Foxfooty.com.au highlights the early front-runners to be the next AFL chief executive.
BRENDON GALEAFL 360 host Gerard Whateley told his SEN program on Tuesday that there was “no man more qualified in clubland to be the next CEO of the league” than Gale. After playing 244 AFL games with the Tigers from 1990 to 2001, Gale practised law with a leading Australian commercial law firm prior to serving as chief executive of the AFL Players’ Association. He was then appointed as Richmond’s chief executive in August 2009. Multiple reports linked Gale with a run for the top AFL job when it was last vacant in 2014 — a vacancy McLachlan ultimately filled.
TRAVIS AULDThere were suggestions last year the AFL was beginning to position Auld as McLachlan’s successor. Auld is the AFL’s executive general manager of finance, clubs and broadcasting, with the Marvel Stadium and Docklands Precinct redevelopment, as well as other AFL major projects, also included in his portfolio. It’s a portfolio that’s grown significantly since he arrived at AFL headquarters via clubland. Auld joined Essendon in its finance department in 1996, progressing through the club’s administration to become Chief Operating Officer. In 2009, he was appointed as the Gold Coast Suns’ chief executive before joining the AFL in 2014. Would have very strong relationships at club level.
CHRISTINE HOLGATEThe former Australia Post chief executive emerged as a potential candidate for McLachlan’s role last year. Holgate is now the boss of Toll Logistics firm Global Express and is a member of Collingwood’s board. She would be a strong candidate to be anointed as the AFL’s first female chief executive.
ANDREW DILLONThe AFL’s legal boss turned executive general manager of football, Dillon is highly regarded internally at the AFL since joining the league in August 2000 as Legal Counsel. Dillon has worked his way up the chain, from legal and business affairs manager and general manager of legal, integrity and compliance to the responsibility of game development then, in September last year, officially becoming executive general manager of football operations, legal and integrity. Right in the mix.
KYLIE ROGERSA bit of a bolter after joining the AFL’s executive as general manager of customer and commercial. Described on her AFL profile as “one of Australia’s leading commercial and media executives” following her 17-year tenure at Channel 10, as well as a stint at Mamamia. Since joining the AFL, Rogers has overseen membership, ticketing, events, corporate hospitality and sponsorship.
KYLIE WATSON-WHEELERA lifelong Bulldogs supporter, Watson-Wheeler became the second female club president in the AFL — after Richmond’s Peggy O’Neal — when she was unanimously voted in by the Bulldogs’ directors at a board meeting in late 2020. Watson-Wheeler, who’s been a board member since late 2013 and served as the Bulldogs’ vice-president for four years, is the Australia and New Zealand managing director of the Walt Disney Company.
JAYNE HRDLICKAWe may have gotten a sneak peek of the AFL CEO handover in 2021 without realising, when Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka stood alongside Gillon McLachlan to announce a new five-year deal with the code. Hrdlicka‘s time as Virgin Australia CEO began in late 2020. Prior to that, she was CEO of the Jetstar Group between 2012 and 2017 and the company nearly doubled its profits during her tenure. An 18-month stint as CEO of A2 Milk followed, during which the company’s share price rose by 40 per cent before she left at the end of 2019. Additionally, Hrdlicka became the first female chair of Tennis Australia and was re-elected unopposed in 2019 for an additional three years.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-news-2022-candidates-to-replace-gillon-mclachlan-as-ceo-travis-auld-andrew-dillon-brendon-gale/news-story/3399906e118b4453b3e1bc4a75344894
