Under the Auld Pump: from football to dogs

Who were the Blues’ coaches in your time at the club?

I worked with Carlton for 14 years in various roles including IT and footy analysis.

The coaches were Wayne Brittain, Denis Pagan, Brett Ratten, Mick Malthouse, John Barker and Brendon Bolton.

Can you give us an insight into the various coaches, seeing as you worked closely with them?

In the case of Brendan Bolton, I left the club earlier this year. I had some dealings with him and he seems a great bloke.

I really don't wish to comment about the other coaches only to say I thought they were all very good.

I think people forget that AFL coaching is a very scrutinised job – everyone has an opinion of how good a coach is coaching going on the win-lose ratio, but believe me there are a lot more factors going on which people outside the club are not aware of.

Craig, I always found Michael Malthouse to be an interesting type of person. What's he really like?

Tim, as I said I don't wish to comment about any of them.

I can only judge Mick how I found him and that is as a friendly guy.

He was great to work with. Away from the media spotlight, people may have seen he's a top bloke.

I'll make this final comment about the coaches I worked with: Denis and Mick were the old-style coaches who knew what they wanted.

Who were the best players at the Blues in your time at the club?

I was fortunate to see up close two Carlton champions.

The first one was Anthony Koutoufides. I was at the club at the end of his career. He had an amazing career. He was a very strong inside player who was never beaten in any contest.

The other player was Chris Judd. He had tremendous ability to lift when the side needed it. His fitness levels were incredible.

Were you disappointed to leave Carlton to take up the job as manager at the Warrnambool Greyhound Club?

It was a tough decision. I was disappointed in some ways, but my wife and I wanted to come back to the country.

I was born in Casterton, but my parents moved to Warrnambool when I was seven years old to give their children a good education.

My wife Tracey and I were mindful of how good the education system is in Warrnambool, so we always wanted to move back here. When the job at the greyhound club was advertised I applied and got it.

Let's go back to your time at Carlton again for a moment. What did your various administration jobs consist of at the club?

They were varied over the 14 years.

I forget to tell you I also worked with Ross Lyon for two years when he coached the Carlton-affiliated side in the old VFL before he went onto St Kilda.

The jobs at the club included being in the coaches box on match day – helping with data, trends and statistics for the coaching panel – and organising things like interstate trips.

An interesting side of doing the stats was working out the strengths and weaknesses of players, whether they be from Carlton or opposition players.

I really loved working at Carlton.

It's great to see that they have played so well this season. I think they are putting strong foundations in place for success in the future.

Your appointment as the manager of the Warrnambool Greyhound Club in early May came on the back of some issues the club had with Greyhound Racing Victoria. How is the club performing?

We're going pretty good.

We had 1800 people attend the Warrnambool Cup and Classic in May.

I had nothing to do with what happened with the previous committee and Greyhound Racing Victoria.

It was great to see three former committee members at our meeting last Thursday. I would love to see the six former committee members attend our meetings.

It had been a tough time for the club earlier in the year with the passing of Matt Ansell. Matt was well respected and loved. I would say his passing was a terrible blow not only to his family and friends but also to people involved in greyhound racing not only in Warrnambool but on a wider scale.

What's the financial situation of the club?

The club is in a pretty good financial position.

There is a strong positive vibe around the place. Our attendance figures are similar to last year and our betting figures have improved slightly on last year.

I've been amazed since I took over the job how good our facilities are for functions. The club hosts a lot of community functions during the year.

Craig, greyhound racing in New South Wales will be banned from June 30, 2017. How do you think greyhound racing is going in Victoria?

Firstly, I would like to say I was like so many other people who were surprised by the decision to ban greyhounds in New South Wales from June 30 next year.

Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) has been on the front foot making various reforms to the sport.

I'm confident that GRV has made the tough decisions regarding the future of the sport in Victoria and they will continue to address issues that arise.

There have been sweeping changes to greyhound racing right across Victoria, with a strong emphasis on animal welfare and integrity, which are all great for the sport.

Greyhound racing has been a huge part of the Warrnambool community for decades and I have seen first-hand the passion that the community has for the sport.