CHAIRMAN Glen Bartlett says the club is pleased with its progress, but is still far from satisfied.
Speaking at the club’s annual general meeting, held in the Olympic Room at the MCG, on Thursday night, Bartlett acknowledged genuine improvement had been made in 2015, but “no one at the club is satisfied”. Still, Bartlett said he was proud of some of the club’s achievements in 2015.
“When I reflect on 2015 I think of many of the great public moments we had. [We’ve had] some terrific match days – Anzac Eve, the BCNA match, our undefeated women’s team and the wonderful ‘Big Freeze at the G’. [We had some] great wins against Geelong in Geelong, and beating Collingwood just to name a couple,” he said.
“Then there was Jesse Hogan’s Rising Star win and Angus Brayshaw finishing fifth. The terrific trade and draft period, the launch of our new visual identity when we took over Melbourne for the day, a second consecutive profit result – all of these and many more great moments.”
“But really, while we all took satisfaction in many of these moments, there is a much deeper and more important message to take from these moments. That is, we are starting to make real progress as a club. We are starting to see the signs that the development of our people and our players are building the club to be successful and one that we can all be proud of.”
Bartlett thanked the club’s partners, members and supporters for their support of the club in 2015. He also made mention of the relationship with the Melbourne Cricket Club.
“We saw an increase in membership in 2015 and also in our home game attendances. Thank you for supporting our team week in, week out,” he said.
“We would like to thank the MCC for their ongoing support during 2015. We consider our relationship with the MCC to be fundamental to our future and we are proud to be a sporting section of this great club.”
Bartlett said Melbourne now had some “great people working at our club”.
“You have possibly caught up on the news that Peter Jackson has extended his contract to remain CEO of our club until at least the end of 2017,” he said.
“The board is delighted to have Peter’s outstanding leadership committed for this critical period for the club. I thank him and all of the hard working administration staff along with Paul Roos, Josh Mahoney and the coaching and football staff for the work they have done and continue to do to develop our people and players.”
Bartlett also acknowledged the careers of the now retired Mark Jamar and Daniel Cross.
“Mark Jamar completed his service to the Melbourne Football Club after 155 games and 14 years’ service. Daniel Cross also retired after an impressive 249 games at Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs,” he said.
“I congratulate both Daniel and Mark on their careers and pleasingly we have welcomed Daniel back in a player development role in the football department.
A number of other players left the club at the completion of the season – we wish these players all the best and thank them for their service.”
Bartlett also paid tribute to Melbourne premiership players Robert ‘Tassie’ Johnson, Max Spittle and Geoff Tunbridge, who all passed away in 2015, along with “all the others we have lost from the Melbourne Fraternity this year – we pay our respects to their loved ones and friends”.
