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Stynes steps into breach at Demons

MELBOURNE's outspoken chairman Paul Gardner will today announce his retirement as a director, and will be replaced on Thursday by former player Jim Stynes.

Gardner, who was presented with an Order of Australia for his work with charities, the arts and advertising in today's list, will stand aside after taking the Demons over in December, 2003, during one of the bleakest periods in the club's history.

He will use the president's lunch before the Melbourne-Collingwood game this afternoon as the public forum for his resignation, after last night informing his board and key stakeholders, including the AFL.

In a neat and orderly handover, Stynes, the 1991 Brownlow medallist, will take the reins of the troubled club at Thursday's meeting of directors, where up to five of the 10-member board are expected to leave.

Under the Demons' constitution, Melbourne can function with a board comprising between six and 12 directors.

"It's the right time," Gardner said yesterday. "I'd always planned to leave at some stage this year.

"There's some big decisions to be made with list management, the AFL and the Melbourne Cricket Club, so it struck me that it wouldn't be fair to be making those decisions if I'm not going to be here next year."

Gardner said he has not been pressured into leaving the club, which has won just six of its past 32 games and sits on the bottom of the ladder with one victory in the first 10 rounds this season.

The Demons, who have changed almost every senior football and administrative position in the past 12 months, are heading for a loss of $1.5 million, their first negative result under Gardner.

"My feelings are a mixture of relief and disappointment," he said. "Obviously we haven't had enough wins, and our finances should have been in a better position. Revenue we thought would come, just didn't happen."

But Gardner is proud of his achievements over the best part of five years.

He took over after three seasons of accumulated losses of almost $6 million, a debt of $5.9m and a taxation liability of $1.6m. Debt stands at $2.5m.

And despite advice to the contrary at the time from chief executive Ray Ellis, Gardner chose to seek special financial assistance from the AFL, which so far has delivered the club additional revenue of $6m.

In 2003 the Demons had a membership of 20,555, which was the lowest of any of the 16 clubs.

But even with a record membership last season of 28,077, previous chief executive Steve Harris, who took over the role in mid-2004 and was axed this year, was unable to deliver on his forecast of a $1.5m profit.

Melbourne eventually made a profit of $97,000, but in the process Harris turned over 22 of 29 administrative staff in just over a year and soured relationships with the AFL and the MCC.

The year Gardner was elevated from director to chairman, Melbourne finished 14th with five wins and had lost its last eight games in succession.

In Gardner's first three years at the helm, on-field improvement was evident and the Demons played in three straight finals series.

That was the first time consecutive finals campaigns had been achieved since 1991, the fifth straight year of top-four finishes.

Gardner believes new Melbourne chief executive Paul McNamee will make a difference, describing his contribution in just three months as "amazing".

Before his departure, Gardner put the finishing touches to securing the Demons' future home bases.

Gardner, who had massive influence in the appointments of new coach Dean Bailey and McNamee, believes both will eventually be viewed as success stories.

Stynes, who has had no official role with Melbourne since his retirement in 1998, admitted at the weekend that he had been too complacent for too long, "thinking someone else will fix the problems faced at the Melbourne Football Club".

Demons hope Heroes dinner will turn tide
Email Print Normal font Large font June 2, 2008 - 7:26PM

Melbourne chief executive Paul McNamee believes the centrepiece of the AFL club's 150th anniversary celebrations will be the defining moment for the struggling Demons for the next five years.

Melbourne have vowed to turn Saturday night's 150 Heroes dinner, where 1,200 people will celebrate their history and raise their glasses to their greatest players, as a long-overdue positive in a nightmare season.

Melbourne's embarrassing capitulation to St Kilda on Sunday left them last on the ladder, favourites to land the wooden spoon and without forward Russell Robertson for the rest of the season because of a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Robertson's injury, following the injury-enforced retirement of David Neitz, means first-year coach Dean Bailey must assemble a rejigged forward line for Monday's game against Collingwood, who won their past two games by a combined 186 points.

Demons chairman Paul Gardner, who himself is likely to face a boardroom challenge by former player Jim Stynes later this year, hoped the gala dinner would stir something inside the players.

"I hope a sense of pride, a sense of history, a sense of destiny that they realise it's their opportunity now to get back to the glory days that we've enjoyed in the past," he said.

McNamee went a step further and predicted this weekend could be a new beginning for Melbourne, who must also address their debt and low support numbers on top of their on-field woes.

"It's more important setting up the next five years, in my opinion, than Monday's game, absolutely," he said.

"This is the start of the next five years."

McNamee admitted he was "mortified" when he learned six weeks ago that the current players were not invited to the dinner.

Having addressed that oversight, he was hopeful the players could listen and learn from their predecessors' camaraderie and achievements, and forge their own history.

"We need to move on from the past," he said.

"Saturday night gives us the chance to give great recognition to the past and to be able to say ... it's now about the future.

"It will help set up a feeling among those guys that `This is a great club where I want to finish my career at', and that `I want to help this club from what I saw tonight'."

Melbourne's greats will also gather on Monday and walk with supporters from the city to the MCG, before the Demons prepare for the blockbuster against the Magpies.

Melbourne have won the past four Queen's Birthday clashes and Gardner hoped the match would not only inspire the players, but attract a big crowd.

"It's not just another the game to the supporters, we don't get 75,000 to just another game," he said.

"So supporters clearly rate it highly, Collingwood always say Melbourne always finds a special effort, and they're flying, the Pies, so we're certainly going to have to be competitive and we weren't competitive yesterday."

Gardner is likely to face a challenge from Stynes in the second half of the season and is set to discuss a peaceful change of leadership with the 1991 Brownlow medallist again this week.

Gardner and McNamee declined to discuss the board situation. Stynes could not be contacted.

Robertson underwent surgery on Monday, but Melbourne are unsure yet whether the 29-year-old will regain his trademark spring once he begins training again, in at least four months.

"It's impossible to say, we've been optimistic and look for a full recovery, which means he'll get everything back," said club doctor Andrew Daff.

"It may be slow coming."

The Demons could at least regain small forward Aaron Davey from a hamstring injury, but half-forward Matthew Bate (hand) might also miss with a hand injury.

Neitz is set to help coach the new forward line, and mentor Michael Newton and Paul Johnson - the two players Bailey nominated as the club's new targets in attack.