Simon Garlick Quits

[bornadog]

The Western Bulldogs today announces the resignation of CEO Simon Garlick. Simon’s resignation has been accepted by the Board. Simon has been Chief Executive since 2010 and over the period in the role he has demonstrated great leadership and commitment.


The search for a new CEO will begin immediately.

Club President Peter Gordon said, “Simon has played an important role for the Club in a pivotal and difficult period of its history in which we have re-built following three successive preliminary finals appearances and a cyclical downturn coupled with the unfortunately timed loss of key players when GWS and GCS were introduced to the competition, and key draft choices which ordinarily would have been available to us were given to the new Clubs. Under his leadership, the Club has maintained membership levels through this period of indifferent on-field performance and he has maintained the economic position of the Club through that difficult time.”


Some of the Club’s achievements that Simon has overseen as Chief Executive include:




Club revenue has grown and its debt levels have reduced by over $1.5 million in the past 3 years. These results were achieved during a time in which the Club significantly increased football expenditure which will benefit future player recruiting, development and coaching.
The construction of the Edgewater project has progressed to a stage where it will be open and operational later in 2015.
The Club has played a key role in the equalisation process that will continue to provide more opportunities for smaller clubs.
The Club successfully re-introduced the Footscray team into the VFL, winning the Premiership and providing another pathway to develop our exciting young list.
The Club renewed the Mission major sponsorship for a further 3 years, making it the longest major sponsorship in the Club’s history.
The Club raised $1.5 million for the next development phase of the Victoria University Whitten Oval and construction has commenced so it will be ready for the NAB Cup game against Richmond.
The announcement of a partnership with the City of Ballarat and the State Government’s commitment to developing Eureka Stadium for AFL.

The Club successfully ran for the first time the ‘Sons of the West’, a community Men’s Health initiative supporting men living and working in Melbourne’s West to lead healthier lives and raised over a million dollars to support the programs in difficult economic times.
Garlick said he had given the decision much thought and consideration, “I have decided after over 13 years with the Club as a player, Board member, manager and as the Chief Executive that the time is right for me to resign and start a new chapter in my life and career.”


“I believe it’s in the best interests of the Club, my family and myself at this time given the recent appointment of a new Coach, a stable Board in place and a new five year strategic plan for the Club ready to be launched. I’m proud of all I have accomplished here at Western Bulldogs during my tenure as the Chief Executive. During this period I have truly appreciated the support of staff, colleagues but most of all my incredible wife and family. It has been a privilege to serve the Club in this capacity after representing it as a player.”


“I would like to acknowledge all of the Club staff for their dedication and hard work – they mean a great deal to me and I wish them all the best. I also want to thank the loyal Bulldog members for whom the Club exists. I wish Rob Murphy and all Players, Luke Beveridge and his Coaches and the entire Club all the very best. The football talent is clearly present and foundations are there for future success.”


A sub-committee of the Board led by the Chair of the Club’s Audit & Risk Committee, Gary Kent, will lead the search for a successor. Egon Zender partner Fiona McGeochie, who assisted in the recruitment process for new coach Luke Beveridge will be a member of the committee. (Egon Zender were also retained by the AFL in the recruitment of Gillon McLachlan as AFL CEO and for the selectin of new AFL Commissioners Simone Wilkie and Jason Ball).


Pending the appointment of a new CEO, the role and duties of CEO will be shared between Club President Peter Gordon and Chief Operating Officer Michael Quinn.

[bornadog]

Big Surprise

[LostDoggy]

Wow... Didn't see that coming. Job elsewhere? Probably GWS..

[Jam Donuts]

No reasons yet
They briefly spoke about it on SEN and will talk more later, they said that our President did not think Garlick had the experience to take the club forward?

[bornadog]

They briefly spoke about it on SEN and will talk more later, they said that our President did not think Garlick had the experience to take the club forward?

Not surprised by that comment

[Remi Moses]

Hope they have someone experienced in mind.
Going to look a tad silly if they bring in a greenhorn

[bornadog]

Chris Grant may be also stepping down at this weeks AGM

[Pedro Sanchez]

Reckon he was a yes man and we probably need someone with a tad more of a robust style...

[Ozza]

Didn't see this coming.
When first appointed - I queried what experience/capabilities/qualifications Simon had to have been appointed to the role. However, he has been pretty impressive over the last few years.
Will be interesting to see who ends up in his chair.

[chef]

Not surprised after the last 6 months.

We seem to be in free fall.

[1eyedog]

I never liked Garlick. I thought he was way too inexperienced, nervy in front of the camera and unable to really provide a strong presence to assist selling our product. It sounds like garlick has been tapped on the shoulder. I wonder if we've head hunted a more experienced person with a bigger, robust personality and a higher business acumen.

[Scraggers]

I am surprised. I thought he did a very good job. He always had the best interest of our club in mind. He was fantastic to talk to, very corporate minded. He will be a loss.

[Sedat]

Didn't see this coming.
When first appointed - I queried what experience/capabilities/qualifications Simon had to have been appointed to the role. However, he has been pretty impressive over the last few years.
Will be interesting to see who ends up in his chair.
Interested to hear your thoughts on what he has done during his tenure that has been impressive?

A cleanout of the coaching staff was always going to be followed by a cleanout at management level - important decisions made by senior management in the last couple of years have effectively been wiped this off-season, so the likes of Garlick and Chris Grant were always going to be skating on thin ice as a result.

[Remi Moses]

Interested to hear your thoughts on what he has done during his tenure that has been impressive?

A cleanout of the coaching staff was always going to be followed by a cleanout at management level - important decisions made by senior management in the last couple of years have effectively been wiped this off-season, so the likes of Garlick and Chris Grant were always going to be skating on thin ice as a result.
Sedat, where have you been?

[Bulldog Joe]

Not surprised after the last 6 months.

We seem to be in free fall.

My perception is that we had stabilised very well after the traumas of October.

[Sedat]

Sedat, where have you been?
Hong Kong for work followed by annual leave with a broken laptop and no wifi at home ;)

Haven't missed much by the sounds - great to hear that everyone is "flying on the track", just a shame that all the other clubs are saying the same thing

[chef]

My perception is that we had stabilised very well after the traumas of October.

Have we? How would we know.

Dont share your enthusiasm.

[Greystache]

My greatest concern is the club may now be over run with vampires...

[1eyedog]

Have we? How would we know.

Dont share your enthusiasm.

And if we have stablised how much is this due to Garlick's strong leadership?

I hardly heard boo from Garlick following the sacking of Macca and I heard that PG was the one who contacted all major sponsors and met with all senior players.

[Bulldog Joe]

And if we have stablised how much is this due to Garlick's strong leadership?

I hardly heard boo from Garlick following the sacking of Macca and I heard that PG was the one who contacted all major sponsors and met with all senior players.

Well, I have no inside knowledge, but everything did seem to settle with the new coach appointment and training reports very positive.

[1eyedog]

Well, I have no inside knowledge, but everything did seem to settle with the new coach appointment and training reports very positive.

I agree we settled following the turmoil of October.

[Go_Dogs]

My greatest concern is the club may now be over run with vampires...

Is this a comment perhaps reflecting a self-preservation mindset, ie passing the buck and dispensing with those who are/were 'accountable'?

[GVGjr]

I think it's a prudent time for change. I think we need to find someone with the time, energy and skill to bring many of the projects to fruition and to take the club into a new era.

Good luck to Simon in the future.

I wonder if Brian Cook is looking for another challenge? They don't come much bigger

[Before I Die]

Is this a comment perhaps reflecting a self-preservation mindset, ie passing the buck and dispensing with those who are/were 'accountable'?

I think it's more a comment reflecting a play on words with Garlic(k) and Vampires.

[Smads57]

I had some dealings directly with Simon while part of the East-West Club committee and found him approachable, friendly and obliging....but having worked in the corporate world for 30+ years, I was conscious he seemed a little bit too "nice" (not that being nice is a bad trait for a CEO). I think what I am trying to say is, I expected some of our requests as a Supporter Group to be more challenging than what they were......

[azabob]

I had some dealings directly with Simon while part of the East-West Club committee and found him approachable, friendly and obliging....but having worked in the corporate world for 30+ years, I was conscious he seemed a little bit too "nice" (not that being nice is a bad trait for a CEO). I think what I am trying to say is, I expected some of our requests as a Supporter Group to be more challenging than what they were......

Or maybe he valued what east / west group brings to the table?

[Maddog37]

I hope that whoever gets the gig is strong enough to stand up to PeterG.

I am worried he is taking on too much and if his judgement is not sound then we will be in big trouble. We need someone that can counterbalance Peter and ensure the club is not managed with passion alone but with sound business acumen.

No disrespect meant towards Peter in any way but he cannot be a one man show.

[bulldogtragic]

We need to get a seriously good manager, an experienced successful person, stuff footy playing experience. Having heard and spoken with Cam Rose it was clear to me he understood to run a successful organisation. He often joked about not knowing some players and/or player numbers. It would be nice to see a candidate appointment whose resume shows track record of success at the level of the job.

[ratsmac]

Very surprised but I think it was definitely time for a change. Simon seemed to do the job best to his ability and good luck to him for the future.

I hope we find someone with plenty of experience at running such an organisation. Someone to take the club to a level we have never been.

The winds are changing out west, it's our turn to be the competition super power. The Carlton's and Essendon's have had their day in the sun and it's been overcast of late. It's time the dogs say enough is enough and go get the right people and not just the people available at the time. If you don't invest you don't get a return.

[Smads57]

Or maybe he valued what east / west group brings to the table?

I certainly felt he valued what the EWC brought to the table, but when I compare him to Campbell Rose who was more verbose around what he expected Supporter Groups, there was a difference in approach

[boydogs]

I was happy with Simon's work, not sure why he's gone just hope we get a good replacement in

[LostDoggy]

Clive Palmer??? :o

[I'm Not Bitter Anymore!]

Buffy?

[Twodogs]

Simon once did something good for me and a friend of mine. He was a nice guy.


I hope the club have a replacement ready to go.

[Twodogs]

I think it's a prudent time for change. I think we need to find someone with the time, energy and skill to bring many of the projects to fruition and to take the club into a new era.

Good luck to Simon in the future.

I wonder if Brian Cook is looking for another challenge? They don't come much bigger



Briian Cook is a great thought but no chance I reckon.

[Remi Moses]

Hong Kong for work followed by annual leave with a broken laptop and no wifi at home ;)

Haven't missed much by the sounds - great to hear that everyone is "flying on the track", just a shame that all the other clubs are saying the same thing

No hotter place on earth than Honkers in August

[Remi Moses]

My brother knows Simon ( top fella)
Good luck to bulldog life member .
Would love Brian Cook, but how about Eugene A'rocca ?

[Remi Moses]

Not surprised after the last 6 months.

We seem to be in free fall.

I think we've survived Shoctober to be honest .
New coach , captain and CEO!
Fair to say a new broom has swept the Whitten oval

[azabob]

My brother knows Simon ( top fella)
Good luck to bulldog life member .
Would love Brian Cook, but how about Eugene A'rocca ?

No to Eugene A'Rocca. I don't like the cut of his jib.

[Maddog37]

I also dislike his jib cut.

[jeemak]

I saved it from here, but always thought for the debacle that was the second half of 2014 to go by with nobody from the senior management team leaving was a tough ask. It was never going to be Gordon or Grant, so Garlick's the man. We'll see how things go with the other two I suppose.

McCartney has worn a lot of fallout for all three of them in my view.

[bornadog]

From The Age


"Whilst we will miss him, it's kind of a watershed period in our history as well. We will this year open our Edgewater facility, which is a $27 million facility that will employ upwards of 80 people," he said."Leaving players aside, that will double the workforce of the Western Bulldogs Football Club, just by itself. We will be opening an office in Ballarat and making a very serious commitment to making that a co-located home for the Bulldogs.

"We believe we will double in size over the next five years, double in terms of revenue from $30 million, which was the revenue when I took over as president at the end of 2012 to probably in the $65 million to $75 million range by 2020. There would be very few clubs, I would think, in the AFL that would be looking at that percentage increase in their revenue over that period.

"We are talking about [large] growth in the number of employees just on the Edgewater numbers. And with the sort of enlightenment policies that the AFL have got in terms of competitive balance, and the opportunity for us to invest in football, both in the salary cap and in the football department, it's an opportunity we have got that we have never had before – to move from the sort of fighting to pay the next wages bill to being a real power on the Australian sporting landscape."

As a result of this, Gordon said the "needs" of the new chief executive were going to be "very different" to what the club had experienced.

This tells me Garlick didn't have the credentials to take the club to the next step.

[FrediKanoute]

From The Age



This tells me Garlick didn't have the credentials to take the club to the next step.

Agreed. In all honesty I think Garlo would have been better as football director rather than CEO. We are not just a football club anymore, but a entertainment organisation with a brand that needs to be, marketed and value derived from. Edgewater is an "entertainment complex", the Ballarat Office will be much the same. You would be looking at people who have solid credentials running diverse businesses. I for one always felt Garlo was a little inexperienced for the role. Good CEO's drive an organisation. Its not hard nosed and unapproachable (the best ones are actually very approachable), what the great ones do is create a vision and drive that vision making every decision from the brand of soap in the toilets to the clubs major sponsor all work towards the overall vision.

From what Gordon is saying, the club wants to maximise the potential of Edgewater (sic Must maximise the potential of Edgewater) so it can diversify its revenue base and not be reliant on a single source of revenue - membership/sponsorship to run the football club.

[Remi Moses]

This smells of a fallout between Garlick and the pres to be honest.

[jeemak]

Agreed. In all honesty I think Garlo would have been better as football director rather than CEO. We are not just a football club anymore, but a entertainment organisation with a brand that needs to be, marketed and value derived from. Edgewater is an "entertainment complex", the Ballarat Office will be much the same. You would be looking at people who have solid credentials running diverse businesses. I for one always felt Garlo was a little inexperienced for the role. Good CEO's drive an organisation. Its not hard nosed and unapproachable (the best ones are actually very approachable), what the great ones do is create a vision and drive that vision making every decision from the brand of soap in the toilets to the clubs major sponsor all work towards the overall vision.

From what Gordon is saying, the club wants to maximise the potential of Edgewater (sic Must maximise the potential of Edgewater) so it can diversify its revenue base and not be reliant on a single source of revenue - membership/sponsorship to run the football club.

I actually find this comment astounding.

What about the football club's directorship under him as a CEO has given you that impression?

The joint fell apart catastrophically from a football perspective under the watch of Garlick, Grant and Gordon. What about Garlick's good guy demeanour says football manager, when the most volatile aspects of a football club revolve around the senior coach and his relationship with the playing group and the way they behave?

Whilst I agree with your points that suggest he's seemingly not qualified to run the diverse business we're claiming to strive to be, who's to say the direction from the board and the president is where it needs to be?

We kicked off this Edgewater project five or six years ago now, and maybe it will be good to turn a profit in a year or so. If you believe the club we see a strategic benefit in basing an office in Ballarat.

Isolated they seem like very very speculative business propositions, let alone ventures that will double our revenue over the next five years.

Irrespective of whether we get a top notch CEO, I'm smelling major BS in the pipeline right now.

[LostDoggy]

I think this decision was probably made in October, and at risk of further free fall, it has not been actioned until now.

Edgewater is going to have to sell a lot of Parma's and send a lot of pokie addicts broke if it is going to get us the money PG is expecting (that's if it ever opens, construction has been treacle paced at best over the last few months.

Really hope Gordo is good as he thinks he is. Intelligent, passionate and generous without doubt, but one man does not maketh a club and our separation of powers seems a little askew at present.

[LostDoggy]

To me this says that we are about to enter a period where we will be focused heavily on the business element of the club and in order to maximise this we will be looking for an out and out business minded CEO

[azabob]

What's Campbell Rose up to?

[Prince Imperial]

What's Campbell Rose up to?

CEO of Vic Track which is a pretty big job.

https://www.victrack.com.au/we-are-victrack/about-victrack/organisation-structure

Listed as a director of our Forever Foundation though I don't know how current this is:

http://foreverfoundation.linux.predelegation.com/?page_id=8

[Avoid the rush]

Ian Robson come on down. A real showman who can sell and a person with integrity .....see EFC......!! We need both these traits plus everything else he brings to the table. Should throw the farm at him IMO

[Remi Moses]

Robson at least fell on his sword at Windy hill.
Unlike some

[Remi Moses]

Interesting Sam McClure reporting that " boardroom watchers" are saying The AFL stepped in because they're concerned about events at the W/O, also reported Gordon to take a more hands on approach

[chef]

Interesting Sam McClure reporting that " boardroom watchers" are saying The AFL stepped in because they're concerned about events at the W/O, also reported Gordon to take a more hands on approach

Not surprised after the turmoil that went on.

[ReLoad]

Ian Robson come on down. A real showman who can sell and a person with integrity .....see EFC......!! We need both these traits plus everything else he brings to the table. Should throw the farm at him IMO

Good call, a quality no nonsense guy.

[Remi Moses]

deleted.

Why? Just quoting what was reported

[bornadog]

Why? Just quoting what was reported

no I deleted my post, yours is fine

[jeemak]

Interesting Sam McClure reporting that " boardroom watchers" are saying The AFL stepped in because they're concerned about events at the W/O, also reported Gordon to take a more hands on approach

That fills me with a lot of confidence. You know, every time the AFL meddles in something it almost certainly turns to gold.

[Go_Dogs]

That fills me with a lot of confidence. You know, every time the AFL meddles in something it almost certainly turns to gold.

Ha!

It's an interesting throwaway line by McClure. I'm sure the AFL made some enquiries about what had transpired, but I'm unsure the feedback was so bad they've decided we need Melbourne type assistance, or more realistically, put pressure on us to make changes that weren't already being contemplated.

[chef]

no I deleted my post, yours is fine

Thanks for the info/rumour anyway.

[Axe Man]

Sam McClure Tweet:


Justin Reeves' name keeps coming up re Bulldogs CEO job. Has done great things at Collingwood and importantly - highly respected at AFL HQ.

Reeves is currently the Director of Commercial Operations at Collingwood.

LinkedIn Profile (https://www.linkedin.com/pub/justin-reeves/2b/988/408?trk=biz_employee_pub)