AFL 2022: Robert Shaw calls for Essendon review after Xavier Campbell reappointed

An Essendon life member has thrown his weight behind calls for an independent review into the club after the embattled Bombers extended boss Xavier Campbell’s contract.

Essendon life member, past player and premiership assistant coach Robert Shaw has joined a chorus of Bombers fans calling for an independent external review into the club’s lack of success across almost two decades.

It comes as the Bombers recently reappointed long-time chief executive Xavier Campbell for two more years.

Campbell has been one of the key Bombers’ officials under pressure this year after the club’s disastrous 2-7 start with the board’s decision to extend his contract raising the ire of many Essendon supporters.

Campbell had been due to come out of contract at the end of this season, but he told staff at The Hangar last month he had reached an agreement to stay on until the end of 2024.

Shaw said long-suffering Bombers fans deserved answers for the lack of football success and “poor” staffing decisions made during Campbell’s time as chief executive, saying reviews undertaken by Carlton and Melbourne in recent seasons had delivered important outcomes.

“There should have been an independent external review on key members of the executive in football, in HR, at the board, list management and presidential levels because there is a club (Carlton) that has done that just down the road,” Shaw said on the Footyology podcast.

“They (Carlton) did an external review and the result of that is Brian Cook … (is the new Blues chief executive).”

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Carlton conducted an external review during the course of last season which resulted in almost 40 recommendations, paving the way for Cook to become chief executive and Michael Voss senior coach.

Shaw said Nick Austin’s appointment as Carlton list manager in early 2020 had also played an important role in the Blues’ 2022 resurgence.

Melbourne’s late 2020 internal review, conducted by chief executive Gary Pert, is credited with being the catalyst for its stunning 2021 premiership success, with the highly-rated Mark Williams joining the club in a key development role.

Essendon Football Club CEO Xavier Campbell has been reappointed for two years.

Shaw said there had been too much emphasis put on business and not enough on football at the Essendon Football Club in the past decade.

“Our core business is football but we have become the Essendon Football Bank or the Essendon Commercial Entity and we have prided ourselves on the fact that our great members, donors and coteries never dropped off and put their hands deeper and deeper into their pockets,” he said.

“My opinion is that the core business of the football club, headed by the chief executive, must be prioritised as football. And in the last nine seasons of his (Campbell’s) reign as CEO, Essendon has bottomed out to be one of the worst-performed Melbourne-based sides, that was the case even before Xavier.”

When contacted by the Herald Sun on Wednesday, Shaw added: “Essendon should’ve tested the marketplace, entertaining and embracing competition, scrutiny and, and above all, a challenge to the status quo.

“Otherwise, contentment, self interest and acceptance set in. When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows … not the flower.”

Robert Shaw and Dean Rioli during the 2000 Grand Final.

Shaw’s frustration, he said, did not stem from being overlooked when he put his hands up to assist the club in player development and offered support for senior coach Ben Rutten.

He said it came from the board and administration not being transparent with the members.

“You need to take people on the journey with you,” Shaw stressed.

The Essendon board has backed Campbell’s 2022-2026 five-year strategic plan that centred on five pillars – premierships, people, heartland, national footprint, and commercial strength – which he unveiled late last year.

One of the key pillars included winning at least one AFL and AFLW premiership by 2026.

Campbell said at the time: “We want to be a finals football club across every team in every year and it is our ambition that every Essendon team has won at least one premiership by 2026.”

Campbell, who has been in the role since 2014, was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.

EMBATTLED BOMBERS GIVE BOSS TWO MORE YEARS

Under-siege Essendon has reappointed its chief executive Xavier Campbell for two more years as it looks to close ranks following a disastrous 2-7 start to the season.

Amid calls for an external review into the Bombers’ on and off-field operations, the board recently extended Campbell’s deal through to the end of 2024.

He was due to come out of contract at the end of this season, but it is understood he told staff at The Hangar last month that he had reached an agreement with the board to stay on.

Campbell has been one of the key Bombers’ officials under pressure with the team in 16th position with only two wins so far this year and with last week’s embarrassing loss to Sydney still stinging past club greats and fans searching for their first finals win in almost 20 years.

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Ben Ruttyn and Xavier Campbell. Picture: Michael Klein

The board has effectively backed Campbell’s 2022-2026 five-year strategic plan that centred on five pillars – premierships, people, heartland, national footprint, and commercial strength.

Campbell’s new deal could also be a stabilising one for under pressure coach Ben Rutten, who has borne much of the criticism for the club’s poor start to 2022.

The CEO was the man who devised the coaching transition from John Worsfold to Rutten and is a believer in the coach’s ability to get the best out of the team.

Campbell’s strategic plan, which was revealed late last year, centred on every Essendon team – including its AFL and AFLW sides – winning a premiership by 2026.

Xavier Campbell with Essendon captain Dyson Heppell. Picture: AAP Images

“We want to be a finals football club across every team in every year, and it is our ambition that every Essendon team has won at least one premiership by 2026,” Campbell said at the time.

“When it comes to our purpose, there’s no denying we exist to win premierships. Our football club has been built on success, and our members absolutely want to see that happen.”

Campbell, who has been in the role since 2014, was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.

HEPPELL FUTURE NEXT PROBLEM FOR EMBATTLED DONS

Jon Ralph

Essendon faces sensitive contract negotiations with captain Dyson Heppell and small forward Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti as the club amasses huge salary cap space for future raids.

Essendon on Tuesday re-signed impressive young forward Archie Perkins, with the No. 9 draft pick adamant the club had enough potential to contend in coming seasons.

McDonald-Tipungwuti is in the final season of a three-year deal signed at the top of his form in 2019.

He kicked 34 goals last year but, amid time away from the club, will have to broker a new deal off very limited AFL exposure this season.

Heppell rejected free agency when he signed a two-year extension after finishing fifth in the 2019 best-and-fairest, but has since shifted to half back.

The captain is only 30 so has plenty of football left in him, but likely not at the figures he once commanded as an elite midfielder.

Essendon already had significant cap space after the departures of Joe Daniher, Orazio Fantasia and Adam Saad, and has Michael Hurley coming off a five-year deal worth an estimated $800,000 a season.

Dyson Heppell’s next deal is set to become a talking point for Essendon.

Hurley continues to work through his recovery from hip surgery and while he is less likely to return to the AFL, he has not given up hope.

The club will have to recontract former No. 1 pick Andy McGrath and still has to lock in 2020 draft picks Cox and Zach Reid.

The current ladder position puts Essendon in pole position to secure a top-five pick (currently No. 3) that could see them draft another key forward or inside mid.

Just asking …..is Dyson Heppell in @essendonfc best 22??

— David King (@davidking34) May 16, 2022

The club has done brilliantly to turn Wright into a long-term forward prospect after being the only team interested in the former Gold Coast Sun.

The Suns owed Wright $600,000 a year for the last two years of a back-ended deal but instead that money was spread out over three seasons at the Dons.

Anthony McDobnald-Tipungwuti is in the last year of his current deal.

Gold Coast paid about $100,000 a year of that deal last season and this year but not next year.

In effect the Dons will pay only $1 million over three seasons for a key forward who at 25 still seems to have the best of his career ahead of him.

Perkins signed a two-year deal on Tuesday, saying: “I’m so excited to remain at the club for another two years,” Perkins said.

“We are disappointed at the moment with our on-field results, but I’m very confident that we have a core group of young players who have a lot of potential and will take this club forward.”

Cox’s injury will see him consult with surgeons but his absence could see the club putting him on the long-term injury list to open up a mid-season draft spot for June 1.

Ben Hobbs has shown promise as last year’s No. 13 pick while Peter Wright has addressed their dire need for a key position forward, with Harrison Jones impressing last year before injury in 2022.

BOMBERS SKIPPER DECLARES FAITH IN RUTTEN

— Sam Landsberger

Dyson Heppell has pointed to Richmond and Melbourne morphing recent crises into premierships as the Essendon captain hit back at claims the Bombers should’ve targeted Luke Parker on Saturday night.

As the 2-7 Bombers confirmed Nik Cox required surgery for a Lisfranc injury that is likely to end his season, their captain sat through a 17-minute grilling on Fox Footy where he declared his “absolute trust” in coach Ben Rutten.

Parker taunted Dylan Shiel repeatedly at the SCG, with club champion Matthew Lloyd frustrated Shiel didn’t “plough straight through him” after being disrespected.

Heppell claimed the Bombers were oblivious to Parker’s sledge, but said Lloyd’s answer wasn’t in their playbook anyway.

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Luke Parker mocks Dylan Shiel in a moment Essendon skipper Dyson Heppell said the players were not aware of during their disappointing defeat in Sydney.

“Does he want Dylan to plough through someone give away a free kick, give away a 50m penalty and another goal?” Heppell said.

“It’s not about giving away free kicks or showing full blown aggression, it’s when the ball is there to be won. That’s what we want to stand for.

“I had no idea it was happening in the moment. I hadn’t even seen the vision.

“So if you’re aware of it in the moment, I have no doubt teammates will go straight over and help and support.

“(But) I’m not going to go in there and say sling Parker to the ground and give away a free kick. That does us no favours.

“Our brand and our identity wants to be we are playing within the rules, but we’re playing hard and tough.”

Heppell secured 60 tickets for family and friends to greet him on the SCG as he ran out for his 200th game on his 30th birthday.

The skipper also fired back at feedback that was an example they play too nice.

“Honestly (that was) one of my favourite moments of my career,” he said of the pre-game celebration.

Dylan Shiel continues to feel the heat surrounding his form this season. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

“In a moment like that. I’m going to take the opportunity to be extremely grateful to those that have been there since day dot with me. It has no bearing on the performance whatsoever.

“There have been moments where we might be smiling postgame, but we are absolutely hurting inside and disappointed.

“During the week we’re having really honest conversations, we’re diving into it extremely hard.

“But you can’t go there and just have a sour look on your face and carry that disappointment through, because you’re not going to work through it if you’re stuck in the past on what’s just happened.

“Being a sore loser, not respecting opponents or shaking their hands after games — that’s just not what I stand for.

“It can be a bloody tough campaign that can chew you up at times, but I’m always going to try and be my authentic self.

“If there’s hard conversations to be had, they don’t need to be with sadness on your face. They can be with firm and direct absolutely, but then you move on.”

The Bombers will review the “damning vision” from their 58-point drubbing at Tullamarine on Tuesday.

They have now laid 40 or fewer tackles in five losses this year when the AFL tackle average is about 60.

Heppell and Shiel leave the field after the Bombers went down by 58 points in a listless display. Picture: Matt King/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Essendon will take centre stage for the next five weeks with Saturday night’s Dreamtime blockbuster against Richmond followed by a trip to face Port Adelaide and then three consecutive Friday night matches.

“That’s the pillar that we talked about — tackling,” Heppell said.

“We want to be elite around that area and our blitz pressure on the ball, and then it’s just playing with some spirit.

“I have no doubt we will respond in a way that you’ll see a brand and an identity that the supporters and fans and members of this club can be proud of.”

But Heppell was lost for words on why the Bombers were failing when it counts.

“I feel like we’ve been putting in a fantastic patch (of training) throughout the week, we’re reviewing our games really firmly, the standards we’re trying to uphold at the club and training with purpose and improving each week … it’s just not translating on game day,” he said.

“It was another one of those ones on the weekend where we just couldn’t tap into it.

“We have we have got a really young list and got a lot of young guys in the team.

“Not to make excuses, and we’ve had some key players out of the team as well that we do we do sorely miss, but there are a lot of things that are coming out in our games that we don’t want to stand for.

“We still need to dive into the whys and we’re not going to shy away from that. Everyone’s taking ownership of their own individual performances.

“We’re not blaming or making excuses or having corridor chats, it’s all open in the air and in the environment within the footy club.

“It is tough to keep everyone together. But that is the key to it. You got to keep bunkering down and making sure everyone’s working as a collective, as a cohesive unit, have trust in the game plan that we’re implementing, have trust in the senior coach, which I absolutely do, and work through this period together.

“No doubt we’ll bounce out of it.”

Heppell is now the only 30-year-old in Essendon’s team, which has almost a mirror of Fremantle’s age profile.

The 7-2 Dockers smashed the Bombers by eight goals last month.

But Heppell referenced Richmond’s dismal 2016 season, where it almost sacked coach Damien Hardwick, and Melbourne missing finals in 2020 before storming to last year’s flag on the back of a review.

“I may sound over optimistic at times, but I’ve been through periods like this where if you approach it in the right way, you have the right mindset and you stick together, you come flying out of these periods,” Heppell said.

“You learn so much, you’re more galvanised as a playing list. I really firmly believe that that will happen.

“History has shown when we’ve been in periods like this, we have bounced out of them.

“You see teams like Richmond in 2016, Melbourne themselves getting questioned a lot of times and within the space of half a season to 12 months they have premiership players.

“So some of the best teams go through this.”

“We’ve got the right people in the right spots, we have a young, vibrant playing list that is going to set us up for years and years to come. So we can’t just look at this period right now, we’ve got a long trajectory to go.”

Originally published as AFL 2022: Robert Shaw calls for Essendon review after Xavier Campbell reappointed