CHIEF executive Peter Jackson says the club's overall aim was to win back respect in 2014 and he believes it can be “satisfied” that it achieved that last year.

Speaking at Melbourne’s season launch at the MCG on Monday night, Jackson said the club had done “a complete overall of the club” and it was now “on the right path” even if there was some way to go. 

“We righted the ship in a financial sense and have built the foundation for a sustainable future,” he said. 

“We have changed the football department quite dramatically.We have 22 new players, including some exciting talent but also some mature depth.

“[We have] a new coaching panel, including the succession plan for Paul Roos – that Paul and the club committed to – through to the appointment of Simon Goodwin. [We have] increased development resources with Brendan McCartney, as well as a much stronger development relationship with Casey Scorpions, through to the appointment of Justin Plapp and Shannon Byrnes.”

Jackson said the culture of the club was also making “some real ground”. 

“I think it’s fair to say that it took most of 2014 for players and staff alike to realise that it will be them that have the greatest impact on the success of this club. Those of you here last year heard Paul Roos say this directly to the players,” he said. 

“My own view though was that most people in the club, players included, thought Paul was a messiah or saviour and like Moses would somehow perform a miracle like parting the waters. 

“This is no longer the case – I think we have achieved more on this front since the new football year started in November. Both players and staff alike do fully understand they are the people who will drive success. I see this in the actions and attitudes on a daily basis of everyone around the club.”

But Jackson said the club still had some areas it needs to work on. 

“We still have what I have coined our ‘Petracca moments’ – sorry Christian and I will pay you the royalties from that – but what I mean by that is we do sometimes fall back into a feeling of pessimism when confronted by individual moments of anguish or challenge. We must rid ourselves of these by believing that we are on the right path,” he said. 

“Being on the right path does not ensure instant success, and it certainly does not mean we won’t have times of challenge or failure to achieve what we hope for. We just need to fight through these moments and keep focused on the journey down the path.

“Achieving what we did in 2014 allowed us the freedom to look a bit further into the future. We prepared an initial three-year strategic plan that the board endorsed and the whole club is now focused on.”

Jackson said that Melbourne will continually do everything to not compromise the team.  

“Football success will drive all else. It will drive the number of supporters and members; it will drive increased crowds; it will drive sponsors to be involved with us; it will drive financial success; it will ensure long term sustainability,” he said. 

“It is not the only strategy we have but right now it is the most important. The rest won’t amount to much if we don’t get football right.”

Jackson said it was critical that the club achieves 50,000 members by 2017. 

“We aim to achieve 50,000 members and 350,000 home game attendees by 2017. Winning football games will help. So will re-connecting with our heartland. We appreciate the support of City of Casey in our fan development and we will continue to work in that region. However we need to balance it up by not forsaking our heartland – those people and families that built this club,” he said. 

“I am on the record that we have lost a lot of members over recent years because the club on and off the field breached their trust. When that happens, we can’t just wave a magic wand and get them back – we need to win back the trust we lost. I’m sure we have started to do that, but we must improve onfield and start to win football games. They must believe in the future.”

Jackson said the club must also know what it stands for as a club. 

“We have also looked at what we stand for as a club and what our brand should represent to people,” he said. 

“We have some very strong brand truths – we started the game/wrote the rules, the MCG is our spiritual home, we share the name Melbourne with the city in which play.

“We have a great opportunity, provided we are a good football team, to connect strongly with Melbourne and win the hearts and minds of all those who live in Melbourne and those who come to Melbourne.

“You will see us position the brand of the club over 2015 to be closer aligned to Melbourne.”