AFL club coteries have been around for decades and exert plenty of influence

THEY are the fans whose ability to open a chequebook has them in the know long before the general public. Coteries have been around for decades and exert plenty of influence.

Essendonians president Dr Peter Hughes at Etihad Stadium earlier this year. Picture: Mark Dadswell

THEY are the footy fans whose preparedness to open a chequebook has them in the know well before the general public.

Football coteries have been around for decades, as early as the 1940s it’s believed an unofficial Essendonians group bought John Coleman a tractor to seal the deal to get him to the Bombers.

Some of the earliest stories about their influence include the exchange of envelopes or even paper bags full of money to the player of the day who knew dropping by after a match would deliver more than just handshakes.

The groups have even had the power to make or break coaches.

While their influence has changed as football has gone from a game to a billion-dollar business, many coteries maintain close relationships with their club’s administration and enjoy private briefings from key personnel about finances, player contract movement and even game plan.

“I think we could exert influence if we felt like it, but we choose not to,” president of the Essendonians coterie group Dr Peter Hughes explained.

Club presidents and chief executives are only a phone call away, but with the cost of membership to such groups, there’d need to be a decent sweetener.

Two of the most high profile coteries are the Essendonians and the Carltonians, both officially established in the 1960s.

Essendonians president Dr Peter Hughes at Etihad Stadium. Picture: Mark Dadswell

A two-person Essendonians memberships costs $7700; to be a Carltonian, there’s a range or packages starting at $3500 up to the Diamond experience for $13,000 a year.

There are about 70 Carltonians and 94 Essendonians.

The Essendonians contribute between $250,000 and $400,000 a year to the Bombers, it’s about $150,000 to $300,000 for the Carltonians.

When the new facility at Tullamarine was built the Essendonians were in a position to chip in a lazy $1.15 million.

Then there’s individual generosity. It’s believed some Essendonians helped to fund the banned Bombers’ training under Sean Wellman.

But nowadays it’s probably more about connections than cash contributions.

Coteries play an important role in helping players establish careers outside football and with the networking opportunities presented, players have a good shot at success off the field

“We’ve organised jobs for players, education, we’ve provided mentoring relationships,” Hughes said. “We do a lot of that.”

It’s the same at the Carltonians.

“We’ve traditionally done things like employ players, house players occasionally if they need accommodation, assist them with education,” said Carltonians president Vince Loccisano.

Essendon’s former strength and conditioning coach Dean Robinson certainly thought the Essendonians had influence.

He subpoenaed Hughes and former Essendonians’ president Robert Harwood in his legal case against the Bombers, but the pair never took the stand with the case settled out of court.

Hughes’ opinion is clearly valued at Essendon.

After the Bombers’ Round 20 thrashing by Adelaide last year, the final game James Hird coached, Hughes saw the impact the growing number of losses was having on the players. He called chief executive Xavier Campbell the following day.

“One player came up to me and had tears in his eyes, he just said to me ‘I can’t do this any more’,” Hughes said.

“That was a Saturday game and I rang Xavier on Sunday. It was a really open and frank conversation and that’s the relationship I enjoy with the footy club.”

Like his Essendon counterpart, Loccisano has a close relationship with Blues president Mark LoGiudice.

“I was having constant dialogue with him about what we, or what I felt we ought to do,” Loccisano said of the period before Mick Malthouse was removed as coach.