Sharp Axes

[Danjul]

Re: Sharp Axes

Unless a new/emboldened leader that sits above Bevo winds back his responsibilities for him.

Agree that there's always going to be a natural blurring and expanding of responsibilities, but I don't think that just because that's how it's been, means that's how it has to be going forward.

If a review finds that Bevo has been too involved in list management or too involved in areas of the football program where his input isn't helpful, I'd expect a strong leader above Bevo to remove him from those conversations and enforce that. Tough job? Yes. Do we have the right people in the building to make it happen? I'm not sure. But if a review finds that will help the football club, I'd expect strong leaders to make that happen and frankly I'd expect Beveridge to bite his tongue and live with it. He doesn't have the credits in the bank anymore to challenge it.

That is the way out of this mess. Just do it.

The main problems start disappearing tomorrow.

The harmony starts appearing in December.

The players start mastering the new game plan in February.

The on field success starts in game one.


Now our only problem is - do we have a leader that knows anything about football?

[Mantis]

Re: Sharp Axes

That is the way out of this mess. Just do it.

The main problems start disappearing tomorrow.

The harmony starts appearing in December.

The players start mastering the new game plan in February.

The on field success starts in game one.

Now our only problem is - do we have a leader that knows anything about football?

Who is this directed at?

[Danjul]

Re: Sharp Axes

Who is this directed at?

Whoever in the club structure that is responsible for its success.

That is the person who sits everyone around the table and says- this is what we are going to do.

They follow it up with- this is why.

[Mantis]

Re: Sharp Axes

Whoever in the club structure that is responsible for its success.

That is the person who sits everyone around the table and says- this is what we are going to do.

They follow it up with- this is why.

And who the **** is that?

I think you're trying to reference our president, but rather than me, and others having to guess can't you just name them?

[GVGjr]

Re: Sharp Axes

Do we really, and I mean really know what power Bevo wields???

I think it's safe to assume it's not as much as it might have been a couple of years back and it's likely to reduce just a bit further as well. Losing Smith when he wanted to keep him is a strong sign that the dynamics have switched just a bit.

[Danjul]

Re: Sharp Axes

And who the **** is that?

I think you're trying to reference our president, but rather than me, and others having to guess can't you just name them?

I don?t know the exact responsibilities of each member of the organisation. One or more have a practical overarching power. They can make a decision which sticks. The sooner they do it the better because, one way or another, they are losing time and the eventual response will be more damaging to the club.

my initial comment was in response to. - leader who sits above Bevo.

If you know who best matches my description please supply the name.

[Bornadog]

Re: Sharp Axes

I don?t know the exact responsibilities of each member of the organisation. One or more have a practical overarching power. They can make a decision which sticks. The sooner they do it the better because, one way or another, they are losing time and the eventual response will be more damaging to the club.

my initial comment was in response to. - leader who sits above Bevo.

If you know who best matches my description please supply the name.

Chris Grant is director of Footy

[angelopetraglia]

Re: Sharp Axes

Taken from https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...65eb86bd29e1b2

9TH: WESTERN BULLDOGS

The coaching department rejig has already started with Rohan Smith gone and Marc Webb likely to head back to Perth to reunite with his wife Lisa, the Fremantle AFLW coach.

So, for footy boss Chris Grant, it is time to loosen the purse strings and hunt for an absolutely elite tactical coach to add depth alongside current senior assistant Brendon Lade, who is well regarded.

Is it a Justin Leppitsch type, or Andrew McQualter if he falls out of contention for Richmond?s senior job?

Luke Beveridge should hop on a flight to Brisbane at the earliest opportunity post-finals and have a coffee with Josh Dunkley to find out every reason behind him leaving. After 12 months he might be prepared to be more open than about his exit.

Board member Luke Darcy painted his departure as nothing more than a change of scenery on Friday night, but no one believes that is true.

He grew tired of some teammates who were not as professional as he was.

So, have every one of his concerns been addressed in the past 12 months?

There are rumblings from players that the Beveridge message did not have the snap, crackle and pop of recent seasons, so the coach will have to take that on board.

The Dogs have shut down talk of trading Bailey Smith, who played high half-forward for much of the year.

Amid the smoke and mirrors this much is true ? he clearly believes he should be playing more midfield, so it is up to Beveridge to communicate to him the areas of his game he must work on to allow that to happen next year.

Clearly that is a work in progress, given he is considering his future.

One more query: if the Dogs haven?t asked the question of Eagles defender Jeremy McGovern to help round out their defence, why not?

[angelopetraglia]

Re: Sharp Axes

Do we really buy that Bevo doesn't know the real reason why Dunks left the club?

[azabob]

Re: Sharp Axes

Do we really buy that Bevo doesn't know the real reason why Dunks left the club?

Surely he would.

[macca]

Re: Sharp Axes

Has the author been reading woof ?

[Grantysghost]

Re: Sharp Axes

Do we really buy that Bevo doesn't know the real reason why Dunks left the club?

Because Andrew hates him.

[angelopetraglia]

Re: Sharp Axes

Link: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...ab2c38938ab095

Robbo: Dogs need review of their whole footy department, including Chris Grant

The Bulldogs will review their 2023 season, but that can’t stop at Luke Beveridge’s coaching group, they must look at the man running their footy department as well, writes Mark Robinson. August 28, 2023 - 6:06PM

The unwavering support for Luke Beveridge cannot stop a full-blown review of a season that ended with a whimper and disappointment.

The Bulldogs have problems and a review will determine the extent of them, however monumental or minuscule they are.

But problems they are.

On field, the Bulldogs don’t even tease anymore. They are flash without substance. A team which had top four hopes and nothing to show for it. The list needs work.

The off-field component also needs examination and how deep that runs is up to the Bulldogs.

But the review has to look at all aspects of the footy department, including head of football and club icon Chris Grant, the coaching set up and recruiting.

The simple — and likely — solution is to have Grant review the footy and chief executive Ameet Bains to review Grant.

The other solution is to bring in an external person, say a Jason Dunstall or Geoff Walsh, to review Grant, talk to the players and staff, and then report to Bains.

It’s not an emergency or crisis move, it’s a move to help identify any problems with the environment, reporting practices and player concerns that otherwise remain subdued.

It’s not about blowing up the club, it’s about improving the club.

And there’s no shame in employing fresh eyes.

The person could look and listen. Speak to the captain, speak to the experienced Liam Jones about his expectation versus reality and speak to outgoing assistants Rohan Smith and Marc Webb.

Even speak to those who previously wanted out of the club and about why.

If they’d care to share, have meetings with assistant coaches who departed in recent years, like Ash Hansen, Joel Corey, Stephen King and Jordan Russell.

It’s not a witch hunt. It’s an exploration. Why did they leave? Was it because of Beveridge or even Grant, or is it less sinister than that?

Also, learn why Lachie Hunter left, and Zaine Cordy and Josh Dunkley. Two of them are father-sons. It’s rare for sons of past players, who have barracked for the club all their lives, to want out. One maybe. But two?

Change has begun and will continue.

Smith, a long-time lieutenant of Beveridge’s is out the door. Beveridge didn’t like it, which prompted suggestions of conflict with Grant and Bains.

Those pedalling that conflict can’t have it both ways. They accuse Beveridge of having too much power, and that no one at the club stands up to him, and then scream crisis when the club actually stands up to the coach.

And the other suggestion that Smith’s sacking derailed the season surely is poppycock. If the players use that as an excuse, there’s more issues than we thought.

The Bulldogs on Monday indicated the review would be run internally.

“We’re aware we need to improve in the off-season to bridge the gap between where we are and where we need to be,” Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains said on Monday night.

“Our job now is to definitively identify where we can find that improvement and make the required changes.

“That process started earlier in the season, and will continue now as we work through the early stages of the post-season.

“With the strength of leadership we have within our club, and the intimate knowledge of our people and processes, we are confident we can make the adjustments that we require.”

The list needs work. The top-end talent is there, but there’s too much bottom-end battlers. Like, there’s six colonels and 16 soldiers.

The best list in the competition? That was a joke comment surely.

Former recruiter Simon Dalrymple was another to take off. He built the 2016 list and is doing a pretty good job with Sydney’s list. Why did he leave? Was it about opportunity or would he no longer work with Grant or Beveridge? Go ask him?

This year, there were injuries, and they did lose five games by seven points or fewer, but questions remain on players such as Jack Macrae and Bailey Smith.

Macrae fell off a cliff this year and Smith might fall out of the club. What’s their mindset?

The players have their exit meetings Tuesday, so grievances will be heard and questions will be asked.

Will Smith be totally honest? He had a great working — and personal — relationship with former club doctor, Jake Landsberger. Does he have the same comfortableness and honesty at present?

That’s not an accusation, it’s a question.

And if he wants out for “another environment’’ then why?

Who cares what the Bulldogs call their review, be it exploratory or semi-crisis, because that’s not the point.

And it’s not about circling wagons and soldiering on.

Fresh eyes can be a winner.

[angelopetraglia]

Re: Sharp Axes

"Will Smith be totally honest? He had a great working — and personal — relationship with former club doctor, Jake Landsberger. Does he have the same comfortableness and honesty at present?"

Has anyone heard anymrore about this? The relationhship with the medical team is an issue? Compared to what he had with Jake?

[Rocket Science]

Re: Sharp Axes

Hindsight, huh.

Unpacking Johnno's recent remarks and chiefly his concerns around effort levels and application invariably draws the mind to the bloke who vacated the #5 jumper, who we've disowned and by all means stuff him, but whose game was anchored by a certain consistency of output and rigid standards he regrettably continues to meet and who'll almost certainly finish top-3 in the Lion's B&F for his efforts, if he doesn't win it outright, and maybe another flag too, the bastard.

It's a bitter pill when your club champion walks out because on top of losing a crucial soldier it's also a pointed comment on the state of the place and its culture that should prompt frank questions, and perhaps it did, but you wonder whether we were comfier pinning most of it on a discarded problem child in Hunter rather than seizing it as a moment for some collective hard reflection, lessons gleaned and rededicating ourselves, galvanised, but as we bag and tag yet another season of promise turned to piss against a wall it sure doesn't feel that way.

So if Dunkley left convinced we weren't generally 'serious' enough we're looking pretty bereft of counter-arguments because the team he fled still refuses to heed painful lessons and recent weeks are just the freshest, forehead smacking demonstration of it.

Extreme unreliability. Conditionality. Shrinking in the moment. Easy prey for opponents willing to do the hard things we won't, not consistently at least. We've been witness to it for long enough that it's now a calcified trait of this team that's made an art of tripping over its own balls while torching chance after rueful chance to stamp itself as 'serious' rather than completely unserious and utterly untrustworthy, while we comfort ourselves with the notion that 'oh but if we get rolling, look out ..." Truly the hallmark of serious teams through the ages.

When does the catalogue of humblings haunt and motivate this group enough to trigger a response that's isn't taking the very next chance to redeem themselves and faithfully choking on it?

Where's the growth or hunger distilled from the countless clownish ways we've played dead at the worst moments, rather than the sense we'll happily do it again, and again, and learn nothing.

It's this feckless refusal to learn that makes this team nigh on insufferable and it's the feeble, foreseeable ways they buckle as much as the outcomes that fuel the dislike. It's hardly as if we're unused to battling. It's in our DNA. But with a some rare exceptions it's hard to recall a bunch in our colours I've felt less endeared to and it transcends matters of talent or tactics, it's character. It's a vibe. And fine, put aside the extent to which we care or don't, but they routinely play with so little care for each other.

So, do we accept the vacuous mercenary might've been onto something?

Maybe the penny drops when he's holding up a Norm Smith.