I would like Chris Bond as the GM of Football for these reasons:
1) As a player he understands the onus is on the player to work to save his own job. Experience: the fact he was traded by Richmond to Freo and became their captain.
2) As a coach he understands the danger of factions of contented older players doing just enough. Experience: time at Freo as an assistant immediately after retiring.
3) As a coach he understands the importance and difficulty in developing a well-balanced list. Experience: time as Bulldog assistant trying to repair the short sighted obsession of Wallace on recruitment.
4) The only way to repair such a list is thru good recruitment, development and playing the kids. Experience: Freo under Harvey have bitten the bullet and got rid of the senior bludgers (in the main) and gone after kids rather than drafting other teams rejects. They have also been the trendsetters in quality older untried recruits like Barlow, Lower, Broughton etc.
5) The General Manager needs to have a high focus on welfare of players in a new environment. Experience: He is now the football operation manager at Freo
Overall he has the right experience as a player, captain, coach and administrator.
This is from the Freo website:
"General Manager Football Operations - Chris Bond
A former Captain, Chris joined the Club in October 2007 as General Manager — List Development. He was responsible for the Club’s list development, managing and developing the Club’s football information and technology systems, player recruitment, and opposition analysis as well as being a key member of Mark Harvey’s coaching team. In 2009, Chris was appointed GM Football Operations and oversaw major changes in the playing list as well as overseeing a new direction in coaching and player development, the introduction of a new player development academy and a remodelled recruiting structure. Chris played a total of 163 AFL games in his 10-year career, including 41 games for Fremantle. He moved into coaching in 2000 with the Western Bulldogs as an Assistant Coach as well as Coaching the Werribee Tigers in the VFL in 2001 and 2002."
That's the sort of resume we want, not one that is only focussed on List Management and/or Recruiting.
Let the Cameron contract run out and get the best, experienced, well-rounded GM of Football. I think that's Bond.
