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Melbourne needed the AFL’s money to sack coach Mark Neeld and the league will also have its fingerprints all over the make-up of the club’s revamped board.
Chief executive Peter Jackson, whose own appointment in April was instigated by the AFL, admits a plan including Neeld’s axing was outlined at a Demons board meeting a fortnight ago.
But the axe couldn’t fall until the Demons secured almost $3 million in conditional extra funding from the AFL last Friday.
“That outline was put to the board at that (June 3) meeting, absolutely,” Jackson told a media conference on Monday.
“But the decision was confirmed on Friday.”
Jackson said while Neeld’s sacking, which came with a full pay-out believed to be worth $600,000, wasn’t a condition of the AFL opening its coffers, the league did make several demands.
One was that Jackson remained in his job to oversee the football department restructure – which will include the appointment of a general manager of football operations.
Jackson has since signed on until at least the end of next season.
The other is that the AFL wanted board change, which started on Friday with president Don McLardy and colleague Stuart Grimshaw resigning.
“They want to see the composition of the new board and what that looks like,” Jackson said.
“They would be anxious if there was a group that they didn’t have the confidence in that tried to take over the board.”
Jeff Kennett’s bid for the presidency appears doomed, with the former Victorian Premier admitting on Monday the league had indicated they didn’t want him.
Neeld’s sacking, McLardy’s resignation and the forced departure of chief executive Cameron Schwab in early April means the Demons’ horror season start has claimed their three top officials in 10 weeks.
But the overhaul is just beginning.
Several more directors are expected to step down within weeks.
Sports performance director Neil Craig will coach for the rest of this season.
But the Demons are expected to look elsewhere for an experienced permanent replacement.
Mark Williams, Rodney Eade and Paul Roos are among those likely to be sounded out, along with John Worsfold, if he leaves West Coast at the end of the season.
Josh Mahoney will temporarily fill the newly-created football chief’s position and put his hand up for the permanent job, but the Demons will also search nationwide to fill that role.
“This is a rebuild of the football club as a whole,” Jackson said.
“This is not about a single person called a senior coach.
“Whether Mark continued on as senior coach or whether we replaced Mark with someone else, that in itself was not the answer for this football club.
“It’s a total rebuild.”
Neeld had repeatedly stated during his time in charge he was already leading the rebuild of a rebuild.
But Jackson said urgent change had been needed to convince players the club was worth sticking with and to persuade sponsors and members to recommit.
He said the club’s non-competitiveness delivered a huge financial hit, which the club was too financially fragile to handle without AFL help.
The league had its own motivation: Melbourne is draining the entire competition.
“We are a huge impediment to the industry at the moment in terms of opposition clubs playing us as their home games, our stakeholders, the MCC, broadcasters, everything you look at we are an impediment,” Jackson said.
A disappointed Neeld, whose tumultuous 33-game coaching career yielded just five wins and 18 losses – 17 of them by more than 50 points – said he’d had a crack and it didn’t work, but he’d do nothing different if he had his time again.
He was boosted by the presence of the entire Melbourne playing list and football department at Monday’s media conference.
“They’re good people,” he said.
“They have probably got the hardest job in all of this.
“In five days’ time they’re off to the MCG to take on St Kilda.”
MARK NEELD’S TIME AS MELBOURNE COACH
2011
Aug 31 – Melbourne sack Dean Bailey as coach the day after the club’s 31-goal loss to Geelong
Sept 17 – Neeld, an assistant coach at Collingwood for four years, is appointed as the Demons’ new senior coach2012
Feb 3 – Demons pair Jack Trengove and Jack Grimes become two of the youngest captains in the game’s history. Former captain Brad Green is not in the leadership group
March 8 – Melbourne player Liam Jurrah is in police custody following a machete attack near Alice Springs. He was later cleared of the charge, but only played one more game for the club before leaving
March 20 – Revered Demons president Jim Stynes dies
March 31 – Neeld makes his senior coaching debut with what looks to be a winnable home game against Brisbane. They lose by 41 points and Neeld sharply criticises his team
Early April – Former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas posts a blog alleging Neeld treats the Demons’ indigenous players differently to other team-mates. AFL official Jason Mifsud subsequently apologises after it emerges he was the source of the untrue allegation
April 5 – Melbourne dump major sponsor Energy Watch over a racism controversy involving the company’s chief executive
April 7 – Melbourne lose to West Coast in Perth by 108 points
Aug – The AFL launches an investigation into persistent allegations that Melbourne tanked at the end of the 2009 season
Sept – After opening the season with a nine-game losing streak, Melbourne finish third-last with just four wins
Oct – Neeld overhauls his playing group with a massive turnover. Among those to leave are experienced players such as Green, Brent Moloney, Jared Rivers and Cale Morton. The Demons recruits include Shannon Byrnes, Chris Dawes, Cam Pedersen and David Rodan2013
Feb 18 – Melbourne fined $500,000 and Bailey and Melbourne official Chris Connolly suspended as a result of the AFL’s tanking investigation
March 31 – Melbourne open the season with a 79-point loss to Port Adelaide at the MCG
April 6 – The pressure on Neeld mounts after a 148-point loss to Essendon
April 9 – Cameron Schwab sacked as Melbourne chief executive
April 18 – Peter Jackson appointed as interim chief executive
June 14 – Don McLardy resigns as Melbourne president after the club meets with the AFL
June 17 – Neeld sacked after coaching Melbourne to five wins from 33 games
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