Turmoil abounds as Dons sack Ben
ESSENDON has sacked senior coach Ben Rutten after more crisis talks at a Sunday morning board meeting.
The move comes after the club publicly undermined Rutten with its desperate bid for Alastair Clarkson last week.
There was little hope the relationship could be repaired after the board kept Rutten in the dark about the Clarkson mission on Monday. Rutten on Saturday night admitted he was disappointed in the way he had been treated and said the players craved stability.
The sacking means the club will have to pay out Rutten’s contract for 2023, which is expected to cost the Bombers about $600,000. This will go into Essendon’s soft cap next year, on top of the costs for a new senior coach.
The players fiercely defended Rutten at a series of heated internal meetings on Friday, when captain Dyson Heppell and other players and staff took aim at Essendon president David Barham.
Barham, who is already under siege only one week into his reign, said the club would now take time before deciding how it goes about its search for a new senior coach.
“We will thoroughly and diligently consider our next steps and in due course, will communicate the process of our next senior coach appointment,” Barham said in a statement.
The new chairman thanked Rutten for his contribution to the club but said the performances at times this year were “uncompetitive.”
“The unfortunate reality is, at various stages this season; we have simply been uncompetitive,” he said. “And while we acknowledge that we have an emerging playing list, we were compelled to make the decision.
“We know this has been an incredibly tough time for Ben and his family, and broadly, our whole club. We wish to thank Ben, as well as wife Kylie and children Jack and Bernie for their contribution to the Essendon Football Club.”
The club will now begin its search for a new coach from a list of candidates including Port Adelaide’s Ken Hinkley, former Fremantle and St Kilda coach Ross Lyon, Richmond’s Adam Kingsley and Melbourne’s Adem Yze, who is expected to land the vacant GWS job from Monday.
The Bombers’ board met on Sunday morning to help decide the next steps for the club after a tumultuous week.