Mike Fitzpatrick leaves game in good stead despite controversies, writes Jon Anderson
THE fact he survived for 10 years is an endorsement of AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, even if his tenure was rocky at best, writes Jon Anderson.
THE fact he survived in the role for just short of 10 years is in itself an endorsement of AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, even if his tenure was more the choppy nature of Bass Strait rather than the calmness of the Murray River.
On one hand you had the most significant expansion in the game’s history with the introduction of Gold Coast and GWS to markets traditionally rugby league heartlands, on the other the unsightly Essendon drugs saga which remains the lowest moment in the AFL/VFL’s 120-year history.
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If and when those expansion teams succeed, Fitzpatrick - someone with a healthy self-opinion - can deservedly sit back and reflect on the key role he and his commission played.
And he leaves the game in good shape in terms of the financial nature of 18 teams, the AFL having ensured there will not be a repeat of the tragedy that was Fitzroy in the mid-1990s.
As for James Hird and the Bombers, only Fitzpatrick knows if the AFL would have handled things differently, although the decision to call Australian Sports Commission chairman John Wylie in as a mediator was hardly a roaring success.
It was during that period when Fitzpatrick developed an “invisible man” persona, a Commission Chairman who chose to adopt a very low, and often silent, profile.
His critics would argue that was exactly the time for strong and vocal leadership, but public utterances were never Fitzpatrick’s go. More a cup of tea in the corner man as distinct from the boyish charm of AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan.
That some AFL clubs found his aloofness off-putting does not tarnish his legacy, for he was never there to be loved. A tough negotiator and stubborn when pushed, Fitzpatrick didn’t always respond well when things didn’t go his way, his spat with Sydney Swans chairman Richard Colless being a case in point.
Fitzpatrick wanted Buddy Franklin to join GWS to help the expansion of his baby, but when Sydney cleverly and legally recruited the Hawk star, the once tough ruckman from Carlton exploded.
Fitzpatrick has also overseen the introduction of women’s football, an initiative that has to date been a resounding success.
So from a scholastic viewpoint, where will he stand when the historians oversee the “Fitzy years”?
For mine he can’t claim the same Rhodes Scholarship that saw him attend St John’s College at Oxford University in 1977, but he clearly gets a pass mark even if he will never be remembered with the same fondness as previous incumbents such as Ron Evans and John Kennedy.
Originally published as Mike Fitzpatrick leaves game in good stead despite controversies, writes Jon Anderson
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