Hall of Fame Legend John Nicholls on Carlton’s board challenge, David Teague’s future and what the club needs
Carlton great John Nicholls has slammed life member Vince Loccisano for “bringing the club down”. And he’s not the only influential Blue who’s had enough.
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Carlton Hall of Fame Legend John Nicholls has made an extraordinary intervention into the club’s board challenge to urge member Vince Loccisano to back down from his threat to spill the club’s directors at an EGM.
Nicholls told the Herald Sun on Friday he was as frustrated as any Carlton fan with the club’s lack of success and long line of failed coaches in the past 25 seasons.
But he said president-elect Luke Sayers had to be given time to enact changes to the club which are expected to include the installation of a new senior coach and shake up the football department.
Nicholls believes a strong-willed figure like former St Kilda and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon could turn the club around, saying the club needed a “tough bastard” to improve the club’s fortunes.
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The revered and legendary Nicholls is as significant a figure as there is in Carlton history as the AFL Team of the Century ruckman, inaugural football Hall of Fame legend, three-time premiership player and a five-time best-and-fairest winner that has that trophy named in his honour.
The 82-year-old said he never became involved in the club’s political struggles, quipping, “the last time I became involved was when they were trying to get rid of (Blues president) George Harris.”
Harris was ejected in 1980 but four decades later Nicholls told News Corp he could no longer stand by as Loccisano did irreparable damage to the club.
“I am frustrated and annoyed Vince has decided to involve himself in this bitter attack. It has been five years since he stepped down as the head of the Carltonians and he is not talking on behalf of the Carltonians coterie group. I know several who are annoyed with what he is doing and I know a lot of members who I talk to are disappointed. He doesn’t speak for all the members,” he said.
“We all admit our side does need a lot of improvement. We are all disappointed in the last 25 years. But I want Carlton members to know I am horrified by what Vince is doing.
“Calling for a spill is not the right way to go about it. For all the good work he has done as a Carltonian, he has lost it in my mind because he is bringing the club down at a time when it needs to be united. I am disappointed with an old Carlton supporter who has taken this unprofessional attitude of releasing private conversations with the club. As frustrated as we are with how the team is going, this is not the way to do it.
“Luke Sayers is a very tough bloke and it may be in two years time he would like two or three changes on the board. But with two games to go, this isn’t the answer and we need the club to look very hard at itself after the review.”
Carlton life member Loccisano’s successful intervention means Carlton has delayed proposed changes to the constitution that made it harder to launch an extraordinary general meeting, accusing the club of “arrogance and audacity on steroids”.
On Friday, the Herald Sun obtained board correspondence from Carlton president Mark LoGuidice to Loccisano rejecting calls for the club’s review to be made public.
Nicholls, who remains incredibly well connected at Carlton, believes if the club replaces Teague it needs to be with a strong figure who can drag the best out of a group of underperforming players.
“Teaguey won’t be there and I think Alastair Clarkson and Ross Lyon are both semi-interested and the third one is Don Pyke. I don’t want an academic, I want a tough bastard. Football has changed and I know that but we need someone to rock the boat. If they don’t like the coach, that’s stiff as long as they get them into shape. The lack of skill in so many areas for 10 years or longer now has been unbelievable.
“We tried to play keepings-off against GWS and they just slaughtered us. My old mate Yabby Jeans used to say it’s all about what you do when you have the ball. Hawthorn won those flags with their left-footers who just kept the ball so it’s all about using the ball, nothing has changed.”
Nicholls says the club also needs a football director to replace Chris Judd who will be totally invested in the club’s fortunes and is prepared to invest significant hours in the club’s direction.
Nicholls also hit out at the continued string of leaks from within Carlton that have ensured David Teague’s tenure has been increasingly unstable in recent weeks.
“I am so frustrated with people inside the club telling supposed secrets. In fact I am disgusted if there are people who are supplying information, to me they are not real Carlton people.”
Teague: Do a Dimma and back me in
– Sam Landsberger
Carlton has struggled to remain a “psychologically-safe environment” for players and coaches after incoming president Luke Sayers commissioned an in-season review that is set to cost David Teague his job.
The Blues’ board will be given the findings from the external project on Thursday night, where they will discuss Teague’s future and could decide to tear up his contract for 2022.
Teague said the board would need time to digest the findings and declared he would coach out the season.
He does not expect an answer on his future until after next week’s game against Greater Western Sydney, which will be Teague’s 50th in charge.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick called Teague this week to offer his support after the Tigers stuck with Hardwick in 2016 when most thought he would be sacked, a decision rewarded with three flags in the next four years.
“He talked about Richmond’s courage to back him in,” Teague said on Thursday.
“In 2016 he went through a similar thing and to stay strong it gives you confidence that I’m really hopeful that our club will back me in and have the courage to stick to the cause and to finish what we started.
“I’ve said all along I really believe in what we’re doing. I believe in this playing group and where we’re going.
“The reassurance to have someone like Dimma to reach out to let you know and to understand what you’re going through was really nice and comforting.”
Teague conceded his game plan was loose defensively and at stoppages, which required a new pre-season to fix.
But Teague argued the club’s progression had been “normal” despite the rich expectations from fed-up members.
“I think the speculation around it all has been intensified. When I took over we’d won four of 44 (9 per cent), now we’re 21 of 48 (44 per cent)”, Teague said.
“To perform at your best you need a psychologically-safe environment, and right now for us that’s a challenge for us with everything going on.
“I really commend all the players and staff (for) the way they keep fronting up and bringing great effort and trying their best in an environment which is a bit challenging.”
The Blues have debuted just one player in 2021, which is the least in the AFL as the likes of Jack Newnes, Marc Murphy and Eddie Betts took up places in the team.
Defender Brodie Kemp, who played on Cale Hooker in the VFL last week, will become the second first-gamer against Port Adelaide on Saturday.
External reviewers Geoff Walsh, Graham Lowe and Matthew Pavlich were given unfettered access when their forensic examination began seven weeks ago.
The Blues were still in the finals hunt when the review was commissioned and Teague said the awkward timing had made life tough.
“How it’s transitioned in this case, and how it’s unfolded, it’s probably become a bigger thing than just learning to become better, and that’s probably the challenge for us as a footy club,” he said.
Their report will help shape Carlton’s future with football boss Brad Lloyd and fitness boss Andrew Russell also feeling pressure.
While a financial payout for Teague’s 2022 contract wouldn’t be ideal, it is believed the Blues are prepared to exceed the AFL’s football department spending soft cap.
They were the AFL’s most profitable club in 2020 and repairing the football program is clearly the No. 1 priority.
“I’m contracted for next year, so as far as that goes that’s all I’ve been focusing on,” Teague said.
“I’m planning for next year in terms of where I’m at and where my mind is thinking.
“But in terms of the direction and the outcomes of the review, I haven’t heard anything about that.
“I’m keen to hear the learnings and find out where we can grow and improve.
“I’m expecting that’ll be post-season.”
Teague has attempted to avoid the media storm surrounding his future but was brief on reports of player unrest on Wednesday.
The 40-year-old backed his relationships with players. Coleman Medal leader Harry McKay (shoulder) and fullback Liam Jones (knee) will not play again this year.
McKay has 58 goals, 11 clear of Tom Hawkins and Jack Riewoldt.
Originally published as Hall of Fame Legend John Nicholls on Carlton’s board challenge, David Teague’s future and what the club needs
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