New Member Council

[globaleagle]

Also on membership packs, they’ll be getting packed and shipped domestically from Melbourne as opposed to off shore, so turn around times should be much quicker!

Haha I threw that one in there for you GE, I know you like your drinking games!

That's great news about the membership packs. I've had a couple of good years regarding delivery, but before that I used to ask @HappilyManly to send them to me and before that they usually go there with a few games to go.

woot!

 

[Budgie]

That's great news about the membership packs. I've had a couple of good years regarding delivery, but before that I used to ask @HappilyManly to send them to me and before that they usually go there with a few games to go.

woot!

I still miss @HappilyManly

 

[eagleron]

Also on membership packs, they’ll be getting packed and shipped domestically from Melbourne as opposed to off shore, so turn around times should be much quicker!

Haha I threw that one in there for you GE, I know you like your drinking games!

Thanks Mitch, much appreciated

 

[Mitch]

One thing I did forget to mention as well was that Tony highlighted that he has had a huge amount of support from ex-players regarding the changes that have been made recently.

Players like Nik Kosef, Paul Vautin, Anthony Watmough etc personally reached out to say they back what he and the club are doing with staffing etc.

 

[jamesie]

Thanks Mitch, excellent summary.

Any mention of
1. Steven Hales
2. Blacktown direction or lack thereof?

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Great report @Mitch

 

[Mitch]

Thanks Mitch, excellent summary.

Any mention of
1. Steven Hales
2. Blacktown direction or lack thereof?

No mention of Hales, but the partnership with Blacktown will remain in place obviously moving into 2023. I think there is an appetite to bring back Manly as our NSW Cup team in future, although there is a lot of water to go under the bridge before that would happen.

Really good to see that in 2023 with the introduction of the Tarsha Gale side, there will be grouping of those games meaning greater access to watch a number of games on a single day as the same venue.

Tarsha Gale, Harold Matts and SG Ball will all play on the same day, with Jersey Flegg, NSW Cup and NRL coincidingly doing the same.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Ive just had a second read of the report done by @Mitch and must say despite not signing any superstars ( which I didn’t realistically expect ) I feel very very confident that 2023 , and 2024 will see some real improvement.

Regardless of your personal opinions about the coaching staff a set up of , Seibold, Flanagan, Dymock & Daley I reckon it’s pretty exciting and I’d go so far to say one of the best groupings in the game.

We , as in Silvertails, have spent 3 years whinging & bitching about the style of football being played , selections , lack of youth being given a chance , crap attack , woeful defence AND a myriad of other complaints.

So if , and that’s a really big IF, the players buy in to this we could see some real improvements, even without more superstars.

Yeah , we all know we are short a damaging prop.

Yeah , we all know we are short of a top notch hooker.

And many of you think we are short a strike centre.

BUT, as long as we have 30 absolutely committed individuals , and with a stroke of injury luck , I’m predicting we will finish in the top 8 in 2023.

Certainly not top 4, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.

If we can add Flegler , and a quality hooker in 2024, and bring through young Jamie Humphreys to step into DCE’s shoes then just watch us fly then!!

Let’s stop all the negative bull**** on here , let’s support the new coaching team , let’s put our support behind the players and stop bagging the crap out of them before they’ve even made a tackle.

Yes, if you wish to deride the owner that’s your choice , but otherwise let’s get behind everyone else.

 

[deanm]

I know I'm going to have a difficult time filling the shoes of @The Wheel and his Member Council Meeting reports, however given he is now North of the border, I am going to do my best following our council meeting this evening!

Firstly, I wanted to reiterate that the overarching message from the staff there this evening was that they wanted the hard questions - They encouraged us all to provide our honest feedback following the back end of the 2022 season and the off season so far. I can tell you that it was given. There were plenty of questions raised around a lot of the decisions that have been made recently and the direction the club is taking, all with a large degree of underlying passion.

This was the first time the group had been introduced to Tony Mestrov and I have to say after having dealings with several other CEOs, Tony comes across as an extremely strong operator and one I am very confident in moving forward. He seems willing to make the calls that need to be made for the club to succeed. I've looked to highlight a few key takeaways the time we had to throw questions at him.

+ The 2022 staff appointments are going to leave the club with a hugely experienced unit with Seibold, Flanagan, Dymock and Laurie Daley (pending sign off from his current commitments) taking up positions at Manly. With no disrespect to our 2022 staff, comparatively I feel this is a hugely positive shift.

+ There will also be some significant changes in high performance with some world class appointments.

+ There is absolute player buy in with the appointment of Seibold. Senior players have been consulted throughout the process and there is an energy within the group to see a shift in styles of play and more input from the likes of DCE and Turbo etc with this (Des clearly had tight control over how the team played). Flanagan will likely be looking after our attack in 2023.

+ With regards to retention and recruitment, there was discussion around Reuben with it being clear that the club see him as a hugely valuable asset as a player and human and will do everything they can to keep him - obviously he does have an appetite to play FB though. Flegler was also mentioned with some level of confidence (for 2024).

Some other points raised throughout the meeting were:

+ The membership drive will commence in early November. It has had to be delayed not due to the recent situations, but due to the uncertainty around the potential US game in 2023, which they are expecting clarity on in the next week (obvious price differences for membership if there was one less game at 4 Pines).

+ On membership, there will be an early bird discount window and I can say the merchandise options look far better than the 2022 membership merch. You will have the option to choice your main item of merch as opposed to collecting another hat that gathers dust if they're not your thing!

+ There clearly has been a large amount of investment in HR and resourcing as well, particularly from a media and content perspective. The finishing touches are being put on a podcasting studio at the Centre of Excellence with a series being released over the summer. The volume of weekly content will likely increase significantly with the additional resourcing mentioned.

+ Following on from the jersey situation this year, a player group (Schuster, Saab and Parker) has been established to consult with specifically, when playing strips or other issues involving the playing group arise.

+ Tony was very strong and firm on ridding the club of the leaks that have kept us in the media over the past few months. This was probably the strongest point he made during his time with us - He is sick of the way the club has operated with nothing kept in house. Judging by how strongly he conveyed this, I dare say any leaks will be plugged permanently.

+ He also was very passionate about engagement within the Manly area being something that has been done poorly. In 2023 the players will be a lot more visible within the community, particularly junior clubs etc.

As always there is some items to be kept in house, but I've outlined what I can!

For me, whilst the support we have is build primarily around emotion and passion, this is the one thing you need to take out of your thinking when assessing the direction the club is taking. When looking purely at the decisions that have been made around staffing for example (without emotion), the coaching set up of Seibold, Flanagan, Dymock and Daley when compared to Hasler, Randall, Monaghan etc is chalk and cheese.

There is reason to be positive for 2023.

I know I'm going to have a difficult time filling the shoes of @The Wheel and his Member Council Meeting reports, however given he is now North of the border, I am going to do my best following our council meeting this evening!

Firstly, I wanted to reiterate that the overarching message from the staff there this evening was that they wanted the hard questions - They encouraged us all to provide our honest feedback following the back end of the 2022 season and the off season so far. I can tell you that it was given. There were plenty of questions raised around a lot of the decisions that have been made recently and the direction the club is taking, all with a large degree of underlying passion.

This was the first time the group had been introduced to Tony Mestrov and I have to say after having dealings with several other CEOs, Tony comes across as an extremely strong operator and one I am very confident in moving forward. He seems willing to make the calls that need to be made for the club to succeed. I've looked to highlight a few key takeaways the time we had to throw questions at him.

+ The 2022 staff appointments are going to leave the club with a hugely experienced unit with Seibold, Flanagan, Dymock and Laurie Daley (pending sign off from his current commitments) taking up positions at Manly. With no disrespect to our 2022 staff, comparatively I feel this is a hugely positive shift.

+ There will also be some significant changes in high performance with some world class appointments.

+ There is absolute player buy in with the appointment of Seibold. Senior players have been consulted throughout the process and there is an energy within the group to see a shift in styles of play and more input from the likes of DCE and Turbo etc with this (Des clearly had tight control over how the team played). Flanagan will likely be looking after our attack in 2023.

+ With regards to retention and recruitment, there was discussion around Reuben with it being clear that the club see him as a hugely valuable asset as a player and human and will do everything they can to keep him - obviously he does have an appetite to play FB though. Flegler was also mentioned with some level of confidence (for 2024).

Some other points raised throughout the meeting were:

+ The membership drive will commence in early November. It has had to be delayed not due to the recent situations, but due to the uncertainty around the potential US game in 2023, which they are expecting clarity on in the next week (obvious price differences for membership if there was one less game at 4 Pines).

+ On membership, there will be an early bird discount window and I can say the merchandise options look far better than the 2022 membership merch. You will have the option to choice your main item of merch as opposed to collecting another hat that gathers dust if they're not your thing!

+ There clearly has been a large amount of investment in HR and resourcing as well, particularly from a media and content perspective. The finishing touches are being put on a podcasting studio at the Centre of Excellence with a series being released over the summer. The volume of weekly content will likely increase significantly with the additional resourcing mentioned.

+ Following on from the jersey situation this year, a player group (Schuster, Saab and Parker) has been established to consult with specifically, when playing strips or other issues involving the playing group arise.

+ Tony was very strong and firm on ridding the club of the leaks that have kept us in the media over the past few months. This was probably the strongest point he made during his time with us - He is sick of the way the club has operated with nothing kept in house. Judging by how strongly he conveyed this, I dare say any leaks will be plugged permanently.

+ He also was very passionate about engagement within the Manly area being something that has been done poorly. In 2023 the players will be a lot more visible within the community, particularly junior clubs etc.

As always there is some items to be kept in house, but I've outlined what I can!

For me, whilst the support we have is build primarily around emotion and passion, this is the one thing you need to take out of your thinking when assessing the direction the club is taking. When looking purely at the decisions that have been made around staffing for example (without emotion), the coaching set up of Seibold, Flanagan, Dymock and Daley when compared to Hasler, Randall, Monaghan etc is chalk and cheese.

There is reason to be positive for 2023.

Well Done Mitch, Thank you for the insights, Plenty to be positive about moving forward. I vote Yes also for Ella to join the Members Council, Outstanding supporter !

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Well Done Mitch, Thank you for the insights, Plenty to be positive about moving forward. I vote Yes also for Ella to join the Members Council, Outstanding supporter !

Ditto , she would be absolutely perfect !!

And @ellakasmar if you do I’d love to see you backing up @Mitch on here with reports.

There’s so much bull**** and misinformation posted ( mainly from the media ) so we need to get the “ real story “ not some made up crap based on what someone may have leaked.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Many thanks @Mitch for that detailed report.

Following on from the jersey situation this year, a player group (Schuster, Saab and Parker) has been established to consult with specifically, when playing strips or other issues involving the playing group arise

This bit is interesting.
I assume questions were asked about what Manly and the NRL were going to do about jerseygate but that was one of the "items to be kept inhouse".

 

[Mitch]

Ditto , she would be absolutely perfect !!

And @ellakasmar if you do I’d love to see you backing up @Mitch on here with reports.

There’s so much bull**** and misinformation posted ( mainly from the media ) so we need to get the “ real story “ not some made up crap based on what someone may have leaked.

I can also confirm that @ellakasmar will be part of the Member Council moving forward, which is great!

 

[ALinda]

Thanks very much @Mitch for an awesome report. So informative, especially after the last few months of turmoil and negativity and very little facts coming from the club. Amongst all the positive info, it's heartening to learn the club will be doing its best to keep Reuben.

Much appreciated!

 

[Mitch]

Many thanks @Mitch for that detailed report.


This bit is interesting.
I assume questions were asked about what Manly and the NRL were going to do about jerseygate but that was one of the "items to be kept inhouse".

No, the chat around the jersey was pretty Frank and open, mate. Many of the people who were at the forefront of things are no longer there (Tony obviously wasn’t there at the time), but they accepted that some huge mistakes were made at the time.

Des wanted to protect the players at the time, even though many were happy to articulate things from their perspective (Toff and Josh A).

They now have the freedom to publicly discuss their views, which you’ve seen with a few of them and likely Saab etc in the coming days.

It’s almost at the point of ‘healing’ where players can speak about it and the club can put in place measures to mitigate this sort of risk moving forward.

 

[Raven Mad Manly Fan]

Thank you Mitch for agreeing to go on the Member Council and for reporting back to us. Your report allays some of the fears I have regarding the current state of the club. (..time will tell though I guess).

Just wondering, how are often are these meetings with the club held, and when is the next one scheduled?

 

[Mitch]

Thank you Mitch for agreeing to go on the Member Council and for reporting back to us. Your report allays some of the fears I have regarding the current state of the club. (..time will tell though I guess).

Just wondering, how are often are these meetings with the club held, and when is the next one scheduled?

No problem at all mate. As I mentioned, it was a really transparent meeting and I’m sure all came out very comfortable to see the club under the leadership of Tony.

The meetings run quarterly with the next to likely be scheduled around the start of February.

 

[NREagle]

No problem at all mate. As I mentioned, it was a really transparent meeting and I’m sure all came out very comfortable to see the club under the leadership of Tony.

The meetings run quarterly with the next to likely be scheduled around the start of February.

Was there any mention about Snake still being involved?

 

[Mitch]

Was there any mention about Snake still being involved?

No Snake wasn’t mentioned (but also wasn’t asked about!), I’ll look to get some insight into his involvement but I’d be surprised if he isn’t still around, even though he was clearly close with Des.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

@Mitch

Is the member council full for the ensuing year ??

Not asking for me , but someone I know is interested.

 

[master blaster]

Congratulations Ella. Knowing Ella personally, I know how passionate she is and she will be a great edition