AFL’s oldest club lurches from one disaster to another after just two weeks of the season.
Melbourne Demons boss Cameron Schwab has resigned from the beleaguered club in what could just be the start of the bloodletting.
After four years as the club’s chief executive officer, Schwab said he had to accept part of the responsibility for the trouble the Demons find themselves in.
Melbourne’s season from hell might be only two rounds old, but it was has been a bumpy rid so far.
Their two first games have resulted in losses totalling a staggering 227 points, and with club president Don McLardy not ruling others will be made to leave the club.
“Everyone in our football club is under extreme pressure. We’re all accountable for what’s happening at our club,” McLardy said last night after accepting Schwab’s resignation, two years into a four-year renegotiated contract.
Schwab, who spent 15 years at the Demons after starting as an office boy, said he accepted the decision that forced his hand yesterday.
“Am I a scapegoat?” he asked. “I know how the system works. My role as a CEO is to build a club which has an ultimate objective of winning games of footy.
“I’m four years in where we’ve lost by over 200 points in the last two games. And that’s an unforgiving situation. I knew the pressure would be on.
“This game makes decisions on people’s lives every day, and it just so happens we’re here talking about mine today.
“We’ll be talking about someone else’s tomorrow because it’s a performance-based industry.
“In terms of where the club is at the moment, it is difficult, the losses.
“And this club will bounce back, don’t worry about that.
“It’s a much better and stronger club than it’s representing itself at this time.”
The board will meet within the next 48 hours to decide a course of action for the rest of the season.
See the Melbourne Demons’ press conference below:
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