The Roos held an extraordinary community meeting chaired by VCFL regional manager John O’Donohue to discuss the embattled club’s prospects on Sunday, 18 months after Myrtleford kickstarted its fightback against debt and player shortages with similar talks.

But O and M general manager Tom O’Connor yesterday said such discussions should not be limited to struggling clubs and urged the league’s other eight clubs to follow suit.

“Every club should be looking at following a similar path to develop long-term plans,” O’Connor said.

“Some see the meetings as only necessary if a club is in crisis or struggling, but I would recommend every O and M club do a similar thing to Corowa-Rutherglen, no matter its financial situation or on-field position.

“The VCFL has followed the same process with clubs like Benalla and Mansfield with good results.”

O’Connor said clubs needed to be managed like businesses and a lack of foresight could put clubs at risk.

“They should be looking at delivering plans over two to three years,” O’Connor said.

“As was said at Sunday’s meeting, in some of the smaller Ovens and Murray towns the football club could be one of the top five businesses in the community.

“There’s great potential there for every one of our clubs.”

O’Connor was pleased with the progress Corowa-Rutherglen made at Sunday’s meeting.

“I thought the meeting was fantastic and all the feedback I’ve received from it has been very positive,” he said.

“To get over 100 people there was terrific and there was plenty of good discussion, but it’s just the start.”

The Roos will appoint a new board after president John Henneman, secretary John Robinson and treasurer Sam Kingston all indicated they will step down.