Graham Wright to take over as Carlton CEO on August 15

An under-duress Carlton are set to change course in their succession plan at CEO, with Graham Wright to take the reins from Brian Cook earlier than planned.

Carlton has brought forward Graham Wright’s start date as chief executive in a move that will leave him responsible for the future of embattled coach Michael Voss.

Wright, who was slated to take over from veteran administrator Brian Cook in October, will instead take the reins on August 15 as the club confirmed an earlier than anticipated transfer of power on Monday.

Carlton president Rob Priestley said the earlier start would give Wright “a really good opportunity” to support and shape the club’s football department, as he refused to guarantee Voss would continue into 2026.

“We’re just putting the final stages of that transition plan together … a few weeks out, we think (August 15) is the right date,” Priestley said.

The former Pies list boss will have some big decisions to make. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“It allows Brian (Cook) to finish off a few projects and commitments he’s got, and it also gives us a really good opportunity for Graham utilising his expertise to really support our footy department at the moment, when it’s a really important time for us.”

Asked whether Voss would coach the Blues in round 1 next year, Priestley said the club would make a “calm and reasonable decision” on his future at the season’s end.

“Yeah, Voss is contracted until the end of 2026 – that doesn’t change,” he said.

“I think what we’re trying to do here is really focus on the next eight weeks … get ourselves into the very best possible position to address things that we need to address.

“That gets us into the end of the season, where we can – in a really calm and measured way – make decisions if we need to make them then.

“I wouldn’t call it a review (of Voss’ tenure) … at the end of the season (we will) go through what all good organisations do in terms of assessing what they’re up to, what gaps they might have, and as a collective working through that and making decisions we need to make in a calm and reasonable way.”

Originally published as Graham Wright to take over as Carlton CEO on August 15