News 'People only see the first-grade results': Dogs director says club in strong position

Bob dog

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What we see is a constant shit fight, make sure youse kiss and make up at the Christmas BBQ.
 

Noeasyday

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Considering we still need to recruit for 2021 the timing of this is ordinary.
Also, the people driving this should be putting there name to it and putting the 3 perspective / proposed board members to replace the 3 they want to oust.
While stability is imperative for success, what's more important is having the right people calling the shots, personally, I'm not convinced that Lynn's and co are the right people.
 

c-b-b

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Im not having a dig, but since your the only one that seems to have elaborated on things a little, can you just detail a few of your points with examples please? What were their amateurish decisions? Its harsh to blame them for Napa and DWZ signings, hindsight is a bitch no one loves. They're not permitted to speak to contracted players until nov, and the players everyone wants us to sign are in for a tilt at a premiership, so there's no chance they will be willing to distract themselves with discussions to break contract. So if no big names are signed before Nov then I wont be all too concerned tbh.
There's a few things off the top of my head. Most recently would be the sponsorship deal, I'm not that happy that Ballesty is involved with Laundy and how everything happened but I think that topic has been done to death. The appointment of Steve Price is another, was he the best person for the role he is currently in, was it advertised etc. The way the CHN situation was handled, I think most clubs would have stood by the player much better than we did.

In regards to Napa - I think most who have watched his game knew he wasn't going to excel here but that was a panic decision to appease fans over Klemmers release, another poor decision.

Further is the fact all these leaks are happening, if it was a well run and unified board you wouldn't hear any of these stories in the media. I think you've got to ask whether you see these types of leaks from clubs like the roosters, storm, Canberra etc.

We will see what happens on the player front after the grand final, I'm hopeful some things are in the pipeline.

I know some will come out and say they think the boards done a good job, I'm not here to convince anyone otherwise nor do I want people to try and convince me the board the best thing since slice bread. If judging them based on the pillars they put into place it would hardly be seen as a raging success though.
 

DinkumDog

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I know some will come out and say they think the boards done a good job, I'm not here to convince anyone otherwise nor do I want people to try and convince me the board the best thing since slice bread.
I don’t see it’s about that - more that the work isn’t finished. They committed to a timeline, let them see it out. I personally am looking forward to 2021 much more than I was 2020 because changes were always going to happen for 2021 yet 2020 we knew we were still looking for the paddle up you know where.

I’ve said repeatedly: the individuals aren’t a concern to me - the results are. And it’s too early to judge those results. This time next year if not much has changed (which I doubt, but could be wrong) then I’ll be looking closely at what will no doubt be an alternative ticket for 2022.
 

racin jason

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Well said. Im very much on the fence on this one, and I agree that any take over bid right now will just destabilise things much further. It's a massive risk, and the party that may take over could also turn out to be even worse.
The other thing that gets me is that so many people on here bag this board for any number of reasons, but do any of them know exactly what duties the board carries out on a day to day basis? Or what things they are directly responsible for? I dont know the answers to these questions, and can therfore not be overly critical of them without this knowledge.
No doubt the results have been disgraceful this year, but we have had many hurdles to jump along the way, one massive one being Covid!! This has been an unprecedented year for people in all walks of life, when just getting by has been something to be grateful for.
After all of this salary cap bullshot, followed by Pay's sacking, the least members could do is give the board a chance to get it right next year when they finally have the chance to have a real crack.
As a member of a Board of Directors for another sporting competition, I can say that there are many things that a board is responsible for that punters aren't aware of. It is a bigger undertaking than most people realise and it is the behind the scenes groundwork that makes (or breaks) the end product. Sometimes the board can make changes that take a little while to filter through and bear fruit, so to speak. I think the constant changing of the board only creates uncertainty and a lack of continuity, something that in my organisation we have experienced over the last few years. Fortunately for us we now have a stable and (mostly) cohesive board and we are now seeing the benefits of that. My hope is that this rubbish is sorted out sooner rather than later, before it's too late.
 

Wahesh

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Honest question.

Did members on here sign this petition or whatever for the EGM?

Fucking embarrasment this whole thing. And I'm pointing my fingers at those that signed it rather than the club.

Their tenure finishes next year, right?

Why not see how we go over the next year? On the back of the new coach and support team he has. Plus new players potentially coming in?

Get we're all upset about the results, but changing things up now is going to help us how?
I thought it ends Feb 2022 doesn't it? Unless I've missed something because I thought it was 2 years from 2018, then another 2 years from Feb 2020.
 

Spoonman84

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I don’t see it’s about that - more that the work isn’t finished. They committed to a timeline, let them see it out. I personally am looking forward to 2021 much more than I was 2020 because changes were always going to happen for 2021 yet 2020 we knew we were still looking for the paddle up you know where.

I’ve said repeatedly: the individuals aren’t a concern to me - the results are. And it’s too early to judge those results. This time next year if not much has changed (which I doubt, but could be wrong) then I’ll be looking closely at what will no doubt be an alternative ticket for 2022.
Did it always have to be that way? Staying loyal to Pay and signing him to that extra year has been proven to be a disaster and wasted the entire 2020 season. The lack of proactivity is my greatest concern look at the Titans they managed to shift their deadwood on big coin without out much trouble while we sat back and just waited for our contracts to finish. The previous board copped if for their mistakes but this one has made plenty too which they seem to get a free pass for a lot of the time.
 

DinkumDog

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As a member of a Board of Directors for another sporting competition, I can say that there are many things that a board is responsible for that punters aren't aware of. It is a bigger undertaking than most people realise and it is the behind the scenes groundwork that makes (or breaks) the end product. Sometimes the board can make changes that take a little while to filter through and bear fruit, so to speak. I think the constant changing of the board only creates uncertainty and a lack of continuity, something that in my organisation we have experienced over the last few years. Fortunately for us we now have a stable and (mostly) cohesive board and we are now seeing the benefits of that. My hope is that this rubbish is sorted out sooner rather than later, before it's too late.
Excellent post. You are right in terms of the work and the fact it is thankless and you don’t do it for money. I too have experienced both cohesion and division in similar positions (not sport, but if it’s yellow and quacks like a duck...) Division both in the boardroom and those knocking at the door is toxic. There’s a mandate, a plan and a timeline - it should be allowed to play out. Make changes if it fails. There is no conclusive proof of failure at this point. In fact you could argue the opposite is beginning to show after a long time in purgatory that we all knew about.
 

Sleeky

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Did it always have to be that way? Staying loyal to Pay and signing him to that extra year has been proven to be a disaster and wasted the entire 2020 season. The lack of proactivity is my greatest concern look at the Titans they managed to shift their deadwood on big coin without out much trouble while we sat back and just waited for our contracts to finish. The previous board copped if for their mistakes but this one has made plenty too which they seem to get a free pass for a lot of the time.
And in a lot shorter period too
 

D- voice

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Your undoing is coming from your own, your fellow board members and many unhappy sponsors...
You must be executing your duties wrong...They would know !!!

Answering your claims of success
1 We've lost the biggest NRL club sponsor amongst others replacing them by freebie or hardly paying sponsor that demands to be decision makers and eventually have the son on the board, It's good to have friends...Are we supposed to be doing cartwheels for that ?
2 We have the lowest memberships in the comp and probably for the last 3 years...Please don't blame COVID-19.
3 Improved roster, who are you kidding not only it is the worst in the league, you destroyed the roster promising to rebuild for 2021 season...I am still waiting !
4 Better salary cap is a masterstroke...Even I could have sacked all the players...The challenge is to rebuild.
5 Better junior development is great...It seems we have to wait for them to develop.
6 Better coaching staff...Maybe, we all live in hope.
Needless to say you've unnecessarily extended Pay's contract after promoting Ben Anderson's take over, causing this chain reaction

Uncertainties, becoming deterrent to marquee players joining us
Form decline, causing loss of memberships, sponsors revenues eventually leading to joint wooden spoon.
And you claim the club is in a better place ???
Maybe you should go back to accounting you might still know how to do that !!!
 
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DinkumDog

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Did it always have to be that way? Staying loyal to Pay and signing him to that extra year has been proven to be a disaster and wasted the entire 2020 season.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it. Many TK members have it 20/20. The Pay extension decision was made in May 2019 - no-one at the time knew how 2019 let alone 2020 would play out. It was obvious at the time that they were giving him an opportunity to improve the results whilst we got to the end of cap dramas. At the time I think a perfectly reasonable decision. When it became obvious after the C-19 break (4 weeks after the competition resumed) that Pay was not going to be able to bring the results needed - they acted.
The lack of proactivity is my greatest concern look at the Titans they managed to shift their deadwood on big coin without out much trouble while we sat back and just waited for our contracts to finish.
What lack of pro-activity? Because there's no running commentary? There's a big difference in 'moving on' players who other clubs still might want and being stuck with the likes of some of our squad who it likely will be proven don't end up anywhere. Holland announced his retirement because he knows he'll end up playing park footy. Even Foz would've unlikely got a gig anywhere if it wasn't for the Despot riding to his rescue. Out of the 8 released last week, how many will sign for other NRL clubs and play first grade again?
The previous board copped if for their mistakes but this one has made plenty too which they seem to get a free pass for a lot of the time.
Free pass? From who? Of course all boards should be accountable. My argument has always been consistent. It is too early to judge their work. If this time next year there are not clear signs of improvement, by all means make changes in 2022. And no, that's not simply kicking the can down the road - it is allowing a mandated and time-lined plan to be delivered. Clearly some don't agree and that's fine, but doesn't make it OK to disrupt either.
 
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wendog33

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Hi TD,

A number of years ago, I emailed Raelene Castle (when she was Bulldogs CEO) complaining about player retention issues - in particular losing Dale Finucane to Melbourne. I also raised with her that she had been quoting in the media some BS statistic from Hasler about how after round 15 Bulldogs had scored 3rd most tries. It was all a deception from Hasler to mask how our attack had gone crap and Raelene had been tricked by it. I did a spreadsheet and in the weeks after a round 16 flogging by the Cowboys, our points scored absolutely nosedived.

I asked her to call me to discuss and she did. I was at work and I took the call in a spare office. We talked for about half an hour about a number of Bulldogs related matters including about Finucane and she said we lost him due to salary cap pressures and I shouldn't worry because we had an exciting signing on the way - that was Richie Kennar (yes, she actually told me that). She was also very interested in the point I was making about the attacking statistics and asked me to send the spreadsheet, which I subsequently did.

About 2 months later, a guy I knew came all the way over from New Zealand with his wife to see Dogs v Cronulla at Belmore. I emailed Raelene, told her the guy's story (he had never seen Bulldogs play live) and gave her the seat numbers (near mine) and being a Kiwi too, she came down before the game and met us all.

It's all done for the purposes of PR.
I regularly emailed Castle and she always replied back in 2015.

I warned her about the unrest and how her job was in jeopardy unless she reined in Hasler and put in place a better roster, didnt lose Cookie and stopped Desball and the boring style of play that was causing our drop in attendances and fan engagement.

After a few more emails after hearing rumours from relatives, I advised her that unless she altered the course of the mess, there would be a fan revolt.

She was always polite but her defence was always that we are one of the top 3 clubs in the NRL. No other club has 2 grand final appearances in 4 years and spruiked the grand plan leading up to 2019.

It is all PR lol.

They don't listen :grinning: but it was probably a factor that she was a Dib appointee and he had the real power lol
 

flamebouyant

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As a member of a Board of Directors for another sporting competition, I can say that there are many things that a board is responsible for that punters aren't aware of. It is a bigger undertaking than most people realise and it is the behind the scenes groundwork that makes (or breaks) the end product. Sometimes the board can make changes that take a little while to filter through and bear fruit, so to speak. I think the constant changing of the board only creates uncertainty and a lack of continuity, something that in my organisation we have experienced over the last few years. Fortunately for us we now have a stable and (mostly) cohesive board and we are now seeing the benefits of that. My hope is that this rubbish is sorted out sooner rather than later, before it's too late.
Precisely. Financial viability would be a big part of the boards role, and givencthe club posted a profit during this Covid period with fuckall gate takings, they have at least got that part right.
Next on the agenda is our 2021 roster, which I'm sure is very much a work in progress and we will not hear any news on this front until the final whistle for the gf imo.
 

Powerslide

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Lets have a look, on field results... one of the biggest criticisms that I have seen is Pay. Well he was appointed by the old board not the current board. They new board decided they would let him have his opportunity as he was a good bulldogs man, but they couldn't let the obvious disaster continue. They have made a new appointment, the only real negative that people have raised about Barrett is will he be able to handle the Toxic Board situation.

So old board appoints new board gives him opportunity, but eventually they know they need to head in another direction. and now new (possibly old) forces are trying to ensure that coaching appointment fails by causing board destabilization.

Sponsor situation, I think its pretty obvious that the Dogs were looking for someone to join forces with them and be strategic partners not just handover a cheque. and now some of the older sponsors have their nose out of joint because they weren't given opportunity... hang on what opportunity to be more of a strategic partner then just handing over a cheque.. Thats the problem they need to show they are committed to making this club great again and by the looks of this they have shown that is exactly the opposite.

If you want to see what sponsor is causing problems look for those that weren't brought on by the current board. I think Ladbrokes are on the last year of a three year deal
 

DinkumDog

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She was always polite but her defence was always that we are one of the top 3 clubs in the NRL. No other club has 2 grand final appearances in 4 years and spruiked the grand plan leading up to 2019.
Castle was a puppet way out of her depth.
Going from running Netball NZ to an NRL club is a HUGE leap and one she was not qualified for.
How did she get the job? Due diligence?
You mention PR - was it equal opportunity?
No, that is not a gender based judgement. There are many very talented women in executive roles globally - I work with some of them.
Castle was not one of them as the disaster that is now Rugby Australia proved.

So many are critical of 'this board' when the truth is the club has made many mistakes in the last 10 years. Trying to dig yourself out of that is not a quick process - which is what Dunn I think is trying to explain. I don't have a huge amount of business respect for Dunn either - he's an ex-footballer and marketer - but I don't doubt he's part of a team who are trying everything to return to club to what it used to be.
 
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flamebouyant

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There's a few things off the top of my head. Most recently would be the sponsorship deal, I'm not that happy that Ballesty is involved with Laundy and how everything happened but I think that topic has been done to death. The appointment of Steve Price is another, was he the best person for the role he is currently in, was it advertised etc. The way the CHN situation was handled, I think most clubs would have stood by the player much better than we did.

In regards to Napa - I think most who have watched his game knew he wasn't going to excel here but that was a panic decision to appease fans over Klemmers release, another poor decision.

Further is the fact all these leaks are happening, if it was a well run and unified board you wouldn't hear any of these stories in the media. I think you've got to ask whether you see these types of leaks from clubs like the roosters, storm, Canberra etc.

We will see what happens on the player front after the grand final, I'm hopeful some things are in the pipeline.

I know some will come out and say they think the boards done a good job, I'm not here to convince anyone otherwise nor do I want people to try and convince me the board the best thing since slice bread. If judging them based on the pillars they put into place it would hardly be seen as a raging success though.
Fair points, but I also feel there are 2 sides to every story, and not all of these things are the boards fault. Napa has turned out to be a bit of a dud, and was perhaps a bad choice to sign, but at the time it did seem a like for like replacement. The issue I have with Napa is the suggested price tag.
There's definitely been some leaks coming out of the club, and its hard to know by whom. Its not a good look, but quite likely not the boards fault either. Could be disgruntled ex coaches or players, or leagues club members or board. Clubs like the storm and roosters are more then likely more harmonious at board level, but they are also humming along on the field, and no doubt these type of problems disappear when i club is winning. Sadly we are not.
The CHN Okunbour story is a bit hard to blame solely on the club. The players fucked up massively. It also cost us a bigger sponsorship. Yet Okunbour decided to come back to the club whereas CHN crawled away with sand in his vagina. I think that says more about the person then it does of how the club acted.
I certainly hope we already have some plans in motion on the recruitment front. Fingers crossed we hear more soon.

Im not trying to convince you of anything, but there are always 2 versions of events. Its very easy to be critical of the board when the team has been shit. If they were winning there would be very little talk, just like Dunn said. The fact that we are not doing well is not exactly the fault of the board. I blame the previous boards salary cap mess more then anything.
Just my 2 cents.
 

D- voice

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Some people want to undermine the seriousness of conflict of interests...
Ballesty's partnership with Laundys = free advertising on the club's jerseys
I wonder, would it have been different if the name was Ballarini not Ballesty...Just wondering ?
 

c-b-b

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Im not trying to convince you of anything, but there are always 2 versions of events. Its very easy to be critical of the board when the team has been shit. If they were winning there would be very little talk, just like Dunn said. The fact that we are not doing well is not exactly the fault of the board. I blame the previous boards salary cap mess more then anything.
I know mate, I wasn't at all referring to you in this part. But there seems to be constant bickering between groups that are pro or anti the board and that then spills onto those posters opinion of anything else which is ridiculous. And if you're critical of this board you're somehow connected to Dib or support what he did. I'm for what's best for the club, not for any individuals.

I do think the title of the article is very telling and unfortunately for Dunn it is correct. No one cares about players planting trees, if the foorball club relies on the leagues clubs for money, we made a profit or other things, success in mainly what happens on the field.

The board need to take steps towards success and the time has come where they said the team should look better on the field and we would be able to sign players. They've taken a big gamble on a relatively unsuccessful head coach, they have made attempts to surround him by decent people to be fair. Let's see what happens player wise, but come end of 2021 if we're not in a great position no one can say they weren't given a fair go.
 
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