jackson to assist with this further process.

Peter has extensive leadership and high-performance expertise built on his 30 years working across a range of senior executive, Board and management consulting roles, including two successful decades in the AFL industry as CEO of both the Essendon and Melbourne Football Clubs, as well as serving as Chairman of AFL Victoria.

Peter will provide his advice to Club leadership outlining his perspective on our men’s program and any recommendations he has for enhancing our AFL team’s future success, which we will consider, and share relevant details of in due course.

We look forward to our football staff and players returning to the Club for pre-season training in the coming weeks, as we prepare for the 2024 season.

Go Dogs.

[ReLoad]

Looks like that’s the end of Chris Grant.

[bornadog]

Just got the email, excellent work. Look forward to seeing improvements on field.

[Grantysghost]

Looks like that’s the end of Chris Grant.

Ha, will be very interesting to see what comes of it RL.

Hopefully it's transparent. Think that's what is required (within reason).

[GVGjr]

I know many supporters don't like change, or are resistant to it because of past experiences, but I've found all the changes we've done since the end of the 2023 season to be a real positive.
Full credit to Bains and Grant for reshaping the footy department and now KWW and Bains are looking at the wider scope of the club.
Done right, change can be a very good thing to reinvigorate a club. Jackson will be a good addition to focus on that work.

[MrMahatma]

So what actually is this reviewing? Grant? Power? Milesi? Amount spent on soft-cap / medicos etc?

IE: Everything not coaching related, but not CEO/Pres related?

[Eastdog]

Really good to hear from the president Kylie Watson Wheeler and that changes have been made in response to our recent season. Now for a big pre season going into 2024.

[GVGjr]

So what actually is this reviewing? Grant? Power? Milesi? Amount spent on soft-cap / medicos etc?

IE: Everything not coaching related, but not CEO/Pres related?

From a footy department perspective it appears that we believe that the club underachieved and have taken a number of steps to address that. I can't recall seeing as many changes in our footy department without the senior coach being replaced.
New assistant coaches, new development coaches, we've reintroduced a performance and coaching focus and have a new fitness boss and medical officer.

Now that the redevelopment of the Whitten Oval is close to being finalised the focus will be on trimming the admin team and ensuring all the supporting departments are working together and we've brought in an experienced person with a wealth of restructing experience to work with Bains to achieve that. That's a substantial project in itself. Jackson doesn't suffer fools and this review will be targeted on delivering results.
List management, recruiting and probably Chris Grants role might fall under the focus on Bains and Jackson.

I really appreciate the public acknowledgement that KWW has confirmed today and it's clearly now not one of those internal reviews that get conveniently swept under the carpet.

This will set expectations on the club to achieve results and that can only be a good thing.

[Grantysghost]

From a footy department perspective it appears that we believe that the club underachieved and have taken a number of steps to address that. I can't recall seeing as many changes in our footy department without the senior coach being replaced.
New assistant coaches, new development coaches, we've reintroduced a performance and coaching focus and have a new fitness boss and medical officer.

Now that the redevelopment of the Whitten Oval is close to being finalised the focus will be on trimming the admin team and ensuring all the supporting departments are working together and we've brought in an experienced person with a wealth of restructing experience to work with Bains to achieve that. That's a substantial project in itself. Jackson doesn't suffer fools and this review will be targeted on delivering results.
List management, recruiting and probably Chris Grants role might fall under the focus on Bains and Jackson.

I really appreciate the public acknowledgement that KWW has confirmed today and it's clearly now not one of those internal reviews that get conveniently swept under the carpet.

This will set expectations on the club to achieve results and that can only be a good thing.

Aflw review should follow.

[Twodogs]

Twodogs is excited.

[GVGjr]

From Code Sports

Western Bulldogs have backflipped and decided to call in external help to review their underperforming football department.

Chief executive Ameet Bains will run the review, but will seek assistance from long-time Essendon and Melbourne boss and AFL life member Peter Jackson.

The veteran administrator helped North Melbourne appoint Jennifer Watt as chief executive last year and is highly-respected in the football industry.

The Herald Sun understands Dogs No.1 ticketholder Alan Johnstone, 83, urged the club to conduct an external review after its failed season.

Johnstone, who has twice served as a board member and has long been treasured at Whitten Oval for his off-field contributions, was not bloodthirsty but simply wanting his beloved football club to maximise its potential.

It’s understood Bains told Johnstone, and other influential figures angling for an external review, that some rival clubs had paid huge sums of money for reviews and not gone on to be overly successful.

The Dogs believed in an internal review, where they could look each other in the eyes and sort things out.

But on Monday president Kylie Watson-Wheeler confirmed the fresh eyes of Jackson would be brought in.

“Bains will be undertaking an additional process of reviewing various aspects of the administration, operation and integration of the AFL men’s program, the program’s overarching environment and how the club best maximises the opportunities of on-field success,” Watson-Wheeler said.

“This is an important step that will benefit the AFL men’s program, our players and our staff.

“To gain additional perspective, the club has engaged experienced football administrator Peter Jackson to assist with this further process.

“Peter will provide his advice to club leadership outlining his perspective on our men’s program and any recommendations he has for enhancing our AFL team’s future success, which we will consider, and share relevant details of in due course.”

Assessing and potentially improving the environment looms as a critical component amid some whispers of tension at the kennel.

The Dogs boast what is widely regarded as a top-four list, but have failed to win a final in six of the past seven seasons.

This year they dropped a home game against wooden-spooner West Coast in round 23 to miss finals altogether for the first time since 2018.

Another dismal season would place significant pressure on football boss Chris Grant and coach Luke Beveridge.

But both figures were backed in by Bains and the board following the season.

With captain Marcus Bontempelli at the peak of his powers there is a sense of urgency to cash in and secure a second premiership quickly.

The Dogs collected the AFLW wooden spoon after a 1-9 season with a percentage of 53.8.

But Bains and Jackson will only focus on the men’s program in the review announced on Monday.

[ledge]

I’m a bit worried . What did Peter Jackson do at Essendon as they have nothing to show from him being there.

[Twodogs]

I’m a bit worried . What did Peter Jackson do at Essendon as they have nothing to show from him being there.

They have the 2000 premiership. He was there from 1996-2009. He modernized their finances and left them in a much better position off field than when he started. His only real own goal was the appointment of Matthew Knights.

But it was at Melbourne he performed the real miracle. Getting them stable enough to actually win a flag was a master stroke.

If anyone is going to look into the club and ask difficult questions then I can't think of a better person than Peter Jackson

[JanLorMill]

Strange timing. Make changes then do an external review.

[GVGjr]

Strange timing. Make changes then do an external review.

The footy department changes were signed-off a while back and this is more of a review given the redevelopment is in the final phase of aligning the rest of the club with the footy department.