CHIEF executive Cameron Schwab says Melbourne has reached ‘Base Camp’, and its challenge now is to climb the mountain.
Reflecting on the club’s recent - and successful - trip to China, Schwab said it was “about opportunity and keeping it real”, as the club attempts to climb up the ladder for a long-term tilt at its 13th premiership.
“As a first part of this Base Camp notion, Base Camp for us was probably on the Great Wall of China,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“The first phase for us was about creating unity in the club, and that’s obviously with the players, staff and directors within our support group.”
Schwab said the heritage and impact the club has on its people was particularly telling after experiencing a trip of this nature.
“Not everyone who comes to the Melbourne Football Club grows up supporting Melbourne - I didn’t grow up supporting Melbourne, but I now align my personal heritage and my identity with the Melbourne Football Club. As a result of this trip, most of our people will,” he said.
“We’ve set ourselves for the club to be the best place our people have ever worked.
We’ve done that through what we’ve achieved together and the experiences we’ve had.
“We’ve just got to take chances on those things. Some might not get it just yet, but they will in time and they will as they reflect. They might not until they’re not working here anymore, or it might be in the next stage of their lives.”
Schwab alleviated any concerns about the cost of the trip.
“It was close to an $800,000 exercise, but it’s only cost the footy club around $20,000. Even the challenge of putting it together logistically - with [Melbourne staff members] Matt Green, Tom Parker and Bruce Muir in particular … was challenging,” he said.
“When the game was offered to us, it was at a time when we weren’t even sure if we could pay the staff the next week - let alone take on an undertaking like this.
“We had to back in the fact that we had to advance the club significantly by the time the trip happened to actually achieve the outcomes we were seeking from it.
“To really set the ambitious target for everyone at a time when we were being challenged at a far more fundamental level was something this club should be really proud of as well.
Despite his experiences, Schwab said he hadn’t been involved in anything like the China trip.
“I think there was a bit of reluctance coming into it from a lot of people and I felt it a little bit myself, but once they realised what it was all about, it evaporated fairly quickly and people got into it,” he said.
“I’ve travelled a fair bit in recent times, but I haven’t done anything like this before, so it was amazing even to share that experience with your own people.”
One of Schwab’s lasting images of the trip was watching Liam Jurrah in action - from match-winner to stirring singer.
“The game gives you great moments, and to see Liam Jurrah play from the green grass of the MCG to playing footy in Shanghai in 18 months was just incredible. And he won the game effectively,” he said.
“To see Liam singing a song in Warlpiri about his hometown and playing guitar with the back-up of the other indigenous lads … and Aussie singing a song in Tiwi, were extraordinary moments.
“So it was a coming together of the club, and you can’t imagine having that opportunity again.”
Reflecting on the club’s recent - and successful - trip to China, Schwab said it was “about opportunity and keeping it real”, as the club attempts to climb up the ladder for a long-term tilt at its 13th premiership.
“As a first part of this Base Camp notion, Base Camp for us was probably on the Great Wall of China,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“The first phase for us was about creating unity in the club, and that’s obviously with the players, staff and directors within our support group.”
Schwab said the heritage and impact the club has on its people was particularly telling after experiencing a trip of this nature.
“Not everyone who comes to the Melbourne Football Club grows up supporting Melbourne - I didn’t grow up supporting Melbourne, but I now align my personal heritage and my identity with the Melbourne Football Club. As a result of this trip, most of our people will,” he said.
“We’ve set ourselves for the club to be the best place our people have ever worked.
We’ve done that through what we’ve achieved together and the experiences we’ve had.
“We’ve just got to take chances on those things. Some might not get it just yet, but they will in time and they will as they reflect. They might not until they’re not working here anymore, or it might be in the next stage of their lives.”
Schwab alleviated any concerns about the cost of the trip.
“It was close to an $800,000 exercise, but it’s only cost the footy club around $20,000. Even the challenge of putting it together logistically - with [Melbourne staff members] Matt Green, Tom Parker and Bruce Muir in particular … was challenging,” he said.
“When the game was offered to us, it was at a time when we weren’t even sure if we could pay the staff the next week - let alone take on an undertaking like this.
“We had to back in the fact that we had to advance the club significantly by the time the trip happened to actually achieve the outcomes we were seeking from it.
“To really set the ambitious target for everyone at a time when we were being challenged at a far more fundamental level was something this club should be really proud of as well.
Despite his experiences, Schwab said he hadn’t been involved in anything like the China trip.
“I think there was a bit of reluctance coming into it from a lot of people and I felt it a little bit myself, but once they realised what it was all about, it evaporated fairly quickly and people got into it,” he said.
“I’ve travelled a fair bit in recent times, but I haven’t done anything like this before, so it was amazing even to share that experience with your own people.”
One of Schwab’s lasting images of the trip was watching Liam Jurrah in action - from match-winner to stirring singer.
“The game gives you great moments, and to see Liam Jurrah play from the green grass of the MCG to playing footy in Shanghai in 18 months was just incredible. And he won the game effectively,” he said.
“To see Liam singing a song in Warlpiri about his hometown and playing guitar with the back-up of the other indigenous lads … and Aussie singing a song in Tiwi, were extraordinary moments.
“So it was a coming together of the club, and you can’t imagine having that opportunity again.”
