Last night, Carlton members sent in their questions about the Club: here's a snapshot of the key questions answered. 

Want to follow the full range of questions as it happened? Click here. 

The club said Stephen Silvagni wanted to leave because of a conflict of interest with his boys playing there yet the media reported that there was a difference of opinion between him and Cain Liddle on potential players. What was the real reason SOS left the club? - Ben Motteram

Cain Liddle | Hi Ben, we were completely transparent with the messaging around Stephen's contract not being renewed.

To have the Club’s most senior list management staff member not take part in key discussions and decisions regarding the playing list and the broader operations of the football department became an increasingly challenging issue that was not in the best interests of the Carlton Football Club.

Can the CEO explain the reporting lines associated with all members of the list management team prior to the departure of Stephen Silvagni and if it is common practice for staff below CEO level to address the board. - Andrew

Cain Liddle |  Hi Andrew, the Club has established strong governance frameworks whereby sub-committees of the board are aligned to key strategic priorities across the business.
Specifically, with list management, the List Management sub-committee is chaired by Chris Judd (Director) and includes the Head of Football, GM List Management & Strategy, the CEO and the List Manager with the Coach and Head of High Performance also consulted across the season. As is the case with all sub-committees, key strategies and decisions are discussed and agreed upon as a sub-committee.  All players who were approached from other clubs as part of our 2019 list management strategy were discussed and rigorously debated over the course of many months at list management.

As per AFL guidelines, the CEO and Board are responsible for signing off on all TPP.
To further ensure good governance in list management, a number of conditions have been introduced by the Board that require the CEO, to seek board approval before some player contracts are agreed to by the club. These conditions relate to length of contracts, quantum of salaries and in some instances, age of players. This further restricts the ability of anyone, at any level, operating in silo and without the collective support of other key stakeholders.
In regards to making presentations to the board, we have various staff members present on a rotational basis to ensure accountability and open communication across the entire football club.

This sounds superficial but what happened to the pins? An email response said they were scrapped for better fulfilment options. After a large response on a big group, members agreed the options were worse and in a poll, 97% of members claim they weren’t consulted about changes. Disappointing - Reggie Evans

Daniel Giese | Thank you for your question. Based on results from our end of year member survey which indicated to us that the pins were no longer valued amongst the greater part of our membership base, the pins have been discontinued.
We completely understand not all members didn’t value them, so if you are one of them, please email the Membership team membership@carltonfc.com.au and we will have one organised for you.

Why did we move on Dale Thomas who was in career best form since arriving with us, only to bring in another veteran in Eddie Betts? Couldn't we have trialled Thomas as a small forward, something that we so desperately need, being that is where he started his career? - Matthew

Brad Lloyd | Hi Matthew, Eddie is arguably the best small forward of the modern era, so the chance to have him return to Carlton to not only fill an on-field area of need for us on the list but provide supreme leadership for our younger players was a key reason for the decision. Daisy’s best position later in his career was half back and he played some really good football there for Carlton. However that half back position is an area we have some depth now. Players like Daisy deserve to depart the game playing at the highest level and at their best, we were glad he was able to do that.

 Are you able to provide an update on the redevelopment of Ikon Park. Is there any chance in the future that AFL home and away games may be played at our traditional home against lower drawing clubs? - Justin

Tom Crookes | We are excited by the progress of the redevelopment Justin and we are moving into the final stages of the planning phase for the project. Post final statutory government approvals we look forward to being able to share the proposed plans with our Members. The redeveloped Ikon Park will see fully integrated, state of the art, high-performance facilities being delivered and cement it as the home of AFLW. With regards to playing AFL home and away games, there is no intention for these to return to Ikon Park. During the current year our average home game attendance increased to over 46,700, an increase of close to 15,000 supporters. This is a trend we would like to continue to see and exceed on average 50,000. In order to ensure we can cater for all of our members and supporters this means returning games to Ikon Park is not something we are considering.

What Board members have any practical football knowledge at the highest level eg actually in running a football club prior to their appointments to the Carlton board ??? - Tony

Mark LoGiudice | Hi Tony, under the guidance of the Independent Nominations Committee, the Board has been deliberately constructed to cover all aspects of the Club and to ensure we have the right skill-sets to govern all areas of the football club, understanding that our core business and key priorities are our football teams. In relation to Director support of our football programs, Chris Judd played 279 games at the highest level, including a premiership and was captain of the Carlton Football Club. He has won the Brownlow medal (twice), Norm Smith medal and is a premiership captain. He also does an outstanding job working with our Head of Football Brad Lloyd to have oversight of our AFL and AFLW program to ensure we are striving to perform at the highest level.

Patty Kinnersly also made history by becoming the Blues’ first designated Board member to oversee the AFLW/VFLW programs. Her appointment reflected the Club’s continued commitment to good governance and to building a skills-based Board aligned to the needs of the Club. Alongside an extensive corporate career, Kinnersly has 14 years of playing experience in the VWFL for the Ballarat Lions, Fairfield Falcons and Parkside Magpies, playing in five premierships and representing Victoria on 10 occasions, twice as captain.

Carlton Football Club has become involved in and taken public positions on numerous social causes in recent years. Does the club intend on championing any new ones in 2020 ? If so, will members be involved in selecting them? - Bruce Campbell

Vanessa Gigliotti | Hi Bruce, I am sure you are aware of our Carlton Respects program – which is our community initiative centred around promoting gender equality for the prevention of violence against women. Our members have been so supportive of the program and the work our community team is doing in this space – reaching 4,000 students in Victoria, 13 workplaces and recording 1.5 million impressions across social media. One in three Australian women have experienced physical abuse since age 15 – this has to stop, which is why we will be continuing the Carlton Respects program into 2020 and beyond, as we strive to continue our commitment to make Carlton Respects the most influential gender equality program in Australian sport.

 Josh Deluca has come out today and given a scathing review of how he was treated by the club, basically told he would have a list spot in 2020 and used more in his natural midfield role. What’s you’re comment on his treatment, which seems to be pretty harsh given he’s put his life on hold in Perth? - Kevin

Brad Lloyd | Hi Kevin, When we draft a player we always look at it as a long term decision hoping they will be at the club as a long term player. Josh was no different to this and we drafted him with this in mind. In saying this, we would never commit to a player beyond their contracted period. Josh made the trip across from Perth with the opportunity to continue his AFL career, he did a good job but unfortunately was not able to secure a more permanent position on our playing list. We are thankful for the efforts Josh put in wish him all the best with his next steps.

Question for The President of the Carlton Football Club, Mark LoGiudice. As The President, and board member, you have delivered 2 wooden spoons and numerous missed finals campaigns. What do you see as your greatest achievement in bringing success and stability to the Club - Simon J

Mark LoGiudice | Thanks Simon, During my presidency we have delivered a reduced and re-shaped Board that is now skill-set based. Record revenue, record profit, and significant reduction of historical debt. Record membership, record home game attendances, record sponsorship, introduction of non-traditional revenue streams including Carlton IN Business and Carlton College of Sport, and a rebuild of the AFL list (the first in the Club's history). The establishment of an AFLW team which played in the Grand Final last season, along with authentic and genuine community programs including Carlton Respects, and re-shaped the organisation to achieve an AFL leading engagement score amongst our staff. Our supporters are closer to the Club than ever before and we now rank first in the league for Digital content consumption. The largest infrastructure project for Ikon Park in history with $40 million committed. But more importantly we're now extremely excited and positioned for future success.