Dissecting the latest letter from Jeff
Some carefully penned prose ahead of the upcoming AGM
For avid fans of the Hawthorn Football Club, Jeff’s ‘letters to members’ have always been something of a must read. During his most recent stint as President, the reason’s for why the letters are must read have varied from person to person.
In my lifetime, I haven’t felt the level of division in club membership as it is at present. Mr. Kennett seems to be at the centre of a lot of it, sometimes through his fault, and sometimes as a target for issues around the club that he may have had nothing to do with.
Regardless of your individual feelings towards our President in the role he plays at the club, I’m sure you will join Hawks Insiders in wishing him well as he heads to hospital for a procedure on his back.
This letter to the members is an interesting one, if nothing else. Jeff covers off a number of touch points quickly in the first half of the letter, with focuses on key points such as:
The AFLW season as it draws to a close, he rightfully praises Bec Goddard and her team for the phenomenal job they have done in their inaugural season;
In the same breath he touches on the great initial job Sam Mitchell has done with our AFL side over his first 12-month period;
Further comments touch on the slow but exciting progress at the Kennedy Community Centre in Dingley, effectively saying that good things come to those who wait;
Kennett finishes off this section of the letter by addressing the ongoing investigation surrounding the treatment of First Nations people at the Hawthorn Football Club in our recent past.
The looming Annual General Meeting and subsequent election for the next President of the Hawthorn Football Club as well as other board positions is the focus of the majority of the remainder of the letter, with a clear and deliberate emphasis on the incumbent board members who are up for re-election over those who are challenging.
This is the right of the President, and in fact Jeff wouldn’t be doing his job properly if he didn’t campaign for ‘his’ people. The current Hawthorn board has supported Kennett through the entirety of his latest spell in charge of the Hawks, and he has to have their back like they have had his.
“Peter is offering himself as President, with the unanimous support of the board. He has a deep knowledge of the club and the relationships that make it tick. Peter has his own exciting ideas for club’s future.”
”The board is also unanimously supporting the return of Dr Anne-Marie Pellizzer and Katie Hudson.”
I’m sure Jeff makes some valid points in his letter - for instance, there is a need to have balanced and skilled board, one made up of people who have specific talents in relevant areas that can help ensure the club is run in the most effective and efficient way possible.
But I take exception to Jeff’s blind optimism and confidence bordering on delusion around the governance of the club in the recent past.
The letter leads readers to believe that everything is rosy off the field at Hawthorn at the present - and while almost all fans are fully supportive of Mitchell and the direction he is taking our AFL team, as well as the brilliant job Goddard is doing developing a first rate culture with our AFLW group, there are issues and have been issues that have been bubbling under the surface for some time.
To brush past them like they don’t exist is doing a disservice to what is happening and it’s disrespectful to the very intelligent fan base of the football club he presides over.
Let me be clear, I’m not suggesting anything when it comes to the members vote at the upcoming AGM, but I am saying that it might not be as clearcut as Jeff suggests it should be in his letter.
This vote is a far more complicated one than Jeff makes out, and it’s important that all sides of the story are told.
Further to this, Hawks Insiders will look to reach out to all new candidates running for the vacant positions over the coming weeks and we will bring you exclusive content regarding who they are, what they stand for and why they believe they are the best people to serve the Hawthorn Football Club in 2023 and the future.
Yes, I thought it was interesting.
One area that the club has much work to do on is transparency.
Surely a foundation tenant for good governance.
I don’t remember any communication to members about board nominations.
There appears to have been an active policy of disengagement with members when it comes to matters involving the make up of the board and who is President.
Off the back of the recent revelations this attitude of just “trust us” we know what we’re doing is pretty baffling to say the least.
I'm looking forward to an opportunity to exercise my vote, and I definitely think the board needs some freshening up. I think the whole process involving Nankivell becoming the endorsed candidate for President, while also being the person chairing the process to choose that candidate, was as dodgy as hell. It seems clear cut to me that Andrew Gowers and the group lobbying for change at Hawthorn were lied to and that makes me pretty angry. As someone who has a vivid memory of Kennett as Premier, I'm not in the mood to cut him or his mates any slack. I'm not necessarily going to vote against all the incumbent board members, but I'll definitely vote for change. Given that Peter Nankivell indicated that he only reluctantly accepted the endorsement for President, I imagine he'll step aside prior to the poll so that will be the first reform!