Andrew Fagan and Jason Dunstall say external review panel’s job to provide objective eye and ear, not make decisions for Adelaide Crows
Hawthorn champion Jason Dunstall has spoken for the first time about the Crows’ external review as he and Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan try to clarify any confusion about his role.
Adelaide Crows chief executive Andrew Fagan and Hawthorn champion Jason Dunstall have moved to quell the fears of Crows players, officials and fans by clarifying confusion surrounding the club’s external review.
Fagan said it was his idea to bring in outside influence for the review as they search for answers after missing the finals for a second successive season.
“I’ve been working in sport for over 25 years and it’s a really challenging time, we’re a big football club with an extraordinarily passionate fan base,’’ Fagan told SEN SA Breakfast Adelaide.
“When we don’t deliver, you feel it, you feel that pressure
“There is just a stern commitment in doing what we need to do to get better and deliver to those expectations.”
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Speaking for the first time about his appointment to the four-person review panel, Dunstall on Wednesday night said he was excited to be part of the “challenge” and that he wasn’t there to be “making any decisions” for the club.
“Think of us as lending an objective eye and ear to a process, which is effectively standard practice for any well-run organisation,” the Australian football Hall of Famer told Fox Footy’s The Bullring program.
“With an external audit you challenge conventional thinking, ensuring the decision makers are best equipped to make decisions their decisions with all the relevant information.
“There are some challenging times for the club ahead and it felt like a challenge that best fit me, if that makes sense … I just find it a really interesting challenge and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
The Crows have come under fire from some commentators for its external review, including Essendon great Matthew Lloyd, while reports have suggested some players are uncomfortable about speaking to Dunstall and Matthew Pavlich, two of Crows board member Mark Ricciuto’s colleagues at Fox Footy.
“One thing we need to make very clear is our involvement — Pav and I — we’re not making any decisions,” Dunstall, who helped set up Hawthorn’s dynasty by appointing Alastair Clarkson as head coach, said.
“All we’re doing is providing information and feedback.”
Fagan reiterated Dunstall’s comments on Thursday morning and clarified the role of Dunstall, former Fremantle champion Pavlich, high performance expert Tim Gabbert and performance psychologist Jonah Oliver.
“The external people aren’t making decisions,’’ Fagan said.
“They’re trying to uncover key themes and key insights, we’ll get all the information laid out on the table.
“That’s the way Jason (Dunstall) and Matthew (Pavlich) wanted the review to run as well. They wanted to help us, to support us in our decision-making process.
“It will be to me to take to the board.”
Fagan said for the review process to work best, the information obtained wouldn’t be made public.
“In order to make that as open and as thorough as possible, people need to feel comfortable that they can speak freely and obviously that can’t be done if something is shared in the public arena,’’ Fagan said.
And he hit back and commentary describing the Adelaide Football Club as insular.
“It (the review) was actually my idea,’’ Fagan said.
“It’s actually something I took to the board, I think its great business practise, I don’t understand the commentary.
“It would be an arrogant to not think that having some external people come in and challenge thinking. It’s common across all industries.”
Fagan backed up Crows chairman Rob Chapman’s comments on Wednesday saying he was hoping the review would be done as “quickly as possible” so the club can concentrate on bouncing back in 2020.
“We said five or six weeks, probably internally pushing quicker, something by the end of the month,” he said.
But Dunstall said he was unable to put a timeframe on how long the job would take.
“You get it done when you get it done. There’s obviously all due consideration to doing it as quickly as possible but you still have to do it thoroughly,” Dunstall said.
The Hawthorn great said he wouldn’t be discussing specifics of the review during his tenure.
“I understand there’s a heap of interest, but not only would I be violating a nondisclosure, but we’re also dealing with extremely confidential and sensitive material.
“Any ongoing commentary would only serve to corrupt or compromise the review process. I have no intention of doing that.”