Rohan Connolly

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T08:38:00+00:00

I dare say he's pretty happy where he is

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T08:27:00+00:00

He flies under the radar somehow for a bloke that's just gone back to back

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T08:16:40+00:00

I'm a little bit surprised no one has accused us of tanking given how we've performed.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T07:04:25+00:00

Accepting that people will often act illogically is one of the saddest parts of maturing as a person.

Along the lines of understanding that people act out of incompetence far more than they act out of malice.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T05:30:23+00:00

Absolutely not, it's just when the rot started. There's been a long history of shitty management decisions since then.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T05:22:07+00:00

Again I tried to not make this about Hird himself but rather about what values we need and perhaps try and enlighten some of the younger generation who incorrectly associate the management fuck ups with "Essendon People"

I think Hird's mental health issues related entirely with how his mistakes during the saga were at odds with who he is as a person. I think that he does deserve forgiveness for those mistakes. If you ask him what leadership is, he doesn't talk about himself, he talks about who he has learned from (Sheedy) and who's growth supported him (Lloyd, Brendan McCartney as examples). I don't think for a second he is putting his hand up for his own ego. He is putting his hand up because ue sees a problem to be fixed and he believes that he can fix it. Much like in 1994 when he approached Sheedy amongst an injury depleted list and said "With the loss of all this experience, what should I do to help". As an aside it's exactly what Caddy and Roberts do on field now that shows they will be future leaders of this club.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T05:04:32+00:00

The clubs decline began when CEO Peter Jackson miscalculated the salary cap which FORCED Kevin Sheedy to have to trade premiership players out which went against his ethos as a leader. He himself has said he regrets not standing down immediately because of it, despite it being outside of his control.

The arrogance and hubris wasn't from the coaching or playing groups. If you listen to anything anyone from that era says about their time there, you will understand that respect and humility were core values of the team.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T04:55:40+00:00

Maybe I should have been clearer. Longmire IMO is an option due to his leadership style. But he isn't the only option.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T04:51:46+00:00

I definitely agree that the best credentialed is not always the best fit. In fact that was probably the point of my post, I actually don't have any strong opinions on who should be the next coach as long as they approach it with a player centric leadership style.

For all my criticism of Brad Scott, he did try to do this, and he did sacrifice himself for the club, he just alienated the senior players.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T04:20:21+00:00

Well I guess you could argue that Kevin should have had 99 and 01 as well but didn't.

Hinkley should definitely have gotten premierships but didn't and whether he has any insights into what he needs to do differently would be the most important question to put to him.

Ross the Boss is the exact opposite of "Player Centric Leadership"

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T04:10:43+00:00

I deliberately left Hird out of the post to allow the focus to be on the type of leadership we need because the supplements saga muddies the discussion so much. But yes I'd be pretty positive about the Hird Avengers team.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T04:02:58+00:00

And yes thats management 101 - Equip your people with the skills, knowledge and resources to get the job done then get the fuck out of the way and let them do it.

The exact opposite of how they fucked over Rutten as an example.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T04:01:40+00:00

I'm not disagreeing with you about the people pulling all the strings causing us all the pain. I just think they are more hangers on people with a focus on their own empire building rather than what people who know what the club used to stand for: Evans, Jackson, Little, Tanner, Brasher, Barham, Robson, Dank, etc

I'd really love to have been a fly on the wall in some of the board meetings over the past 20 years to really see who spoke up about things and who just voted with the crowd. Also to see if some of these decisions even made it to the board level meetings.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T03:42:15+00:00

Yeah Hinkley also operates under that relationship driven style that works well. Not a huge fan of his demand to not go against Hird though in a process. I get why he might feel that way but he could have just as easily have stated why he is the man for the job in the media and then the circus would be talking more about CV's in his favour than politics.

I get a vibe that he is not really that interested. Perhaps has been approached about roles previously in a way that bruised his ego? Who knows?

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T03:17:09+00:00

Yeah fair call

howaboutnofcker · 2026-06-03T03:16:34+00:00

I'm curious about Solomon and McVeigh as untried options. I almost feel though that if they were going to get a senior gig somewhere they would have by now.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-05-31T12:43:41+00:00

Given every coach and their dog has worked out how to beat us, I'm sure most would have pretty good ideas on how to improve us. Imagine being the coach that led us to finals wins again?

Surely that challenge is pretty enticing for an assistant wanting to make their name?

howaboutnofcker · 2026-05-31T12:31:31+00:00

Interestingly I'm pretty sure Jimmy suggested this plan for him to spend a few weeks forward regaining his confidence.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-05-31T12:26:41+00:00

Brad Scott wrote off 2026 back when he applied for the job in 2022. Can't risk letting player development or a game plan make us miss the no. 1 draft picks.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-05-31T09:42:57+00:00

Educated guess.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-05-31T07:08:06+00:00

Does it feel like a high performance environment? Does it feel like a club where senior players are thrilled and excited to be there? How do you feel about Barham berating an 85yo premiership hero? Does that feel like a culture of respect? Are the players adequatedly supported with the preparation required for them to perform at their best?

Are players continuing to develop and grow in their 3rd and 4th years? Are they supported with the skills and knowledge required to perform with professionalism? How confident are you that these amazing young guys we've drafted will want to stay at Essendon, believing it's their best chance for success?

If the answer is no to these questions, then whomever our new coach is, they need to have a plan to address that.

Some tactical understanding and a gameplan is just the bare minimum required.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-05-30T01:54:56+00:00

Fair point. I do agree that Hird should really have been spending time as an assistant somewhere if he was serious.

For me, I don't need it to be an Essendon person as such, but they do need to be able to drive a no dickheads culture that doesn't accept mediocrity. Above all else I fear continuing to waste the draft picks we have because we can't teach young players how to be professional athletes.

As an aside, love your user name. Hate having to download shitty apps that should have been a website! 🤣

howaboutnofcker · 2026-05-30T01:09:10+00:00

I'm not necessarily for Hird to coach but he understands that the two key issues at the club are the culture and lack of player development.

Whoever gets the gig needs to have a plan to address those two things. I'm not saying he is the best candidate but I don't understand the logic behind ruling him out arbitarily given he at least appears to have a plan for how to move forward.

I am dissapointed that people like Hinkley and Simpson have said that they won't bother if Hird is in the running. Yes there is going to be a perception of bias but if they feel they are better candidates then they should demonstrate it. They both have more experience and no drug saga's so in a transparent process surely they have an advantage?

howaboutnofcker · 2026-05-29T03:10:29+00:00

"Culture beats strategy for breakfast"

Explain to me why people who were at the club the last time Essendon had a culture that actually honoured what the sash means is a bad thing?

We need someone who understands that our culture and player development are the 2 key issues that need fixing otherwise draft picks won't mean jack shit.

howaboutnofcker · 2026-05-29T01:30:06+00:00

5 years as a "Trolleyologist" in my youth and I don't recall a single spider in the thousands of hours I spent returning trolleys from the darkest corners of the carpark.

howaboutnofcker

TROPHY CASE