"I will now get Mark [Neeld] and Neil [Craig] to give you a quick overview of their perceptions and experiences since joining our club, then you can ask anything you like."
Offering supporters the option to ask the senior coach anything you like would normally be a proposal fraught with danger, but on a cold Tuesday night before the team played Greater Western Sydney it elicited a respectful, and informed, set of questions.
And honest answers followed: about the appointment process, the gameplan, the leadership group, the direction of the club and its culture.
While admitting recent performances helped the general mood of the members, McLardy said the sessions have already had a positive impact on the feel around the club. And more were planned.
"I'm trying to keep it simple and just keep talking to our people," McLardy said.
"Making it easy to talk to us can alleviate a lot of the issues."
The plan for such meetings (where club leaders speak directly to members to explain the club's on-field direction) was hatched as many of the club's decisions were coming under fierce outside scrutiny - and criticism - following the 101-point loss to the Sydney Swans in round 8.
"It [the loss] was probably the spark to say well, you either lie down and collapse or you get on the front foot," McLardy said. "It forced us to get out of the trenches and get on the front foot and attack a bit."
McLardy had spent the second half of that game in the cheer squad as the team was humbled.
He knew plenty of the questions on the minds of coterie groups and supporters were answerable.
He'd asked such questions of himself, but remained comfortable the club was on the right track because he had access to those who had the answers.
So when the firestorm of media coverage hit, McLardy thought he should just provide the same opportunity to supporters.
And the football department saw the idea as a chance to speak directly to its members without any risk of their plan being misrepresented.
Two supporters forums have now been held, with the most recent event being at AAMI Park last Tuesday. More events are planned and the club hopes the forum develops into an ongoing dialogue with its most engaged and passionate supporters.
During the night McLardy reinforced the club's stable off-field position, senior coach Mark Neeld outlined some of the key on-field indicators he was looking to improve and the plan to get better in certain areas over time, while the director of sports performance Craig reinforced what attracted him to the position in the first place and his positive view of the club since arriving.
Neeld was able to outline how he aimed to make players capable of good decision-making under pressure against the best and the process required to get there.
McLardy said the club still hoped to break even this year and supporters should be proud of what it has been able to withstand off-field in 2012.
His view was that all involved in the club should wear their resilience as a badge of honour.
However he understood that what mattered most was on-field performance. "We just have to get it right this time. The last three or four years have not been wasted. [We're] starting to see what is coming through and we're really building from a strong core."
He backed the implementation of a young leadership group and said he had been heartened by the response of the club's senior players.
He emphasised that the club was not backing away from its mistakes and was doing everything possible to build a club culture that could compete fiercely in the competition.
"It is time for this footy club to become good again," McLardy said.
