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IMPORTANT // Please look after your loved ones, yourself and be kind to others. If you are feeling that the world is too hard to handle there is always help - I implore you not to hesitate in contacting one of these wonderful organisations Lifeline and Beyond Blue ... and I'm sure reaching out to our PRE community we will find a way to help. T.
PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
Dear Andrew
I feel compelled to congratulate you on the manner in which you conduct the business of your enterprise. Your organisation has adopted a number of world first practices that have not been given the recognition they deserve.
The managent of AFL fixtures to ensure your leading franchise always plays in the finals is a resounding success. Anyone witnessing the capacity crowd at the Collingwood Geelong preliminary final could only gasp in admiration at the commercial foresight of this strategy.
The drug program implemented by your organisation is demonstrably superior to the programs of any other elite sporting organisation in the world. The fact that not one single player has been identified in breach of the drug policy clearly in the past decade shows that education does eliminate drug problems from the sport. It is obvious that alternative drug programs that focus on drug testing and penalties are far less successful as the sports that employ such programs are riddled with drug users.
The AFL website has world leading download times. The deliberate strategy of a 15 minute download time (longer in the lucrative overseas market) has a massive impact on viewer retention times. Any fan wishing to access information is exposed to quality advertising for extended periods. Normally this would not be good practice, but the AFL has deliberately and publicly engaged the most hated organisation in the country to manage the website and this deflects criticism from the AFL. Simply masterful.
The Rules Committee is a wonderful commercial intiative. When the CEO wants a rule change, it is simply laundered through the rules committee. This allows rules to be changed that make commercial sense. The hands in the back rule for example has doubled calls to talk back shows, extended the timeslots of footy chat shows and ignited the passion of the paying public the world over. It is a wonderful of example of taking a perfect product and re-packaging it to good effect.
The priority draft pick has successfully engaged fans of bottom sides late into the season. Praying desparately for their team to lose, dwelling on extended injury lists and dobbing in players seen having afternoon tea with their grandmothers when the should have been at recovery sessions. It is a credit to the teams for whom losing would provide such an obvious advantage that they have continued to play winning football albeit without the onfield success they so richly deserved.
The surplus of Melbourne teams has been wonderfully handled. Firstly you have offered much public support for the Melbourne clubs and repeatedly stated that the clubs will need assistance. This public campaign has been ably backed up strategies to improve tv viewing slots, home finals, draft concessions, salary cap concessions and commissioner positions for the interstate clubs. All strategies that will hasten the commercial reality that some Melbourne clubs must die and soon. The clever strategy of relocating Melbourne clubs to ensure the Melbourne public is not conned into supporting the remaining franchise will only hasten this reality. Well done.
In an age of corporate governance excess, the AFL has successfully established an organisation where none of the stakeholders have any idea who owns the AFL, who controls it or what are its fiduciary duties if any. This is a commendable achievement which even the Australian Wheat Board must admire. The transparency of commission elections where by commissioners who are are responslibe for allocating funds to the AFL clubs are voted for by AFL clubs is a wonderful iniative that more military junta's should adopt to legitimise their own verstions of democracy.
Australians all over the world are proud of their game (sorry your game) and are grateful for the inspired management that is leading it into the new millenium.
kind regards
Bill
I feel compelled to congratulate you on the manner in which you conduct the business of your enterprise. Your organisation has adopted a number of world first practices that have not been given the recognition they deserve.
The managent of AFL fixtures to ensure your leading franchise always plays in the finals is a resounding success. Anyone witnessing the capacity crowd at the Collingwood Geelong preliminary final could only gasp in admiration at the commercial foresight of this strategy.
The drug program implemented by your organisation is demonstrably superior to the programs of any other elite sporting organisation in the world. The fact that not one single player has been identified in breach of the drug policy clearly in the past decade shows that education does eliminate drug problems from the sport. It is obvious that alternative drug programs that focus on drug testing and penalties are far less successful as the sports that employ such programs are riddled with drug users.
The AFL website has world leading download times. The deliberate strategy of a 15 minute download time (longer in the lucrative overseas market) has a massive impact on viewer retention times. Any fan wishing to access information is exposed to quality advertising for extended periods. Normally this would not be good practice, but the AFL has deliberately and publicly engaged the most hated organisation in the country to manage the website and this deflects criticism from the AFL. Simply masterful.
The Rules Committee is a wonderful commercial intiative. When the CEO wants a rule change, it is simply laundered through the rules committee. This allows rules to be changed that make commercial sense. The hands in the back rule for example has doubled calls to talk back shows, extended the timeslots of footy chat shows and ignited the passion of the paying public the world over. It is a wonderful of example of taking a perfect product and re-packaging it to good effect.
The priority draft pick has successfully engaged fans of bottom sides late into the season. Praying desparately for their team to lose, dwelling on extended injury lists and dobbing in players seen having afternoon tea with their grandmothers when the should have been at recovery sessions. It is a credit to the teams for whom losing would provide such an obvious advantage that they have continued to play winning football albeit without the onfield success they so richly deserved.
The surplus of Melbourne teams has been wonderfully handled. Firstly you have offered much public support for the Melbourne clubs and repeatedly stated that the clubs will need assistance. This public campaign has been ably backed up strategies to improve tv viewing slots, home finals, draft concessions, salary cap concessions and commissioner positions for the interstate clubs. All strategies that will hasten the commercial reality that some Melbourne clubs must die and soon. The clever strategy of relocating Melbourne clubs to ensure the Melbourne public is not conned into supporting the remaining franchise will only hasten this reality. Well done.
In an age of corporate governance excess, the AFL has successfully established an organisation where none of the stakeholders have any idea who owns the AFL, who controls it or what are its fiduciary duties if any. This is a commendable achievement which even the Australian Wheat Board must admire. The transparency of commission elections where by commissioners who are are responslibe for allocating funds to the AFL clubs are voted for by AFL clubs is a wonderful iniative that more military junta's should adopt to legitimise their own verstions of democracy.
Australians all over the world are proud of their game (sorry your game) and are grateful for the inspired management that is leading it into the new millenium.
kind regards
Bill