AFL 2022: All the reaction from Essendon as pressure continues on coach Ben Rutten
Former Essendon skipper Jobe Watson has cast doubt over whether James Hird returning to the club as coach would work.
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Former Essendon captain Jobe Watson has urged the crisis-riddled Bombers to avoid the temptation of chasing a quick-fix saviour, saying the possible return of James Hird to the coaching role would not work.
As Hird emerged as a potential contender for the coaching job with the Essendon board set to meet on Sunday to make a decision on whether to sack the contracted Ben Rutten, Watson said the club had to look to the future and stop living in the past.
“I don’t see how that would work,” Watson said on Channel 7 after being asked about speculation Hird could be installed as Essendon’s 2023 coach.
“I am not sure what James’ mentality is, whether he wants to come back into the football club (or not). But to quote the great Tony Soprano, ‘Remember when is the lowest form of conversation’. You can’t keep looking back.
“You need to formulate a plan, stick to it, get the right people into the right role and back them in.”
ROBBO: CLARKO CALL OPENS DOOR FOR HIRD RETURN
Hird sensationally ended his time as coach of the Bombers in 2015 after serving a 12-month imposed on him (which sidelined him for the 2014 season) because of the infamous supplements saga.
He returned to football in the second half of this season, acting as an assistant coach to Greater Western Sydney caretaker coach Mark McVeigh.
Watson’s comment came as under-fire new Bombers president David Barham addressed his first function in the role, insisting the club needed urgent change, with Rutten a chance of being removed from his role at Sunday’s board meeting.
Rutten reiterated before the final-round clash with Richmond that his desire is to see out the final year of contract, despite being blindsided by the club’s botched bid to land coaching great Alastair Clarkson.
“I would love to be able to see it through,” Rutten told Channel 7 before the club’s final round game against Richmond on Saturday night.
“That’s certainly my intention at this stage.”
Watson, who was the club’s skipper through the crippling sports supplement scandal which cost him the 2012 Brownlow Medal, said he had been saddened by Essendon’s current plight, which he said was a mess of its own making.
He said Essendon’s behaviour in the past week had shown “signs of dysfunction” as he stressed the club needed to stop trying to mimic other teams and carve out its own destiny.
“The president (Barham) came out this week and said, ‘I want to know what this club is doing, I want to know what that club is doing’,” Watson said.
“They are looking for this magical answer that doesn’t exist.
“The thing about it is (creating a successful culture) takes a long time. You need a lot of continuity. To quote Jim Collins, from (leadership book) Good to Great, you’ve got to be good first before you can be great, and you have to get people sitting in the bus in the right seats.”
“We must reset and rebuild for success both on the field and off the field. We are bordering on an entire young group of players not knowing what success is, along with an entire group of young fans,” David Barham said at the president’s function.
“For me, this is urgent. It requires us to be bold, decisive and courageous.”
Mark McVeigh was asked about Hird potentially returning to Essendon, but he did not want to speculate, saying that would be up to Hird.
Watson played 220 games for the Bombers from 2003-17.
RUTTEN’S TENURE IN DANGER OF ENDING ON SUNDAY
Jay Clark
Essendon’s board has plunged the Bombers into crisis mode after its botched attempt to land Alastair Clarkson divided the club.
Key factions remain furious Rutten was hung out to dry this week with players and staff taking aim at new chairman David Barham in some fiery internal meetings on Friday.
Rutten is almost certain to be sacked when the club’s embattled board meets on Sunday after damaging the relationship beyond repair with its long-shot Clarkson bid.
Rutten received strong support from senior players and staff on Friday when they grilled Barham over the lack of consultation and transparency and general handling of the Clarkson-Rutten situation.
Barham admitted it was an error to keep Rutten in the dark about the Clarkson mission on Monday, but said the club tried to move quickly to secure the best coach of the past two decades.
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“That was a mistake. I should have called him (Rutten) on Monday and I apologise for that. I got that wrong,” Barham said.
“The players are disappointed they weren’t well consulted and again, I live with that.”
The future of chief executive Xavier Campbell will also be discussed on Sunday as Campbell wanted the club to stick with Rutten for the final year of his coaching contract next season.
Campbell has two more years remaining on his contract, but will have key talks about the club’s direction when the board meets in an effort to re-unite the Bombers.
Leading candidates for the vacant coaching position include Port Adelaide’s Ken Hinkley, former Fremantle and St Kilda coach Ross Lyon and top assistants Adem Yze and Adam Kingsley, but the club is yet to formulate a Plan B short-list.
Essendon chiefs were told Clarkson was out of the running by manager James Henderson over the phone before 9am Friday morning.
Henderson told the Bombers their efforts came too late to be seriously considered.
Barham said the club would proceed with an external review which would also scrutinise the board’s performance after a tumultuous week.
Football manager Josh Mahoney delivered a detailed internal review, focusing on improvements for next season under Rutten, but it did not satisfy the board.
“The board has got to look at itself, too,” Barham said.
“There won’t be just an external review of footy, there will be an external review of the board as well.”
Asked what kind of coach the club needed, in 2023, Barham said “We will decide that on Sunday”.
Barham said the club could have acted sooner on Clarkson after a 2-10 start to the season destroyed its finals hopes by mid-year.
“Definitely we could have done it earlier but the board has got to decide that that is what it wants to do and it didn’t at that stage,” Barham said.
Barham replaced Paul Brasher as chairman in a shock development on Monday.
On Rutten, Barham said the club had to act on its senior coach in his second year after a lacklustre season. They made finals last season but have won seven of 21 games with a young team in 2022.
“It (pursuing Clarkson) certainly hurt him and it hasn’t helped (relations),” Barham said.
“And I’m not happy about that, but at the same time if I’m the president of Essendon and the best coach of the past 20 years has expressed an interest to come to Essendon and I don’t go and see him what will the members and fans think of me?
“Is it tough on Ben? Yep for sure, but that is the kind of thing we have to do and I have to do for this club to improve and get better and go forward.
“Make hard decisions so we can improve.
“That’s what I did and it has been uncomfortable for a lot of people.”
Rutten: I didn’t have any idea what was going on
Essendon coach Ben Rutten says he was completely blindsided by the club’s bold bid for Alastair Clarkson and is unsure whether he wants to remain at the club next season.
Rutten said he accepted an apology from new chairman David Barham that Essendon could have handled things better earlier in the week after leaving Rutten and his family in the dark about his future.
It has left the Bombers scrambling to repair any damage caused in the relationship between the board and its senior coach as Rutten prepared to lead the team against Richmond on Saturday night.
Rutten said Essendon had shown improvement on the field this year with wins against Sydney Swans and Brisbane Lions and strong showings against Collingwood, despite a poor start to the season.
But he did not see the move to replace him coming as Essendon appointed a new chairman on Monday and quickly made an 11th-hour bid for Clarkson.
Rutten said he was “not sure” why there was a sudden disconnect between him and the board this week.
“I didn’t have any idea what was going on,” Rutten said.
“I have spoken to Dave (since the Clarkson reports emerged) and I feel like he said that there’s things if he had his time again he would do them differently and we have had a conversation around that.
“I don’t think he was entirely pleased with the way things transpired throughout the course of the week.
“But I’m going to continue to do that (coach the team) to the best of my ability until someone tells me otherwise.”
Rutten said he would have to have more key talks with the club’s board and executive before considering whether to consider coaching on next season, if he is still required.
But he looked forward to leading the team in Michael Hurley’s farewell game on Saturday night.
“Some things we are certainly going to need to work through (about his future),” Rutten said.
“I’m the coach of the footy club and I made a commitment to them but I’m not going to let them down now.
“There are some conversations we are going to need to have absolutely moving forward, but I’m not in a position to make any calls on that (yet).”
Earlier, club chairman David Barham says the Bombers make no apologies for their botched bid for Alastair Clarkson which has shattered Rutten and left the club in damage control.
Barham said the Bombers should have been clearer with Rutten on Monday about the Clarkson mission which went belly up when he chose North Melbourne on Friday.
Barham said the club was unsure if it was to look for a new coach but left the door open for Rutten to continue, pending more crisis talks at a board meeting on Sunday.
The drama will intensify the heat on the board with sections of the fan base and football industry appalled by the way the Bombers have treated Rutten.
There will also be key talks on the future of chief executive Xavier Campbell, who has two years remaining on his deal.
Barham said he was unsure if club legend James Hird was keen to coach again, adamant no one had spoken to him.
Asked what kind of coach the club needed after 18 years without a finals win, Barham said “We will decide that on Sunday”.
Barham said the club could have acted sooner on Clarkson after a 2-10 start to the season destroyed its finals hopes by mid-year.
“Definitely we could have done it earlier but the board has got to decide that that is what it wants to do and it didn’t at that stage,” Barham said.
On Rutten, Barham said the club had to act on the senior coach after a lacklustre season.
He acknowledged it had been difficult time for Rutten and a mistake not to be more open with him earlier in the week.
“It (pursuing Clarkson) certainly hurt him
and it hasn’t helped (relations),” Barham said.
“And I’m not happy about that but at the same time if I’m the president of Essendon and the best coach of the past 20 years has expressed an interest to come to Essendon and I don’t go and see him what will the members and fans think of me?”
In regards to Hird, Barham played down the chances of an approach.
“I’m not sure what Hirdy has got to do with it. No one has spoken to Hirdy,” Barham said.
“Is it tough on Ben? Yep for sure, but that is the kind of thing we have to do and I have to do for this club to improve and get better and go forward,” Barham said.
“Make hard decisions so we can improve.
“That’s what I did and it has been uncomfortable for a lot of people.”
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