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IMPORTANT // Please look after your loved ones, yourself and be kind to others. If you are feeling that the world is too hard to handle there is always help - I implore you not to hesitate in contacting one of these wonderful organisations Lifeline and Beyond Blue ... and I'm sure reaching out to our PRE community we will find a way to help. T.
President John O’Rourke
- Thread starter Baloo
- Start date
Planning for the next Flag.
Peggy was awesome. Benny was Awesome
This guy is sitting on a complete clean out on and off field. If we dont have some fantastic people coming into the club starting this end of season we are headed back to the dark ages.......membership will dry up and that effects everything the club does.
Hopefully John is on top of his game...he needs to be.
Agree with all that. Just don't buy the invisible man bit. The president needs to manage the board. The board need to make the right appointments. Not sure the president making public statements after some poor on field results is a necessary thing
Tony Braxton-Hicks
There are no stupid ideas, just stupid people
It opens an opportunity, as that's all the media want is a comment on the coach and then they blow that up.
He actually spoke in our room recently and he also spoke last year at one of the briefings we got. Speaks well, is very structured and acts like the chair of a board, i.e. he's their for guidance and governance and the paid employees are there to do their jobs.
He seems very focused on the Punt Road redevelopment and Benny's replacement and having that as his remit and then overseeing all other facets.
I do see that as how a board and pres/chair should behave.
I do also get that we should have some additional comms at the moment and who provides that is a little vexed with Benny in the exit lounge and some possible replacements trying to get the job. That means they will be asked to stay a little "reserved" until the new CEO is in place and the messaging can be aligned. (That's a very corporate approach in my experience.)
He seems very focused on the Punt Road redevelopment and Benny's replacement and having that as his remit and then overseeing all other facets.
I do see that as how a board and pres/chair should behave.
I do also get that we should have some additional comms at the moment and who provides that is a little vexed with Benny in the exit lounge and some possible replacements trying to get the job. That means they will be asked to stay a little "reserved" until the new CEO is in place and the messaging can be aligned. (That's a very corporate approach in my experience.)
Our club President Jon O'Rourke set the tone for the evening last night.
His effusive praise of Broady was fine on the surface but also a thinly veiled swipe at those departing players.
That those players attended the JDM at all took some courage on their part after the news over the past week. Equally that the club had them in attendance was also an admirable step up from the St Kilda situation with Josh Battle..
However by not thanking those highly decorated departees for their service to the RFC was a missed opportunity by JON, that could have & likely would have set a more positive tone for the night.
His body language on stage when the recipients received their awards also left a bit to be desired.
I understand the club is under some pressure & there would be disappointment at those leaving but could have been presented better as an opportunity IMHO by the figurehead of the club right now.
His effusive praise of Broady was fine on the surface but also a thinly veiled swipe at those departing players.
That those players attended the JDM at all took some courage on their part after the news over the past week. Equally that the club had them in attendance was also an admirable step up from the St Kilda situation with Josh Battle..
However by not thanking those highly decorated departees for their service to the RFC was a missed opportunity by JON, that could have & likely would have set a more positive tone for the night.
His body language on stage when the recipients received their awards also left a bit to be desired.
I understand the club is under some pressure & there would be disappointment at those leaving but could have been presented better as an opportunity IMHO by the figurehead of the club right now.
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Really tough gig coming in at the time he has and after our greatest Prez , however ORoukey has never inspired me or made me put my beer down to listen to what his saying , now that’s no real criticism as those business types generally don’t prick my ears , however Peggy used to grab my full attention.
Just like Yze John starts right now with a clean slate for me , we are rock bottom in terms of on field performance, we are still strong of field , however the bandwagoners will now dessert the sunk ship and our membership will plummet in terms of financial numbers , membership numbers may still seem ok, but coteries and member functions will cost the club a fortune in what was in our dynasty , we’ll also no longer have a big que of bidding to be our sponsors , hard times are ahead for the hierarchy at Punt rd , however this can change around very quickly with the right decisions , hopefully in a few years will talk of JOR, Dunne and Yze as we do Peggy, Benny and well the way we used to Dimma
Blair is basically the only one bridging the gap/change , gets this right we’ll be moving Jacks state for Blair’s
Just like Yze John starts right now with a clean slate for me , we are rock bottom in terms of on field performance, we are still strong of field , however the bandwagoners will now dessert the sunk ship and our membership will plummet in terms of financial numbers , membership numbers may still seem ok, but coteries and member functions will cost the club a fortune in what was in our dynasty , we’ll also no longer have a big que of bidding to be our sponsors , hard times are ahead for the hierarchy at Punt rd , however this can change around very quickly with the right decisions , hopefully in a few years will talk of JOR, Dunne and Yze as we do Peggy, Benny and well the way we used to Dimma
Blair is basically the only one bridging the gap/change , gets this right we’ll be moving Jacks state for Blair’s
I reckon it was a bit of an awkward topic for everyone last night, given the 'exceptional deals or they stay' stance we've taken with Shai and Daniel. No one could farewell them because they might be staying. Or at least we have to pretend they might.
All that speech did was underline to me how the AFL still has some quaint attitudes to players professionalism. We poached the crap out of GC to get us 3 flags. Alls fair to me.
Just get the draft right ffs.
Just get the draft right ffs.
I'm actually happy he has taken a swipe. FFS would people have preferred he presented them all with a bunch of flowers!! Bout time we started getting a little cranky and tough. We became a little to woke and nice gifting our players for nothing and getting screwed in return
I have no issue with O'Rourke saying what he did last night. We have 4 blokes jumping ship at the first bad season they have experienced in their career (second for D Rioli). While I'm happy to take the picks for them, signing a long term contract and then leaving at the first sign of adversity and going to play with coaches who have been coaching them their entire career wrecks 9f entitlement and tantrum throwing.
I'm not too fussed with the little clip. We can support the players with their trade requests, doesn't mean we have to like it. The thank you for their service will come when we get the official trade press release.
Now it's done though, I want our Pres to be 100% forward looking and get our club right. Not convinced we've got all oars in the water and everyone stroking to the same cadence. Big off season coming up. If we dont have a Steely eyed focus on this, we'll be in the doldrums for 10 years, not 3 or 4.
Now it's done though, I want our Pres to be 100% forward looking and get our club right. Not convinced we've got all oars in the water and everyone stroking to the same cadence. Big off season coming up. If we dont have a Steely eyed focus on this, we'll be in the doldrums for 10 years, not 3 or 4.
It's a fine line. If you get all cranky and tough you run the risk of alienating friendship groups within the team. If you get too relaxed, young blokes take advantage of grey areas.
I honestly don't know much about Yze or O'Rourke. They could well be exactly what we need. I certainly wouldn't judge at this stage because they were dealing with an air of complacency across the team.
(Often there is an aura around premiership success and our club now finding itself facing a mass exodus. Some targets on and off the field will be overvalued.)
Having said this, we have never been famous for our patience and the time is now for an aggressive approach to trading and list renewal.
I expect that behind closed doors O'Rourke will be ruthless in getting us back to being competitive again.
a couple of posters have expressed not knowing much about our President.
he has a wealth of experience in and around people of all sorts...
Co-founder and non-executive director of Plenary, a global investor, developer and manager of public infrastructure, specialising in public-private partnerships (PPPs).
John was Plenary’s inaugural Chair from Plenary’s inception in 2004 to 2024.
Since the establishment of Plenary in Australia in 2004, Plenary has developed a portfolio of infrastructure assets across Australia, North America, United Kingdom and the Middle East.
Prior to establishing Plenary in 2004, John spent 10 years leading the Melbourne-based Infrastructure Capital business of ABN AMRO (formerly BZW).
He is a board member of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.
John was also a board director of the Victoria Racing Club from 2011-2020, and during his term served as Honorary Treasurer and Vice Chairman.
In December 2022 appointed President of the Richmond Football Club where he had been a member of the board since 2015.
he has a wealth of experience in and around people of all sorts...
Co-founder and non-executive director of Plenary, a global investor, developer and manager of public infrastructure, specialising in public-private partnerships (PPPs).
John was Plenary’s inaugural Chair from Plenary’s inception in 2004 to 2024.
Since the establishment of Plenary in Australia in 2004, Plenary has developed a portfolio of infrastructure assets across Australia, North America, United Kingdom and the Middle East.
Prior to establishing Plenary in 2004, John spent 10 years leading the Melbourne-based Infrastructure Capital business of ABN AMRO (formerly BZW).
He is a board member of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.
John was also a board director of the Victoria Racing Club from 2011-2020, and during his term served as Honorary Treasurer and Vice Chairman.
In December 2022 appointed President of the Richmond Football Club where he had been a member of the board since 2015.
I am not sure what the clubs awareness of racism and social injustices has to do with our policies on trading players?
