There is a new drama in northern Melbourne, with a prominent member of the Kangaroos supporters group calling for President Sonja Hood and CEO Ben Amarfio to resign immediately.
The Sun Herald This week’s email chain between Adrian Kinderis, a member of the Shinboners Club, and about 50 employees present and past in North Melbourne, including Amarfio, was leaked for the first time, demanding a change at the club.
It comes when the Roos have asked longtime football manager Geoff Walsh to conduct a 1-14 club review in the midst of their struggles when the future of coach David Noble is in doubt.
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But in his email Kinderis called for those who appointed Noble to be held accountable, expressing dissatisfaction with the way he initially handled his correspondence with Amarfio since May.
“Sorry in advance for the unsolicited email, but I’ve had enough,” Kinderis wrote in an email sent Monday.
“I wanted to share an exchange I had with the CEO earlier this year (see the email string below – start at the bottom) – it’s long, but I hope it’s worth reading.
“The CEO and the executive team that installed the current coaching staff must be responsible for the current state of the club.
“Clearly there are some fundamental issues with performance measurement.
“Bringing Geoff Walsh, who, by the way, I understand was at the time of the hitherto fruitless regime, is a band-aid placed on an open wound to appease the fans and those who care about them.
“I am frustrated and frankly ashamed.
“I pay my money and I have done it for many years, too. I will say what I think and think it is time to act.
“I’m sorry, Ben, you have to take the club president with you; anyone who has supported this experiment that was said to be wrong at the time and has been wrong since then must be held accountable.”
Kangaroos CEO Ben Amarfio watches during a North Melbourne Kangaroos AFL media opportunity (Photo by Robert Cianflone / Getty Images) Source: FOX SPORTS
Kindervis, which is currently in Germany with work commitments, in its original email expressed concern about the club’s management and progress.
“It is worrying that we are apparently judging the club’s performance on the basis of internal key performance indicators (KPIs) and there is little visibility into how they are connected to the matches actually won,” he wrote at the time.
“If these KPIs that seemingly“ all move in the right direction ”do not result in stronger yields, I would say that they may need to be reevaluated as a means of measuring field performance.
“I’ve seen a lot of footy over my time. I’m concerned about our current roster, strategy and execution.
“Call this email‘ venting ’, call it an old fashioned‘ piss and moan ’, but I think as someone who has contributed to this club for a few years, we’re not going in the right direction and we hope you’ll forgive- me my words and tone.
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Amarfio then responded by saying, “I can point out the views of several experts, including Paul Roos and others who have gone through similar exercises, who believe that we are really laying the right foundations and we have a very solid reconstruction strategy.
“It’s true, at the moment it doesn’t seem like it, but things will change as our game plan is incorporated, our players will develop and we will attract more talent to the club.
“We have been very public in saying that we want to see continuous improvement, both collectively and individually.
“We saw that during last year’s season we accepted that our earnings over last year have been erratic so far this season.
“The club made the collective decision a couple of years ago to refresh a list that was among the oldest in the competition.
“The entire football department, staff and players, has specific KPIs that align with the teaching, learning and growth mindset that David Noble has brought to the club. We are all responsible for these measures.
“The group is united, determined and focused on making the fans feel proud. We know we’re going through a tough time right now, but as David saw Brisbane and our football acting general manager Dan McPherson witnessed in Melbourne, these things take time.
“In terms of definitive performance indicators, our pre-season GPS comparisons (by the way, they are confidential) showed that the total volume of distance traveled across the group increased by 10% year over year and training volumes “High-intensity running and sprinting were both up more than 30%. It’s clear he’s coming from a low base.”