PLENTY has been made of Melbourne’s mid-season coaching changes, as the club restructured its footy department during the bye week.
But CEO, Gary Pert, says there is nothing to be alarmed about.
“It was something we always planned to do,” Pert said on SEN prior to Round 14.
“I know we didn’t expect to be in this position in a win/loss ratio, but we were always going to review it.
“Because of the lack of performance in key areas of the ground, more needed to be done.
“We got feedback from the players, from the coaches, from all the footy staff.
“It was a pretty simple thing, ‘What do we need to do in the last 10 games to improve and get the best out of the season?’.”
Pert, who is amidst his first season as Melbourne’s boss, was a part of the decision making over the mid-season, but says the entire club weighed in on the movement.
“I’m involved in the conversations as they roll out,” he said.
“But it’s not one central point. It’s really all the coaches getting together, taking the feedback – it’s a series of meetings.
“It’s not a one-off person driving all these elements.”
Melbourne’s changes raised concern externally, with fears it would cause disruptions at the club, but that isn’t a worry for Pert.
“If we were in the top four, we’d probably be making subtle changes and we wouldn’t even be talking about it because you wouldn’t know,” he said.
But the Demons have been under the microscope for their performances to date, after a testing start to 2019.
“We’ve had challenges that we could never have thought of,” Pert said.
“To have the amount of injuries, and injuries to key players, has really thrown the whole dynamic of the team.
“That sometimes throws the dynamic of what plays out on the ground and that then affects the coaching.
“All the changes we’ve made have been in a direct response to that.”
The Dees started the back-half of their year well on Saturday with a 14-point win over Fremantle, and the club wants to keep taking steps forward as the season progresses.
“We want to see the team start to play the Melbourne way,” Pert said.
“There is a style of play that Goody (Simon Goodwin) has set – we’ve spent all pre-season doing it.
“You wouldn’t have seen it too often, if at all, for four quarters this year and we’ve really struggled to do that.
“But that’s what the commitment is.”
