MARK THOMPSON: YOU MUST COACH IN 2014

From: Bruce Francis [mailto:bfrancis@norex.com.au]
Sent: Saturday, 21 September 2013 11:48 AM
To: Mark Thompson
Subject: Essendon Coaching

Hi Mark

A couple of modifications to my earlier email.

This is a difficult email to write because I don’t know you; I don’t know your personal circumstances; and it is none of my business. However, having involved me in this Essendon business, I should like to throw in my two-bob’s worth. The following comments are predicated on you not having any health issues or family issues.

As it appears you have said no to filling in for James for 12 months, you have obviously canvassed all the reasons why you shouldn’t take the job. I thought I should give you a few reasons why you must take the job.

STANDING ASIDE (when Essendon needs you) IS NO DIFFERENT FROM PULLING THE TRIGGER (on Essendon’s demise)

PREAMBLE:

The best thing that has happened to me is that unlike my father, I didn’t have to go to war. The worst thing that has happened to me is that I didn’t have to go war. I was denied the opportunity to see whether I had what it took. Second, unlike my father, I never had the opportunity to develop a bond with people who were prepared to give their lives for me. 

During WWII in Tobruk, Dad lived in a hole with four other men for eight months. They were 400 yards from the nearest allied soldier. The only people they saw were ambulance men dragging out dead or wounded soldiers and the blokes bringing them food and water at night. They were bombed every day. They were so close to the Germans they could hear the German planes taking off and thus knew they were about to cop it.  Later, Dad was badly wounded at El Alamein, and he lay on the battlefield for six hours. Fortunately, his four mates had an anti-tank gun and a machine gun, and they held off the Germans until they were rescued. Dad said it was impossible to describe the bond or feelings for those four mates. I have attached two chapters from Dad’s autobiography. They will send a shudder down your spine. In fact, it would probably benefit the Essendon players to read them.

I’ll never experience what Dad was ‘privileged’ to enjoy but events of the last seven months mean you are privileged to experience the next best thing. You have been touched and should be honoured to be involved with the players at Essendon. 

I can’t believe how strong and loyal they have been to you and James and Dr Reid. When the heat went on David Evans capitulated. Paul Little held firm for a while but in all our correspondence, I lamented that he would eventually fold and instruct James to abandon his court proceedings. He folded, as did the presidents from the 17 clubs. The players never folded. You should be proud of them and proud of yourself for attracting such loyalty under such relenting attacks in the media.

Why You Should Coach?

1. You owe it to the players:
   

• Although it was the AFL and Essendon Board’s failures, because they didn’t fulfil their OH&S responsibilities, it appears your football department put the players’ health and careers at risk. Despite that, the players have been unbelievably loyal to you and James. To put it bluntly, unknowingly, and because the high-performance unit didn’t receive the OH&S training the law says it should have, it appears some of your colleagues potentially contributed to stuffing up the lives and dreams of some very good men. You should be thankful you have an opportunity to make up for this year’s stuff ups.
  

• It appears not one of them has taken the opportunity to move on. In such circumstances, how can you move on?
  

• They have stood up to the AFLPA, which is obviously doing some of the dirty work for the AFL.
  

• If you don’t fill in for James, I’d argue the players will have wasted three years of their football careers. Obviously, all the hard work this year has been wasted. 2014 will be a waste because the new coach will inevitably undo some of things you and James put in place. 2015 could also be a waste because James will have to undo some of the bad things the new coach puts in place. Worse than that, some of the players will be viewed more favourably by the new coach and James will have to win them over again in 2015.
  

2. You owe it to James:

• There is no doubt the team will be more advanced by the start of the 2015 season if you coach them in 2014. No one can provide the smooth transition from 2014 to 2015 as well as you can.
  

• James has been unjustly penalised. He was on a different branch of the organisation structure from Hamilton, Robinson and Dank and had no authority to interfere. If you coach the team in 2014, he will feel part of it. I assume if you coach the team, you will have many mate-to-mate chats about the team with James. On the other hand, if there is a new coach, James will be ostracised.
  

3. You owe it to the Essendon Supporters: 

• Many of them would be pensioners but they still chip in their hard earned to enable you guys to be well paid. 
  

• After being dumped from the finals this year your supporters deserve to participate in the finals in 2014. You provide the best chance of that happening
  

4. You owe it to yourself:

• Winning a premiership is the ultimate. But winning the premiership in 2014 or 2015 would be more special than winning any premiership in the history of the game
  

• Brian Cook thinks you should be banned forever from coaching. If it were me, I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to stick it up him.
  

• You said on FF 360 you were worried about what is on your tombstone. Sacrificing yourself for James, your players and the club will be more important than what’s on your tombstone.
  

• Whatever you do for the rest of your life you will not do it as well as you coach. You were born with talent and hard work developed that talent. Not using that talent to its fullest is like stealing from yourself. You have something that other people would envy, and you are just throwing it away.
  

• At the risk of name dropping, in 1978, I sat in Kerry Packer’s home study with Kerry, Tony Greig and Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus talked about the satisfaction he was getting from his business interests and suggested he was thinking of cutting back his playing and concentrating on business. Kerry went berserk. He said there are thousands of better businessmen in the world than Jack. But no one played golf as well as he did. Consequently, he owed it to himself and the world to play golf fulltime. There is a lesson in that for you.
  

Mark, can you honestly tell me anything you do next year would be as exhilarating as it must have been for the team to sing the song after the Carlton win. 

Regards

Bruce