New top Dog sees Belmore booming
FROM running the world to running the Dogs, Andrew Hill is getting used to taking big challenges.
A new coach, a revamped training ground and a new top dog. The final piece in the Canterbury revamp jigsaw puzzle will be complete when Hill, the club’s new chief executive, starts in his role tomorrow.
Hill (pictured) completes a significant period of change at the club, which has included Dean Pay replacing Des Hasler as coach and a stack of new players joining, including Aaron Woods and Kieran Foran. As well, a host of club greats, including Andrew Ryan and Steve Mortimer, have rejoined in advisory roles.
It will be the first time Hill has taken charge of a club. But he joins after being CEO of the Rugby League World Cup and has almost two decades of experience in sport, including roles with Parramatta, GWS and the NRL.
“I get a sense of optimism,” Hill said. “Talking to a number of fans and members when I was travelling all over Australia, New Zealand and PNG during the World Cup, there were people coming up to tell me there was a new level of optimism.” The Bulldogs are 2018 compliant, but still have lingering cap issues. “There are no distractions,” Hill said. “That is a massive weight off everyone’s shoulders. Like any club when players are signed for multi-year contracts, there are still issues the club needs to work through for seasons 2019 and beyond but there are no issues in terms of not being compliant. We have to work through what we’ve inherited.” After missing the eight for the first time since 2011 this year, Hill knows the fans want success.
“A club like Canterbury, the expectation is excellence,” Hill said. “Whenever a year is had when we have not met those expectations, pressure is placed on everyone at the club. We can’t turn everything around straight away but we have a long-term view and a commitment to all of us that we will work towards being the Canterbury of old.” Hill wants to tap into the elements which made the World Cup such a success.
“One of the learnings I bring from the World Cup is the importance of community,” Hill said. “If we can bring communities together and get them to buy into our footy team, we can see what the end result is.” Hill has tweaked the governance structure of the Bulldogs, with Pay to report to head of football Andrew Farrar. “In reviewing the structure before I started, I made a recommendation to the board that through my experience of working across the AFL and other codes, I thought the general manager of football needed to have control of the football department,” Hill said. “As such, the head coach reports to the general manager of football. That allows Andrew Farrar to focus on football excellence and, more importantly, it allows Dean to focus on the on-field success.”