Michael Warner: Glen Bartlett took on the AFL, Melbourne — and won

Former Melbourne president Glen Bartlett took on the AFL — and won. MICHAEL WARNER examines how Bartlett emerged victorious from years of legal drama.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 26: Demons president Glen Bartlett celebrates the club making the finals during the 2018 AFL round 23 match between the Melbourne Demons and the GWS Giants at The Melbourne Cricket Ground on August 26, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media)

It takes balls of steel to stare down the AFL establishment.

James Hird did it. Dean Bailey tried.

Richard Colless told them to go forth and multiply.

Now you can add former Melbourne president Glen Bartlett to the list.

Repeated attempts to discredit Bartlett by senior Demons chiefs (and some suits at AFL HQ) during a bitter and costly three-year legal war did not break him.

Instead, Bartlett walks away with a bag of money and a belated acknowledgment that the game has failed him.

Melbourne fans who endured the boardroom fiasco are right in asking why it took so long for common sense to prevail.

Glen Bartlett waged war against the AFL and Melbourne — and won. Picture: Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images

Even attempts by footy powerbrokers Peter Gordon and Eddie McGuire to help resolve the dispute earlier this year failed to break the deadlock. Self-interest ruled the day at Demonland until recently, which is why some key figures have left the club.

Interim president Brad Green has made the right calls since taking charge and will soon be the last man standing from a 2021 board that got it so horribly wrong in removing Bartlett and then waging war against him.

Bartlett is set to join the West Australian Football Commission. Picture: Trevor Collens

AFL boss Andrew Dillon can be indecisive and should have intervened sooner, but deserves credit for his role in this week’s resolution as does former Demons vice-president Geoff Freeman.

Bartlett’s likely appointment to the West Australian Football Commission will come with the league’s blessing.

The boardroom saga is finally over, but as Freeman said yesterday “it’s a matter that should never have taken this long to settle”.

“For all involved and all Melbourne supporters it’s time we put this unfortunate distraction behind us and concentrate on football,” he said.

Originally published as Michael Warner: Glen Bartlett took on the AFL, Melbourne — and won