Demons forced to broaden CEO search after string of missed candidates
After initially targeting a football-savvy chief executive to help the club confront some upcoming complicated questions, the Demons have had to broaden the search for their next CEO.
Melbourne
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Melbourne has been forced to broaden its CEO search after initially targeting a football-savvy chief executive to help the club confront a complicated web of list and football department staffing decisions at season’s end.
The team’s downward spiral to start the new season has heightened the need for an experienced new CEO to help steer the club through what could be a difficult post-season including calls on a trio of contracted stars Kysaiah Pickett, Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca.
The Demons completed another round of interviews with CEO candidates on Monday in a bid to make an appointment by the end of April.
Highly-respected GWS Giants’ football manager Jason McCartney, 51, was considered a leading candidate, but does not want to leave the Giants as they chase a flag.
It continues the club’s string of misses on their top targets including MCC boss Stuart Fox and Fremantle’s Simon Garlick which has prompted the club to think more laterally on a new CEO and consider leading candidates from other sports and backgrounds.
AFL Coaches Association boss and former Demon Alistair Nicholson is in the mix.
After an extended four-month process, the club wants the new boss in place well before the end of the exchange period.
The Herald Sun revealed the Demons admitted they bungled the trade process involving Oliver last year when former CEO Gary Pert reached out to Adelaide about their interest levels without Oliver’s knowledge.
Oliver, 27, could become a target for St Kilda, which is in the market for an explosive A-Grade midfielder, and looks likely to miss out on North Melbourne free agent Luke Davies-Uniacke.
Oliver also last year met with the Cats, who could rekindle their interest in the Demons’ hard nut, if Gold Coast Brownlow Medal contender Matt Rowell remains with the undefeated Suns.
The key figures in Melbourne’s football department including the coaching staff will also come under review with premiership senior coach Simon Goodwin contracted until the end of next year.
New Melbourne director Steven Smith will play an influential role in the make up and direction of the football department as he prepares to take over as new president at season’s end.
Demons’ senior figures said at the club’s annual general meeting in December they believed the Demons had a list which was capable of playing finals in 2025.
But the club has endured a disastrous start to the campaign led by a faltering midfield which has been belted by Gold Coast (58 points) and North Melbourne (59) points over the past fortnight.
McCartney, who was contacted by the Demons in the process, was premiership list boss at the Bulldogs and has since steered the Giants to consecutive finals campaigns, but will stay up north.
Priority candidates led by Fox, Garlick, Brisbane Lions’ veteran Greg Swann, Western Bulldogs’ CEO Ameet Bains, North Melbourne’s Jen Watt, and former Fremantle chief Steve Rosich are also out of the race.
Unless one of their priority football targets backflips on their decision over the next few weeks, Melbourne may be forced to think more laterally on a new CEO.
President Brad Green has helped lead the search which has included talks and recommendations involving up to 200 people.
Chief operating officer David Chippindall, who has a strong commercial background, is fulfilling the CEO role on an interim basis and is being considered for the permanent job.
Green said the club has led a thorough process to find the right person.
“We are going through this process which we have undertaken since January and we are taking our time,” Green said on 3AW.
“The CEO who we have got at the moment in David Chippindall is in the running for the gig, and we are so confident in the way the club is being run by him at the moment.
“We are going through a process, we are in a shortlist of interviews at the moment.”
Originally published as Demons forced to broaden CEO search after string of missed candidates
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