Lamb and leadership: What was on the AFL coaches’ agenda at dinner with Dills

Club chief executives are less keen on the idea, given it would impact the bottom line of clubs. Loading Another concern is that it could benefit wealthier clubs, while disadvantaging less well-off teams paying a high-quality coach, such as North Melbourne and Alastair Clarkson. Brad Scott said the soft cap and football departments, which have been “prioritised less” since the COVID-19 years, were among the areas of concern raised over lamb shoulder at the Builder’s Arms. “There were certainly no requests made in terms of what [soft cap] numbers should be. It was more just how we look at prioritising things,” he said.

“… There seems to be a really broad understanding of the issues that I think the football departments, represented by the coaches, have raised. “The challenge with the game is that there’s investment required in a whole vast array of different areas, and so it’s a matter of how you distribute and divide up that pie.” Under Gillon McLachlan’s reign, all 18 coaches would meet at the boss’ abode in Prahran. It was always an enjoyable event, they said, but the downside of the large gathering was it could be difficult to get a word in. Senior coaches spoken to by this masthead believe splitting the dinners into smaller groups has been a positive move, enabling a more expansive and inclusive discussion.

There was no obligation to bring a bottle of red, and no fumbling with the intercom while waiting at McLachlan’s gate. Scott was a fan of the intimate setting and the AFL CEO’s willingness to listen to what the quartet of senior coaches had to say. AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon had dinner with Scott and other senior coaches on Monday night. Credit: AFL Photos “Gill liked to put on a big spread at his own house with all coaches present,” Scott said. “But in the last few years, you know, we’ve discussed that it’s a challenge to have all 18 coaches plus an AFL executive to have meaningful discussion. So we’ve broken it into smaller groups so that we can give other coaches more of a voice, rather than just be a member of 18 people talking.”

“It’s probably the best AFL meeting I can recall,” he said. “There were clearly a lot of things to talk about, and I really felt that Andrew Dillon, in particular, with his staff, really listened to all the agenda items that the coaches had. “We do it every year. But I felt that there was a really productive discussion. “No doubt everyone got their thoughts out on the table, and I suppose the challenge from here is what action is taken from this point.

“But in terms of Andrew in particular, and the AFL’s willingness to listen and for the coaches’ voices to be heard, I thought it was really positive.” Loading The AFL has been under fire for the way it handled the Willie Rioli saga, the Lachie Schultz concussion fallout and reports that the league would be soon parting ways with senior executive Tanya Hosch. There is also concern about the decline in the number of Indigenous players being recruited to AFL clubs. There are 62 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island players, compared with 87 in 2020. “I think coaches have a big role to play in that [pathways], in terms of their expertise as to how to develop talent, what talent pathways look like, and probably who takes the responsibility for developing talent,” Scott said.

“We’re obviously playing a massive game this Friday night at the MCG, Dreamtime at the ’G, and we’re looking to foster Indigenous pathways, and that’s something that I think we can always do better.” Loading Scott said he retained confidence in the competition’s most senior figure. “I’ve got the utmost faith and confidence in Andrew Dillon’s capability to do the job,” he said. “I think he’s an exceptional administrator. I’ve seen first hand how talented he is, and he’s in a very difficult role, where you know that you’re going to be faced with really difficult decisions, and you’ve got to make decisions that are going to be unpopular at times, and you’ll go through cycles where you make some mistakes, and you own those mistakes, and you move forward.

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