Dusty’s psychologist hired to bring ‘A Game’ to V/Line

A bizarre move by “dysfunctional” V/Line to splash $150k of taxpayer’s money on Dustin Martin’s high-performance coach has raised eyebrows.

Tigers player Dustin Martin with Richmond’s sports psychologist Emma Murray.

Dustin Martin’s sport psychologist was brought in by rail operator V/Line to help its staff bring their “A Game”.

More than 400 employees participated in the mindfulness workshops delivered by Emma Murray, the high-performance coach credited with helping Richmond win three premierships.

V/Line splashed $153,900 on at least 21 in-person workshops and more than 20 recorded videos as part of an online series.

Contract documents seen by the Herald Sun show the programs, which ran between April 2019 and the end of this month, were designed to teach workers the “skills, tools and shifts necessary to become a consistent A Game high performer”.

Emma Murray. Picture : Nicki Connolly

The documents boasted that Ms Murray was an elite performance mindset coach who had worked with “top athletes”, including Richmond players, a cricketer and a V8 Supercar champion.

“(Ms Murray) has evolved this approach to create a unique learning experience for V/Line known as ‘Bringing Your A Game’,” they said.

“This is a mindfulness-based performance program targeting V/Line leaders. ‘Bringing Your A Game’ supports V/Line leaders to be role models of constructive behaviours, regardless of the circumstances.

“The program is designed to equip individuals with the mindset and thinking patterns to lead and execute at your very best and enable your teams to do the same.”

Ms Murray told the Herald Sun she tailored the program specifically for V/Line for staff to use as a daily tool.

“I researched anyone from a train driver to members of the executive team, what were the challenges of their roles … so it’s gathering all that information and then creating usable tools and strategies to be able to execute their role better,” she said.

But the state opposition slammed the use of taxpayer money by the “totally dysfunctional” rail operator.

V/Line chief executive James Pinder. Picture: Alison Wynd

“They can’t get the trains to run on time or safely given recent serious incidents and yet they squander taxpayers’ money on this nonsense, which is a sideshow,” opposition transport spokesman David Davis said.

“These Labor-appointed officers should focus (on) the basics; train reliability and punctuality; running safe trains and preventing the obviously unacceptable corruption within transport, not absurd mindfulness consultancies.”

Last week, the government announced V/Line would no longer be a “state owned enterprise” and would become a statutory authority within the Department of Transport.

It comes as the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission probes allegations of corruption, including that former chief executive James Pinder was paid kickbacks to help a cleaning firm get V/Line contracts.

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