Sharp Axes

[Sedat]

Re: Sharp Axes

Even at the generous side, subconscious bias can stop us from seeing things. That’s why there’s Ombudsman’s, Inspector Generals, IBAC/ICAC’s to review things. Because sometimes you just can’t see what you’re surrounded by with everyday, and for positive change you need a dispassionate and independent analysis. Why would we not want that? Why would a club in a highly competitive environment not want to find every advantage and improvement possible? What is the harm of an independent review? Don’t members deserve to know that the club has taken this so seriously that it’s doing what many others clubs have done with success? I don’t get it. But it is what it is at this point.

It's virtually an admission that the 'thorough' internal review conducted 12 months earlier (by the same people no less) was little more than a press release and that we are really, actually, honestly doing an internal review this time, we promise.

It must be serious this time because the members even got a letter from the president.

[Grantysghost]

Re: Sharp Axes

It's virtually an admission that the 'thorough' internal review conducted 12 months earlier (by the same people no less) was little more than a press release and that we are really, actually, honestly doing an internal review this time, we promise.

It must be serious this time because the members even got a letter from the president.

This one? :

To our Bulldogs members,

As the dust settles on our 2023 AFL season, there’s no question we all have a sense of shared disappointment. You, our members, are incredibly passionate and rightly hold us to account. We don’t take this responsibility lightly.

We all expected to qualify for our fifth straight AFL finals series, and for a long period of the season, it looked like we would achieve that. The footy Gods delivered for us on Saturday when our team broke the 20-year drought with a win in Geelong, but as Sunday came around, it wasn’t to be.

It was a disappointing end to a season that held so much potential, and we take responsibility for the result.

As we look back on our year, ultimately it was inconsistency and missed opportunities that took their toll.

We know this is a game of small margins, and in the end we didn’t take enough of those chances when they presented themselves, despite putting ourselves in strong positions to win several close games.

The reality is, we didn’t meet our own expectations, or those of our members and fans.

However, despite the obvious disappointment, we saw some promising signs for our future.

Marcus Bontempelli led us with absolute distinction, Tim English emerged as the competition’s best ruckman, Tom Liberatore went to an even higher level, and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan announced himself as a future star.

Arthur Jones, James O’Donnell and Caleb Poulter made telling cameos as first year players, Liam Jones returned as a defensive rock, and we have the untapped ability of Sam Darcy to look forward to.

So, where to from here?

In this business, there’s no time to dwell on the past, or sit still. We must move on quickly, evaluate comprehensively, and put robust plans in place to improve.

Identifying improvements and making the necessary changes is key to our future success. That process started as the season was still running, and we ramped up the day after our season concluded.

During the season, we identified a need to analyse areas of our football program which we felt needed adjustments, to give our players the best chance to succeed. It means that there will be change in the off season. Our Board member Luke Darcy, Executive Director of Football Chris Grant, along with Ameet Bains and myself, will lead the difficult, but necessary changes.

There has been plenty of external talk about Luke Beveridge recently. As we’ve said publicly on numerous occasions, Bevo is contracted for the next two seasons, and we remain confident in his ability to lead this team. He has a strong track record of getting the best out of our playing group, managing a high performing team, and achieving success.

We have a deeply connected playing group - connected to both each other and their coach. I have the privilege of witnessing this personally.

The team has high expectations of themselves, and we are encouraged by their desire to lean in and provide feedback on how we need to improve. Sharing the responsibility of our performances with each other, the coaching group and the broader club. We are emboldened by their desire to turn our performance around quickly.

With the strength of leadership we have within our club, and the detailed understanding of our people and processes, we are confident we can make the adjustments that we require.

Bulldogs people are resilient, and we stick together in good times and bad. We’ve been doing so for over 140 years.

As we look ahead, we turn our attention to our VFL and AFLW teams.

Our VFL team won 10 straight games on its way to qualifying in sixth position on the ladder – a brilliant achievement. Footscray will take on the Casey Demons this Saturday, with 18 Bulldogs-listed players eligible to take the field.

A few hours later, our AFLW team kicks off its 2023 season against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium. After having tasted finals action in Season 7, we’re excited to see what our girls can achieve in the next few months.

In the second half of the women’s season, we look forward to welcoming you back to watch footy at VU Whitten Oval, which will be an exciting milestone for our club.

When our AFL players return to start their preparations for the 2024 season, they’ll come back to a transformed facility which will be the envy of the competition.

It will be a symbolic and energising new beginning for players and staff, as we start our climb back up the ladder.

As the AFL season ends, on behalf of the Club I’d like to thank our record 56,000 members for your ongoing support. You turned up to Marvel Stadium and Mars Stadium in massive numbers.

No-one at the Club, including the players, take your support for granted.

Thank you for being Bulldogs.

[Bullies]

Re: Sharp Axes

It?s a simple fix. Draft at least 5 kids per year and as many 1st rounders as possible.

One of Bevo?s strengths early on was playing random kids when they deserved a chance. The JUH/Darcy draft plus topping up with mature age low ceiling prospects has stopped that.

We could have the first 10 picks in next years draft the way the media are pushing that we will lose Smith, English and Naughton.

Would like to know how Geelong escape all the scrutiny. They won the flag last year and finished below us and have a list full of super rules players. Crickets.

[Bornadog]

Re: Sharp Axes

We could have the first 10 picks in next years draft the way the media are pushing that we will lose Smith, English and Naughton.

Would like to know how Geelong escape all the scrutiny. They won the flag last year and finished below us and have a list full of super rules players. Crickets.

Freo missed finals after making it last year and Sydney dropped out of top 4 - again crickets.

[Danjul]

Re: Sharp Axes

Now I'm unsure.

Solid is right yeah? Not outstanding, not terrible.

In fact we were 9th. So yeah solid

depends on the time frame.

The last half of the season was not solid.

It was a disgrace.

[Grantysghost]

Re: Sharp Axes

depends on the time frame.

The last half of the season was not solid.

It was a disgrace.

If we are talking goal kicking from set shots agree.

I think our problem was d50 and mid transition / delivery into the forwards not the machinations of the forward line itself.

[azabob]

Re: Sharp Axes

Why would Melbourne media talk about interstate clubs?

Personally I am glad the media is putting the heat on the club.

Finishing 9th in the manner we did is not acceptable.

[Sedat]

Re: Sharp Axes

This one? :

To our Bulldogs members,

As the dust settles on our 2023 AFL season, there’s no question we all have a sense of shared disappointment. You, our members, are incredibly passionate and rightly hold us to account. We don’t take this responsibility lightly.

We all expected to qualify for our fifth straight AFL finals series, and for a long period of the season, it looked like we would achieve that. The footy Gods delivered for us on Saturday when our team broke the 20-year drought with a win in Geelong, but as Sunday came around, it wasn’t to be.

It was a disappointing end to a season that held so much potential, and we take responsibility for the result.

As we look back on our year, ultimately it was inconsistency and missed opportunities that took their toll.

We know this is a game of small margins, and in the end we didn’t take enough of those chances when they presented themselves, despite putting ourselves in strong positions to win several close games.

The reality is, we didn’t meet our own expectations, or those of our members and fans.

However, despite the obvious disappointment, we saw some promising signs for our future.

Marcus Bontempelli led us with absolute distinction, Tim English emerged as the competition’s best ruckman, Tom Liberatore went to an even higher level, and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan announced himself as a future star.

Arthur Jones, James O’Donnell and Caleb Poulter made telling cameos as first year players, Liam Jones returned as a defensive rock, and we have the untapped ability of Sam Darcy to look forward to.

So, where to from here?

In this business, there’s no time to dwell on the past, or sit still. We must move on quickly, evaluate comprehensively, and put robust plans in place to improve.

Identifying improvements and making the necessary changes is key to our future success. That process started as the season was still running, and we ramped up the day after our season concluded.

During the season, we identified a need to analyse areas of our football program which we felt needed adjustments, to give our players the best chance to succeed. It means that there will be change in the off season. Our Board member Luke Darcy, Executive Director of Football Chris Grant, along with Ameet Bains and myself, will lead the difficult, but necessary changes.

There has been plenty of external talk about Luke Beveridge recently. As we’ve said publicly on numerous occasions, Bevo is contracted for the next two seasons, and we remain confident in his ability to lead this team. He has a strong track record of getting the best out of our playing group, managing a high performing team, and achieving success.

We have a deeply connected playing group - connected to both each other and their coach. I have the privilege of witnessing this personally.

The team has high expectations of themselves, and we are encouraged by their desire to lean in and provide feedback on how we need to improve. Sharing the responsibility of our performances with each other, the coaching group and the broader club. We are emboldened by their desire to turn our performance around quickly.

With the strength of leadership we have within our club, and the detailed understanding of our people and processes, we are confident we can make the adjustments that we require.

Bulldogs people are resilient, and we stick together in good times and bad. We’ve been doing so for over 140 years.

As we look ahead, we turn our attention to our VFL and AFLW teams.

Our VFL team won 10 straight games on its way to qualifying in sixth position on the ladder – a brilliant achievement. Footscray will take on the Casey Demons this Saturday, with 18 Bulldogs-listed players eligible to take the field.

A few hours later, our AFLW team kicks off its 2023 season against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium. After having tasted finals action in Season 7, we’re excited to see what our girls can achieve in the next few months.

In the second half of the women’s season, we look forward to welcoming you back to watch footy at VU Whitten Oval, which will be an exciting milestone for our club.

When our AFL players return to start their preparations for the 2024 season, they’ll come back to a transformed facility which will be the envy of the competition.

It will be a symbolic and energising new beginning for players and staff, as we start our climb back up the ladder.

As the AFL season ends, on behalf of the Club I’d like to thank our record 56,000 members for your ongoing support. You turned up to Marvel Stadium and Mars Stadium in massive numbers.

No-one at the Club, including the players, take your support for granted.

Thank you for being Bulldogs.

The bolded bits are concerning and reinforce that we did not actually conduct any serious internal review of note 12 months ago despite telling the footy world we did.

1. "We all expected to qualify for our fifth straight AFL finals series" - umm, no actually. The club's own publicly stated expectations have been to be a top 4 team contending for silverware since 2021.
2. "Identifying improvements and making the necessary changes" was sold as being done last year - this is gibberish.
3. "During the season, we identified a need to analyse areas of our football program which we felt needed adjustments" see point 2. Again, gibberish. We already supposedly went through this exact same internal process 12 months ago.

It's a slick enough letter in isolation (if a little Dunkley tortilla bland), but it is actually low-key quite disrespectful towards the members and fans who were given the same message 12 months earlier. The footy community aren't village idiots - we all know what we were sold 12 months earlier, as do the meedya. Does the club actually have the arrogance to believe that members and fans have all forgotten the "thorough internal review" from 12 months ago, and that it will all be different this time (even though the same people are reviewing the failure of the previous review to achieve the expectations that were set by the same people, and now those expectations have suddenly been watered down from top 4 to making finals by the same people)?

Would this letter even have seen the light of day if GWS lost on Sunday and we fell into finals?

[Rocket Science]

Re: Sharp Axes

If we are talking goal kicking from set shots agree.

I think our problem was d50 and mid transition / delivery into the forwards not the machinations of the forward line itself.

I feel like we're spoiled for choice but if asked to settle on just one way the forward line served us poorly it'd be their prodigious knack for allowing entries to swiftly boomerang straight out of there to the extent opponents often seemed unfussed conceding those entries with the confidence that if we didn't convert - and lets resist that rabbit hole for now - they'd get the ball back fairly promptly anyway, usually heading in the opposite direction with pace on it with our high press stuck in quicksand.

Granted a yuge part of it's personnel but until we clone a couple of bona fide pressure forwards in the lab I guess 3rd rate midfielders it is.

[josie]

Re: Sharp Axes

I’ve just sent an email to the club in response to Kylie’s letter, asking why it’s not an external review given the internal review last year did not prove to be sufficient.

[Dogs 24/7]

Re: Sharp Axes

Hey - I guess I only have one counter to that: "There's no disappointment without expectation" and the reason we all feel so crap is that the group that takes the park each weekend DOES have talent.

Whilst I'm not scared of a coaching change I'm not 100% convinced that a coaching change is totally necessary. Why? Well...I did my first level 3 coaching course (I've done it twice and the course sucks now - it used to be amazing!) with one of the more highly regarded current candidates and all talk about his tactical genius is gloriously (and OFTEN) over-stated. There are no guarantees in the 'next' pile and until Bont tells me the players are done with the coach then I am 50-50 on replacing him.

This year has sucked - totally agree. But there is hope for the future and after 40-years supporting RWB I'm not giving up now.

I had a high level of expectation knowing that we had addressed gaps in defense in Jones and support ruck with Lobb so yes I now have a high level of disappointment given the way we meekly folded with being on the wrong side of very winnable games.
Ill front up again next year but we do need to jump on this poor performance and get it fixed asap.

[Dogs 24/7]

Re: Sharp Axes

Wow. I actually thought there would be a proper look under the hood across all footy dept operations after the most disastrous 2 weeks against Hawthorn and West Coast during Bevo's entire tenure, not to mention the fact that since 2018 we have carefully and methodically rebuild the list with publicly declared expectations to contend for a number of years as a top 4 team from 2021 onwards.

And having failed by a big margin to achieve our own publicly declared internal expectations for 2 years now, our response is for the same people running the organisation who already conducted a supposedly thorough review 12 months earlier to essentially do the same now?

We are not a serious club.

It has to be an in depth review and someone independent overseeing it otherwise we we giving the impression of wallpapering over cracks. Get a good footy person in and cover off all of the departments and how they all work together. It will become clear very quickly what has hampered our season.

[D Mitchell]

Re: Sharp Axes

There's undoubtedly something wrong. The email suggests its been identified and work on the problem(s) proposed. At the end of the day, we finished a game out, not bottom, not captain wanting to leave, not players being asked to take pay cuts. Independent Reviews can be unpredictable, like Royal Commissions. I'm OK that there won't be a full on review.

[Dogs 24/7]

Re: Sharp Axes

Freo missed finals after making it last year and Sydney dropped out of top 4 - again crickets.

Im not worried about other teams and we need Elephants roaring until they get heard.

Having said that Im happy with the response from the President but the proof will be in the actions and changes that follow.

[MrMahatma]

Re: Sharp Axes

There's undoubtedly something wrong. The email suggests its been identified and work on the problem(s) proposed. At the end of the day, we finished a game out, not bottom, not captain wanting to leave, not players being asked to take pay cuts. Independent Reviews can be unpredictable, like Royal Commissions. I'm OK that there won't be a full on review.

But we could do a review, get the recommendations, then choose which we want to implement. I think the point many are making (and I agree with) is that by doing it internally, there's just a bunch of stuff you won't observe or uncover cause you're inherently blinded to it - cause you live and breath it every day. Or worse, you have the option to avoid topics/areas for review cause you're scared of what you'll find/have to do with what you find.

Do an external review. Get their findings. Overlay that with your internal expertise on how OUR organisation works, and implement the things that are most likely to have a positive impact / create the environment for success.

The only reason we wouldn't do an external review is, surely, ass covering and fear by those running the review that they'd individually be called out as part of the problem, or the findings would directly contradict them and they wouldn't have the gumption to action those recommendations.

Seems a pretty soft approach.