By Peter Ryan
Laura Kane has expressed pride at becoming the first female to be appointed as the executive general manager of football, saying it was “a really big moment for women in our game”.
CEO-elect Andrew Dillon said Kane’s performance while acting in the role throughout the season convinced the selection panel she was the best candidate for the job as the AFL promised to direct more resources and experience to the football operations department.
Laura Kane, who has been acting in the football operations role since May, speaks to the media on Monday. Kane has impressed club officials in the role.Credit: AFL Photos
Kane said strong relationships with clubs were vital as the league must harness the football knowledge within clubs’ men’s and women’s programs, and she promised the football operations team would be more accessible to the public and media, unafraid to engage in the conversations that dominate football seasons.
The former Melbourne University women’s football club player and administrator, who worked as a lawyer before joining North Melbourne’s football operations team in 2016, expressed pride at becoming the first female in the position.
“To look around and see female presidents, female CEOs, female executives and to yesterday hear from someone like [former Richmond president] Peggy O’Neal, who I have watched pave the way for women in this industry for a number of years and be successful ... it’s a really big moment for women in our game today,” Kane said.
Kane listed higher scoring and quicker ball movement in the AFLW competition among her priorities and promised to invest in technology across both competitions to “understand more about our game” and what can be automated when the game is happening in real time using ball-tracking technology.
Former Essendon football boss Josh Mahoney has joined the AFL as general manager of football operations. Credit: AFL Photos
Kane, who joined the AFL as competition manager in November 2021, had held the football operations role on an interim basis since Dillon was named as Gillon McLachlan’s replacement in May.
The league has been criticised for the time it has taken to fill the position and the lack of football expertise on the AFL Commission.
She was at the forefront of the response to the goal-umpiring error late in the recent round-23 match between Adelaide and Sydney that exposed flaws in the score review system. Adelaide would have finished in the top eight if they had beaten Sydney in that game.
Kane said an extra person had been added to the ARC following the controversy to give those running reviews a better chance of intervening more quickly if a mistake was made, and backed the umpires.
“Umpiring is hard. It’s a hard game to umpire. It’s an oval ground, it’s an oval ball, it’s unpredictable. Our umpires do a terrific job, and we’ll continue to support them in that,” Kane said.
Kane said she was ready for the public nature of the role and the robust feedback she would receive from fans, clubs, players and officials about AFL decisions.
“I understand the passion. People love our game. They feel so much a part of it that they want to give their feedback. They have something to say ... I love that they are passionate. That is all part of it. We have to listen. We have to learn from what they are telling us,” Kane said.
Kane will oversee a restructured football operations department, with former Essendon football manager and Port Adelaide premiership player Josh Mahoney appointed as the AFL’s general manager of football operations. The AFL will also fill a newly created position of AFL general manager of football performance.
Kane will be responsible for football operations, competition management across the AFL, AFLW, VFL and VFLW, umpiring, game analysis, player movement, talent pathways and mental health and wellbeing.
Mahoney will sit on the AFL and AFLW competition committee and administer strategic football projects and football operations in his role, while the general manager of football performance will be involved in player movement, coaching, talent pathways and MRO, tribunal, the AFL’s review centre (ARC) and award committees.
Kane has impressed club officials and the league with her performance in the role, having arrived at the AFL in November 2021 in charge of competition management after five years working in football operations with North Melbourne alongside now Essendon coach Brad Scott and then football manager Cameron Joyce.
She has had to deal with everything from the lights failing mid-game at the Gabba to St Kilda coach Ross Lyon’s public complaint about the roof being open before a game at Marvel Stadium.
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