Nothing seems that bad or that hard now. Not after you have been through what Brad Green has been through.
Six years ago, the former Melbourne captain’s first wife Anna died suddenly. His two boys were eight and six. For a week he couldn’t get out of bed.
Melbourne president Brad Green on family, footy and the future.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Last year, and with a new baby with partner Caty, the presidency of Melbourne was almost thrust upon him when his predecessor Kate Roffey quit. At the time the club was in turmoil. Key players Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca were frustrated and explored leaving, and the team had lost all four finals it had played since winning that famous flag in 2021.
“People ask, ‘Has it been challenging?’ I said, ‘No, what was challenging was when I lost my wife six years ago’. And after that period, we had the funeral, and I reckon it was four or five days post that that I really struggled to get out of bed and get on with my life.
“But then I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got an eight-year-old, I’ve got a six-year-old’. And you sit down and go, ‘In the end you’ve got to get out of bed for them’. The sun comes up and an eight-year-old and a six-year-old have just lost their mother, and you say to yourself, ‘It’s not so bad, it’s not about me’.”
So when the presidency came up, Green knew he had to show leadership. “I’ve got to show a pathway for our club that’s given me so much when I first turned up as a player,” he said.
“I’ve also got [partner] Caty now and a new baby. Life does evolve.
“The motive of being strong for them because you [have] got to be, you know ... it certainly was a tough period in my life that I’ll never get over.
“I always reflect on it. I’ve got this subconscious[ly] in my head that I brought these boys into the world, and they don’t have their real mum. Most people in their life have their mum around, and that’s where I’m so proud. Caty’s been a motherly figure to them and she’s been so good. And I’m so proud of our boys and who they are today.”
In a broad-ranging interview, Green delved into the significant changes at Melbourne over the summer that have him believing the Demons will be “right in it” this season. There is, he says, fresh unity, a new game plan and a clean slate.
Brad Green and wife Caty Price at the 2023 Glamour on the Grid.Credit: Getty Images
Green offered a robust defence of coach Simon Goodwin, and said the club would play hard-ball for the contracted – and loved – small forward Kysaiah Pickett.
If Pickett asks to leave at season’s end, he said the club would only agree if it received two or three first-round draft picks in return.
Green on Simon Goodwin
Green said Goodwin had been “weighed down” by media attention until the club reached a legal settlement with former president Glen Bartlett in November last year.
The president added that the coach had not received the respect he deserved for ending the club’s 57-year premiership drought.
Demons coach Simon Goodwin addresses his players during the pre-season.Credit: AFL Photos
“He’s a premiership coach. He is Melbourne’s only living [premiership] coach and probably from our members and supporters to the wider football world, we need to give respect and kudos to this guy,” Green said.
“I see Simon as such a different person than people perceive him as; he’s a thinker, he loves the game, he’s compassionate about his players. His players will never say a bad word about him. We’ve got to show respect to this guy, he does not get any respect, and it annoys me and gets me angry. He is not the problem.
“We had to do something as a board to help lighten that load because we see a coach just getting buried and buried, and [it] doesn’t help our club with all that outside noise. And we had to get rid of that for him, so [for] that I’m proud of our board, for us doing that and helping him.”
On Christian Petracca
Amid reports that Petracca was unhappy with aspects of the club culture, Green wanted to hear from the player, himself.
“I caught up with him when it all was all hitting the fan and said, ‘Mate, what’s going on here?’ And not once through that was he talking about anything other than Melbourne Football Club and where we can improve,” Green said.
“People say to me, ‘What’s going on with the culture down there?’ I get it every day. People want to talk about it. I say a good culture is living every day to a high standard, and the things you walk past, if you don’t think they’re up to a high standard then any individual call them out on it and be accountable to that. And they’re good honest conversations that we’ve had.”
Christian Petracca does a meet and greet with Melbourne fans at Casey Fields in Cranbourne earlier this month.Credit: Joe Armao
But with Petracca and Oliver both disenchanted in the off-season, didn’t that suggest the environment, the culture, was amiss?
“My answer to that is, I know our environment; our players, love each other. Their love and their bond, and what they communicate to each other is [very different] to what’s perceived out there,” Green said.
“I think what we found is issues get put into the one big basket, and they become [conflated] into a big pile of shit, really, and that creates different instances of what they say is culture. But what I believe, and what I know, is this is a very driven, strong, talented group that can can achieve anything they want to.
“We’ve made mistakes in the past, every club’s made mistakes. We’ve got to own them and quickly turn them around and move forward.”
Are the Demons a destination club?
Green says Jake Lever and Steven May are proof that Melbourne remains a place players want to come to.
“I would think we are always a potential destination club,” he said. “I still think players want to come and play for us because of the talent that we have in our program, and I reckon once our coach sits down and talks to any individual they want to come. We don’t lose many. Most of these players are signed. Christian’s got a six-year deal. Clayton’s got a six-year deal. Kozzy’s got another three years.”
Pickett’s future
Pickett last week addressed persistent reports that he’d texted friends at Fremantle that he’d join them at the Dockers next year, conceding he was homesick at times. Green did not shut down the speculation.
Kozzy Pickett is much loved at Melbourne, but speculation that he could move west persists.Credit: Getty Images
“The Kozzy Pickett scenario, people will talk about that all year. I think we’re always about the player first. We love Kozzy as a teammate, he is such a lovable character around the place,” Green said.
“The thing that our members and supporters have got to know is if they (reports) come to fruition and he wants to go to Perth, then we’re going to be OK. He’s got three years on his contract, so we’re going to get two or three first round draft picks.
“So we either keep the player that we love and respect – and we want him to stay – but if for family reasons he wants to go back, that’s OK. Fremantle or West Coast or any other club can come up with three first-round draft picks, or he’s not going anywhere. I can tell you that – he’s not going anywhere unless we as a club get a deal we want.”
Oliver’s tears
The club ultimately refused to entertain a deal for Oliver to move to Geelong.
Back in the fold, Clayton Oliver has had a strong pre-season.
“We hold our players to a high account, and if we think that you’ve explored some options, but we don’t think that it’s viable for us, we’re going to hold you to your contract. We’re not going to let players walk out,” Green said.
He revealed the conversation that kept Oliver in red and blue.
“I rang Clarry around the time of the B[est] and F[airest night] and said, ‘This is the situation; you’re not going anywhere. Tonight I’m going up to give a speech and say to our members that our starting midfield for 2025 is going to be Petracca, Viney, Oliver and Gawn. OK?’ And he started getting all teary on me.
“I said, ‘It’s OK, mate. I love you, I love having you around the club, you’re a four-time B&F winner, you’re going to go down as one of our champion players and [a] hall of famer at our football club, and you’re going to be a big part of our future’.
“He said to me, ‘Please, don’t do that because the B&F night, it’s not about me, it’s about the guys that are going to get awarded for their individual seasons’. I said, ‘No, Clarry, it’s not about you, but our members and supporters want to know we are committed in this place and this environment. And I’m just ringing you to say, ‘I love you. We love you, and we’re going to move forward with that’.’ And he got off the phone and just said, ‘Love you, Greeny ’.”
Friendship, love and strength
At a pre-season Kumbaya session in Bright, the players came up with a mantra for the year: Friendship, love and strength.
Melbourne’s players have committed to showing friendship love and strength this year.Credit: AFL Photos
“They had their heart-to-heart conversations. They had probably 15 to 20 players sit around a room before the young boys came back and emotions got spoken about and how they love the club, but they had to first get some shit off the liver and have conversations.
“There’s nothing wrong with tough, hard conversations between each other.”
A new game plan
A review of the football department led to a change in the game plan, driven by players as much as coaches. There was frustration the team could get inside-50s but not score.
“He [Goodwin] wasn’t happy with any phase of the game: The way we defend, the way we move the ball, the way we attacked and the contest. People think we’re a contest team, but I think we went from first to eighth or ninth last year,” Green said.
“So we had to really strip it back. And I know they have stripped it back and really looked at the fundamentals on how they are going to perform.”
Proposed changes to the illicit drugs policy
Melbourne was challenged last year over an alleged drug culture when a former doctor at the club estimated a third of Melbourne players never touched drugs, a third were occasional recreational drug users, and a third were regular users. Green said he was satisfied after his own internal inquires that the club’s issues were no greater or worse than other clubs.
Brad Green after playing his last game is chaired off the MCG by his Melbourne team mates.Credit: Joe Armao
The AFL has proposed changes that would tighten the illicit drugs policy. Green backed the existing model.
“I’ve been part of the medical model when I was playing, and there’s some serious stuff going on, not only with players, but with society about mental illness.
“Let’s look at it, let’s review it. But is being hard and fast the answer? I think the model that we have does catch and help players. Is it a deterrent? People are always going to challenge those things. Can we be harder on it? Maybe. But can we help and save players? Yes, in this model. I reckon if you go too far the other way, I reckon you’ll get less vulnerability in emotion and people being able to help.”
Caulfield development
Green is adamant a new home uniting administration and football at Caulfield racecourse will happen, despite the Demons needing to raise a further $70 million in funding.
“We’ve never had our administration, our football department, in one area. Never, and it’s a disaster. We need all those parties to be in one room because until you do that, you’re not one club. We’ll go from the worst facility in the league to the best straight away because we’ll keep Casey [Fields] and we’ll build this new facility,” he said.
Handing over the reins
Former Melbourne Cricket Club president Steven Smith recently joined the Demons’ board with a plan to take over the presidency at the end of this year.
“I’ve got a young family of a 14-year-old, 12-year-old and a 14-month-old. And I run my own business on top of it, so it’s fair workload,” Green said.
“I want stability and succession planning for Steve to take over and, potentially, once my boys finish school after three or four years, I take the presidency back over from him.”
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