It’s a really broad role. We do a lot of things about our people and all the people in the footy area, and we’ve got to make sure we continue to get the best people, then manage them and look after them. I work with the club in terms of developing our new facility, and also with our list management. I’m across a broad range of areas and it is a pretty exciting challenge.

Did you define the role or did the club define it for you?

Probably ‘Hirdy’ said to me, ‘I’d like you to help me across a number of areas and what they are at the moment we probably won’t know, but once we do we’ll define them and we’ll continue to grow them’. He said there were key areas to start, and they’re our people, and us getting the right people, and also our playing list and making sure we are all on the same page in regard to where we are going as a club. And then, whatever else needs doing.

In that sense, then, what are your key performance indicators, particularly in the short term?

Basically, that our teams within the footy department – that includes our coaching team, our conditioning team, our recruiting team, and our development team – all function and get on the same page. They need to all know exactly where we are in terms of the challenge ahead and what our expectations are.

Given the team is in a form slump at the moment, do you speak much to the players on a personal level about how to use this period to develop and get better?

I think anyone involved in footy, that’s part of the brief, to ensure that our players are managed appropriately, no matter what happens, and that can include form slumps. We’ve all got a clear goal, we know where we’re going, and it’s not going to be a smooth ride. We talk to all the players regularly, particularly the ones who might have issues outside of football and that’s where our player development manager, who reports to me, and player development team (come into it). We work closely with players who have issues both inside and outside of football to resolve, because, at day’s end, the players are all we’ve got.

Is the criticism of the team in the last month short-sighted given the club knew internally that the development of the side was always going take longer than the start of the season may have suggested?  

I think all we’ve ever talked about is trying to get better. We’ve never set any other expectations. We had a fair idea of where the list was, and the players have responded magnificently. But we’ve never put timeframes on it and know that we are very much a work in progress.

What’s your role on match day?

A bit of everything. We’re a very active box with all the coaches, and I think to make sure we keep it a calm working environment is of paramount importance. I also assist in any interpretation of the data or any issues that arise during the game that we think the coaches should be made aware of. And then they address it as they see fit. I talk to all the coaches during the game, not about the moves or anything like that, but certainly about how we’re functioning.

As someone who has been close with James Hird for a long time, how have you seen him develop over the last three months, particularly in match-day scenarios?

You’ve got to remember players such as James have been players, and captains of their clubs, and leaders, they’ve seen a lot of football, he’s seen a lot of football in the media, and the club, in its wisdom, wanted to ensure he had the best opportunity to coach and to put the coaching panel they have around him. He’s adapted. He’s got a capacity to absorb an enormous amount of information and then make sense of it, and then have that discussion with the coaches. That happens on game day, so we don’t react overly one way or another, we’re very stable and want to create the best teaching environment for our players so they can learn. That’s our goal, that’s what’s happening. We have to give our players and the players we bring into Essendon every chance to be well-equipped.

You mentioned earlier that part of your brief was to get the right people to the club. Do you think James has got the right balance of people around him currently?

I think it’s a work in progress. In James’ wisdom, he said he was coming into the club with a clear mind and a clean sheet, and that’s still very much in train. He wanted to assess how his personality and his values worked with everyone, and that’s still very much halfway through a season.

Is it harder working with James because of your close relationship, or does that make it easier?

At day’s end, we’ve always had pretty honest conversations about elite sport and it’s always been easy to have a conversation with him on any issue. He knows our agenda is the club first, and the players, and then our professional relationship.

How much do you look at other sports around the world to gauge if Essendon could improve in any areas?

Because I traveled internationally so much in the last six years I looked at a lot of sports and I’ve always said the AFL has some of the best people engaged in the world in running their football clubs. We just don’t have the population like they do in Europe or in the UK. But, the Australian medical people, the sports scientists, they’re world leaders. We have really good people here. The cutting edge thing for us is that because you can’t, in AFL football, go out and just assemble a team and buy the best. You have to have a very strong development philosophy and a very strong coaching philosophy to teach these kids as they come through. That’s a very big part of the brief we would like to implement.

In short, what is your development philosophy?

I certainly think that the time and effort that goes into recruiting talent is one of the most critical things we do. Hopefully, young Dyson Heppell is an example of that and we’ll see a few more examples come through. There’s never one thing in isolation. It’s the recruitment of talent, and then it’s the development of the talent, not just in terms of the coaching but also conditioning. And then how you put a support network around those players. So there’s never one thing in isolation. It’s a combination of practices that define the very, very good clubs. It’s genuine hard work but you’ve got to have people who have a genuine passion for it and a genuine caring interest in the people they’re dealing with.