Steven Trigg can rest easy with Carlton’s decision to flickpass his form four onto the Blues’ bag of bones who was the West Australian champion Ken Hunter.

Now, more than 30 years after the event, the new CEO returns with a real fire in the belly to make his mark on this club.

In this, part 2 of the Q and A, Trigg canvasses his views on a whole range of issues including; his observations of Carlton in the first 40 days; his dealings with the Club’s Board of Directors, his relationship with Gillon McLachlan; and the future of Carlton’s heartland at Visy Park.

Q: Why did you pitch for Carlton and what really prompted your decision to make the move across?

A: It’s a good question. I got to the point, at the other end, of thinking “12-plus years, can’t do it forever, don’t want to outstay my welcome”. I’d been incredibly well-supported through a couple of very difficult issues obviously – and that support remained, which was really uplifting and generous.

It actually got to the point where it was best for all parties that I needed to think about doing some other things. I actually contemplated jumping out of footy, I contemplated giving notice and I’d be talking to my chairman about it, not with any rush, and then a couple of opportunities came up, almost simultaneously and extraordinarily coincidentally, and one of those was Carlton.

While I had been lucky to have received a couple of offers over the years, the one that really got my attention was Carlton – not so much because of the history, although that was a factor, but because I’ve always perceived it to be a great club and now, with a bit of knowledge, a club with a great capacity to improve.

Often CEOs will try to pick off opportunities where you can win and you can make a difference. I felt that I could make a difference, that we as a club could make some progress, and nothing in the first six or seven weeks has made me change my mind.

Q: So your pre-conceived notions of Carlton have held up?

A: Yeah. I am really enjoying it, I genuinely feel that the fit is good and I do believe that there is a lot of improvement here still. I’m 40 days into it, and I couldn’t be any happier with the willingness of people here to roll up the sleeves and get on with it.

Q: Are you also personally energised in making the move from Adelaide, relocating to Melbourne and taking up the new challenge at Carlton?

A: That’s the word I’ve used a fair bit on friends back home who have asked me how I’m going and what it’s like. I’ve told them that this is a fresh challenge in a fresh environment with fresh relationships and that’s a really energizing thing.

Q: Towards the end of your tenure as CEO of Adelaide, did you find out who your friends really were?

A: Absolutely. There was a fair firestorm . . . and while I don’t want to labour the reflection the wiseheads around me – the people you inevitably lean on in those really difficult times - would say to me “Learn from it and be really, really determined to be better for it’’. And I carry that with me.

You do learn about people around you in terms of those who can and those who can’t, those who are with you and those who may not, and you really learn some tough life lessons about people’s integrity and other such matters.

Q: You reported to an eight?-man board at Adelaide. How are you getting on with ten of them here?

A: Like everyone I’ve heard, read and digested some of the history but all I know at the moment is that they (directors) seem to be part of a very united board. I’m sincerely loving the energy that Mark (LoGiudice) brings to it as a new President. His capacity to work and his capacity to connect with people and make them feel a part of it is exactly what I felt coming in that we needed to do. And that’s a huge head start.

Q: What was your first priority day one?

A: Though I wasn’t required to submit a presentation to the sub-committee (it was a discussion) I took the liberty of, as you probably need to do, of trying to articulate a view of where Carlton was at, at least as an external perception – and potentially where Carlton, notwithstanding all the nuances of the place, could be famous again.

Inherent in that is understanding a bit of the history, and of creating more of a sense of belonging to the club because it is, after all, a tribal game. There are ten different tribes in this state and the question is “What are we doing to stand out?” or “What are we doing to rise above the pack”?”

In answer to your question, the priority was a day-to-day priority of getting to know people, but by and large giving people a sense of belonging and generally improving the standards right throughout the place, and placing a real focus on the footy program is the most sensible is the way to go about it.

Steven Trigg in his Visy Park office. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)

Q: How do you believe the challenges of running one of ten tribes in this state will compare or contrast with the running of one of two in South Australia?

A: The question I’ve often asked myself since arriving is “What are we doing that is going to compel a free agent trade-player or a valued off-field person to come here?”. Until we can answer that really clearly we’ve got a bit of an issue. We need to keep working on that and where we want to take it. People development and leadership development is just one of those areas where we can make a difference, but we’ve got to put it all together.

Q: Am I right in saying that you and Gillon McGlachlan are quite close?

A: I know the McLachlans quite well, but that’s by virtue of the few moments I spent in teaching. When I taught at St Peters College the McGlachlan boys came through.

Q: So you were then known to Gil as Mr Trigg?

A: That’s right, but I don’t want to labour that as that angle hasn’t bubbled up too much. In any case, now it’s Mr McGlachlan (laughs).

Q: Did Andrew McKay address you in the same manner?

A: No, but Macka reckons that when Glenelg played Centrals in a game beyond his schooldays we actually stood eachother and I knocked him out by chance. He claims he banged his head on my knee.

Q: In your recent message to Members from the CEO’s desk, you revealed four specific areas identified by the Club’s Members as to what your priorities should be – better communication, a better sense of belonging, better matchday experience and on-field success. In which of those four can you guarantee delivery?

A: I can guarantee our best efforts in all of them.

Q: And the Members get to decide on which white crest is to be adopted on the famous old Dark Navy Blue Guernsey from hereon in?

A: One of those points of interest for me on the way in was the emotion surrounding the crest. I’m not being ignorant here, but on the outside looking in the crest never created a distinction in my mind. But when it’s pointed out it is an emotional issue and I understand that.

Q: So do you have a personal view. Should the club retain the current crest or revert to the time-honoured crest of 70 years?

A: Let’s leave that to the Members to decide. If we’re to have a sense of belonging and a meaningful connection then here’s an example of where management can make a decision, but should do so on what the Members really like. And we’ll be putting this to them in the next few weeks.

Q: Could the Carlton Football Club Social Club facility be revived at Visy Park and could you ever envisage matches for Premiership points staged here again?

A: I’ll take the first part first. There are some real complexities with that, but what’s on my mind right now is that a social club per se is a terminology from the 70s and 80s and prior, and there’s some doubt about its commercial viability wherever you put it as a standalone given the way society is today and that we don’t play games at home. So it’s quite a difficult issue. As I said in my letter, I definitely get the sentiment about a venue with which we can reconnect, but whether that has a social club banner or something around our matchdays or something tied together with a broader purpose in terms of museums and whatever . . . now I’m not sure how any of that comes together and there are some issues, but it’s possible.

In terms of coming back here I understand the sentiment and I know fans would like nothing more than to engage our fans by coming back to the heartland. But if anyone went for a walk around the back of the house it would quickly turn potentially from a terrific experience to a poor one, and given the capacity and tenancy and corporate issues it’s a very tall mountain to climb and I’m wondering whether there are other ways to bring people back to the home of Carlton as distinct from the AFL Premiership season . . . but it’s not completely off the agenda either.

Q: You faced this scenario in the move to Adelaide Oval where presumably there was support from government, local council and the League, so could similar levels of support ever allow for games back here?

A: In terms of games back here, the ground’s just not up to standard. Could we bring this ground back up to standard? It’s probably the reason why you’d leave the door open because you just never know. But there would have to be a will of the AFL and deals would have to be done elsewhere.

Q: Do you think there is a will of the AFL, as Gillon McLachlan has public discussed, of returning the game back to the people?

A: Again, that’s why you don’t slam the door shut, but it is an extremely difficult issue – and in the meantime, maybe there are other ways in which we can bring people back to the heartland.