Benny Gale was on KB's show this morning ...
Here's the audio:
http://www.sen.com.au/audioplayer/Audio/KB-is-joined-by-Brendon-Gale/4855And summary:
* Our goals were very ambitious. We hadn't been successful for 25 years so he was confident if we could get our footy dept. right then the rest would follow.
* Fortunate to have a large supporter base, arguably large latent supporter base, that is passionate and proud about their footy club. Passion, proud and loyal about our history but not satisfied with the past 25 years. We presented a plan about the future and rebuilding to them and a really good coach and young talent. We've made incremental achievements so far but still have a way to go. There's a sense of belief in the direction of the club, coach and players.
* FTF - need the resources to invest in our club and people. $3m last year and $2.3m the other night. Still got work to do but the support has been overwhelming and we are very humble.
* Spoke about the chart Craig Cameron showed on the night. Confronting figures when we started this. Those clubs that have the capacity to invest in sports science, recruiting, etc and spend it wisely will be successful in GFs. Without it you still could be successful but you'll mostly likely be mediocre. So we needed to get with the program and to invest. If we do get our footy dept right and are successful then that can drive the other areas of the business which in turn can then invest in to the footy dept. You can break the cycle we were in. North's 1996 & 99 premierships won't happen again as the Carey's, Archer's etc came through the old U19s which doesn't exist anymore.
* 5-year player contracts are horse for courses. Spoke about Lids fitting all the criteria - raised his game to a high level and has done so again this year, his durability (hardly has missed a game in 8 years) & his age (still young).
