New Northern Bullants assistant coach Ben Hart has opened up on the circumstances behind his exit from Adelaide at the end of last season.
Hart coached the Crows’ forwards in 2020 but was let go as a result of a reduction in spending due to COVID-19.
The 46-year-old, who played 311 games for Adelaide and was inducted in the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2016, said his former club were not “strong enough in their convictions” after a wide-ranging review was conducted at the end of 2019.
“It’s an interesting one,” he told Sportsday of his departure after his second stint as an assistant at Adelaide.
“I potentially haven’t agreed with the decision around me last year, but we live in that industry. At times I haven’t felt the club were strong enough in their convictions in what they wanted to become after what was a pretty thorough review of the footy department at the end of 2019.
“I don’t agree with it, but at the same time I understand that it’s a performance-based industry and if you’re not performing then change sometimes has to be made.
“I’m a big boy and understand that’s the nature of the game, but I’m keen now to get back into footy and stay in footy as I enjoy it.”
Hart said he understood tough decisions had to be made as a result of an overall reduction in spending during the current climate, but still thought some of the decisions the club made at the end of last year were wrong.
“You go through quite a wide-spread review at the end of 2019 and all of a sudden 12 months later after being hit with COVID, to react and make some decisions on the back of that, after the review I thought it wasn't the right way to go,” he said.
“But that’s the decision they made as a football club and I’m ok with that.”