Members have their say
Justin Leppitsch and Greg Swann front the Brisbane Lions Members Forum
A strong showing of more than 120 members turned up to the Gabba and took advantage of the opportunity to direct questions to key Club figures including new CEO Greg Swann, Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch, and General Manager of Football Operations, Dean Warren.
The event was designed to provide members with a platform to raise any questions to senior personnel at the Club, with no subject being βoff limitsβ.
Overall the forum generated wonderful discussion and feedback, so much so that the Lions are already planning on hosting the events again next year in both Melbourne and Brisbane.
For those who were unable to attend, please find below a brief snapshot of some of the questions and responses from the evening.
CEO Greg Swann addressed the members at the beginning of the forum with responses to two popular topics of discussionβ¦
Greg Swann: Iβll head two things off at the pass β one is the lion.
(The concept of using a real lion at home games) did create a big furore in the end.
With a large part of our upcoming membership campaign being based around the βoldβ lion being back, we wondered if it would be possible to get a real lion.
I raised it in a staff meeting about a month ago, and everyone was sort of laughing and a bit jocular, but it was just one of those things.
My new mantra, if you like, is that we need to try new things, be out there, and we need to be aggressive. We canβt be doing the same thing, because it hasnβt worked. That was part of how this all started.
We knew there would be a lot of issues, and we hadnβt spoken to anyone about it, so it was always going to be more unlikely than likely. But it was part of us trying to think of new things, trying to be different, and trying to get some publicity.
The other question will no doubt be about the training and admin facility.
There are four of us that werenβt involved in the original decision β (Board members) Andrew Wellington, Sarah Kelly, Leigh Matthews, and myself β that have formed a group to look at all options.
Itβs been 18 months since the original decision was made, so things have changed. There might have been things that were looked at back then that werenβt a possibility, but now are. There are a whole lot of things that weβve been doing.
Weβve held a series of meetings with councils, governments, and private enterprises. The process is ongoing, so I canβt stand here and say that it looks like weβre going to βXβ or βYβ because weβre still only early into that phase.
As we get closer to making that decision, weβre going to bring everyone along with us so that there are no surprises.
Thatβs under way and weβre looking at every possibility. Weβll come back with whatβs the best decision for the Club.
Can you please explain your view on targeting marquee players to join the Club?
Greg Swann: We want to be aggressive, thereβs no doubt about that.
There are always 17 other clubs competing for people, and thatβs a battle.
Iβm a big believer that what weβve got to offer here (in Brisbane) is different to whatβs available in Melbourne or anywhere else. I donβt see that as a negative, I see that as a positive.
The weather is incredible. Itβs a great lifestyle; itβs an absolutely fantastic lifestyle. And you are out of the fishbowl, which is sometimes an attraction.
There are three mina reasons why people move clubs β theyβre either unhappy, itβs a lifestyle decision, or they see success.
While weβve been relatively poor in the past few years, now that weβve turned and finished the season off with a lot of promise, that also helps attract people.
Weβre in the market and are hopeful that weβll pick some people up, but thereβs a long way to go. Having been around for the past 15 years as a CEO, I know that until theyβve signed the contract and are running down the race in your jumper, thereβs a lot of things that can go wrong.
Have you determined a philosophy to bring the Club back together and move forward as one?
Greg Swann: You simply canβt function as an AFL club if you got bits of the club that arenβt together.
Thereβs no question that from the players, to the administration, to the Board, to the members, to the corporate partners, and the sponsors β the whole package β everybodyβs in it together.
The vision has to be clear and everyone has to buy into it.
Weβre in that process, and itβs the only way weβre going to succeed. Itβs something that weβre pushing really hard internally.
We want to be the best. When I got appointed, I mentioned that when I used to come up here with Collingwood, weβd get belted and the crowd would be roaring, the place would be full and Brisbane had that βswaggerβ about them.
We want to get the βswaggerβ back. It doesnβt happen overnight, but thatβs what weβre going to try and do.
Iβm interested to know what attracted you to the CEO position here at the Brisbane Lions, and what you want to achieve in your time here.
Greg Swann: One of the things I really enjoyed about my two previous roles (at Collingwood then Carlton) was that I went there when they were on the bottom of the ladder and losing money.
I like the rebuild, and as this is the third time, I like to think I know what youβve got to do.
The main thing is you need to get good people at the footy club, and I think weβve got good people at the footy club.
Iβve been back to the AFL and theyβve asked me what my initial thoughts are on the Club. I said weβve got good people, but what we havenβt got is any money to invest into the business and into the people. Weβve saved ourselves to death in a way. Weβve cut costs.
As an example, thereβs a soft salary cap, which on average is around $9.4 million and weβve budgeted to spend $7.3 million β so weβre a long way behind the average spend in the competition.
That represents challenges in itself, but we need to be smarter with the resources weβve got.
In the meantime, we need to stem the bleeding from a financial point of view, and win games of footy. Thatβs what weβre here for.
I said it (at the Club Champion Dinner), but re-building is actually the wrong word. Weβre actually building a footy club.
The end of the season was really encouraging, but thatβs not where it stops, we need to continue to get better.
Fans are constantly faced with rumour and innuendo about player movements in the papers, and it can be a bit disconcerting. How does the Club manage these things when they arise?
Justin Leppitsch: Itβs not ideal when those things get in the newspaper.
With this time of the year, weβre out earlier than some teams, so our time between now and the trade period is longer than others, which means itβs longer for the 800-odd journalists to write a story about us and what weβre doing next.
These things are common, thatβs what happens. We have to deal with those conversations internally. We canβt control the media unfortunately.
We donβt like the scuttlebutt either. The Daniel Merrett one, that was difficult. Iβd just had his exit meeting about eight hours earlier, and then I picked up the paper the next day. It was news to me as well.
We can only deal with the facts in the end. There are none of our players walking out to other clubs, which is a good sign. But unfortunately when players are linked to your club, players are linked out of it as well.
Iβve got no intention of ripping the guts out of our list, but we are mindful that we have to add to our list.
As you know, weβve had four retirements and weβre going to replace them with four kids at this point in time. That means our list will become even younger than it was this year. Thatβs the reality unless we can attract mature talent to our football club.
But if theyβre βBβ Grade or βCβ graders thereβs no point, we might as well stick with our kids. Weβve said publicly that we want to recruit βAβ Grade talent.
From a coachβs point of view, what do you think is the biggest challenge for the Club next year?
Justin Leppitsch: My biggest challenge is always keeping the players motivated to learn.
Implementing our curriculum and implementing our game style is almost the easy part now. Itβs about getting them to do it β not telling them.
There are certain things you canβt avoid, and age/list analysis is one of those.
Anyone that has an 18-year-old boy knows that theyβre not generally consistent by nature. So youβre dealing with 5-6 on the footy field at the one time, youβre going to get inconsistencies within performances. You can accept it a little bit from the younger ones.
Any process we can go through to get our list a bit more mature quicker, weβd take. But not at the expense of quality, thatβs for sure.
Are you happy with the facilities and resources that have been put in place to help you retain young players? Are you happy with support Club has given you?
Justin Leppitsch: The short answer is yes.
I think I take great responsibility for all of that. I set the culture, the environment, and the general mood of the place. I think I need to take the biggest responsibility β more than the welfare people β of the happiness of our players.
They need to know weβve picked them for a reason and where they fit into our planning, and how weβre going to support them to do that.
If anyone feels loved in their environment, they wonβt want to leave irrespective of whether theyβve left home or not.
If we donβt provide them the right lifestyle, the right facilitates, and the right care, theyβll go back to what they knew was better than what theyβre currently doing.
Whatβs the story with Browny? Is he going to remain at the Club next year in some capacity?
Justin Leppitsch: Yep, Brownyβs going to be working part-time.
Heβs going to do some work in the media, but also give (his wife) Kylie some time. He doesnβt want to work full-time, so heβs going to be working with our young key forwards β two times a week in the pre-season, and one in-season β just with their technique.
Thatβs all he wants from a football perspective, but Iβm sure the Club will have him doing some other things off the field as well.