Dear Members,
I want to start by thanking you, as a valued member, for your support of the Essendon Football Club.
It has been a busy period for our club, and I want to write to you, so you can hear from me directly.
Our club is in the middle of significant change. Change that had to happen. Change that required an external review to ensure we had an industry-leading approach to analyse our football club as a total organisation.
The Board now has the final draft report from the EY External Review that we commissioned.
This review provides an important foundation for the work ahead. We need to reset and rebuild the club’s operations to create a culture of high performance that everyone who is part of the Essendon Football Club family – staff, players, coaches, administrators, members, fans and partners – can be proud of.
Four clear themes have emerged that will be the focus of our work over the coming days, weeks, and months:
- Restoring our purpose as a club
- Resetting our focus on three key pillars - our members, our players, and our community; for whom we exist
- Building a unified internal culture
- Backing our people and our operations through strong governance
The report is now being prepared in its final state for a presentation to the Board. This is a major piece of work and the recommendations included in the report will set the course for our future. A summary of the report will be presented to our members in the coming weeks.
The External Review represents an exciting opportunity and one that everyone who loves the red and black can and should embrace.
The appointment of Brad Scott as senior coach of the men’s team is the first major demonstration of that change. I can already report that Brad is making a significant difference and I want to commend him for the way he and General Manager – Football, Josh Mahoney are reinvigorating our football department.
One area that the Board is focusing on as a priority, consistent with the preliminary findings from the EY External Review, is our football department. Our players deserve every opportunity to excel both on and off the field and further urgent investment is required now for the club to achieve the success we all desire.
Prioritising this area now will ensure we can develop the program and have support in place for when the players return to pre-season training.
To this end, we will be making several key appointments to improve player development and ensure the football department is better supported and aligned in its pursuit of on field success.
These include a newly created position of General Manager of Performance. This role will report directly to Josh Mahoney and will be responsible for aligning and driving our performance functions across the football department. We will commence recruitment for this role immediately.
This week the club announced the appointments of Michael Hurley and Travis Cloke as key development coaches within our program. Further to this, another new position has been created, the Head of Development. This is a critical role that requires a laser-like focus. We have a young and exciting playing list and must ensure we have the league’s best development programs to ensure our players thrive and reach their full potential.
The club will also be furthering our investment in our Women’s Football Program. In our first season of AFLW, we are all incredibly proud of our on-field performance in recent weeks in what has been a very challenging set of circumstances for the team. We are looking forward to this week’s match against the Swans at Ikon Park and encourage all our members to get out and show your support for the team.
We will also be making changes to ensure a greater focus on lifting the capacity of our VFL program by adding additional coaching roles and focus to that area.
The search for our new CEO is progressing with the assistance of a highly regarded executive search recruitment company, to ensure we unearth the highest calibre talent for this key role.
It is important that we give the External Review the necessary time, consideration, and commitment to build a sustainable action plan and focus on the future.
We will continue to provide feedback on the outcomes of the External Review and look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks, including the announcement of our CEO.
Rest assured that the Board and I are 100 per cent united and committed to making the necessary changes and seeing them through, so we can all look forward to Essendon returning to what we want it to be - a thriving football club.
Go Bombers!
