AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan defends league’s probe into Melbourne tanking scandal

Melbourne made no attempt ‘on match day’ to deliberately lose games, according to AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan. The AFL boss today endorsed the league probe that did not find anyone guilty of ‘tanking’.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan. Picture: Toby Zerna

MELBOURNE made no attempt “on match day” to deliberately lose games, according to AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan.

McLachlan today endorsed the league’s historic handling of the Melbourne tanking saga, which led to “unprecedented sanctions”.

The Herald Sun has exposed more than 80 pages of transcripts of interviews between AFL investigators and Demons players, coaches and officials in 2012, as part of a probe into allegations of “tanking” at the club during its controversial 2009 season.

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“It was a tough investigation trying to get to bottom of what happened … the recommendation of the integrity department was, that a charge of a team not performing on its merits on match day was not able to be sustained,” McLachlan said.

“That the players went out to win and they were coached to win, but there was evidence that during the week — and there was accountabilities to two individuals in the club — that there were decisions made that were prejudicial to the interests of the game.

“ ... there were decisions made that may have been for the objective of finishing lower down the ladder.”

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Ex-Melbourne football manager Chris Connolly and coach Dean Bailey were hit hardest by the sanctions, exiled for 12 months and 16 weeks respectively, following the investigation, while the club was fined $500,000 for its part in putting players out with “fake injuries” and allowing others to be played out of position.

McLachlan, who famously told a press conference in 2012 that “I don’t know what the definition of tanking is”, told 3AW the severity of sanctions imposed on Melbourne still “hold up today”.

“Tanking means different things to different people,” McLachlan said.

“What is important here is to understand what the rules say, and what’s clear, and the rule that people would say equates to that in the AFL is not performing on one’s merits.”

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan has defended the AFL’s tanking probe. Picture: Toby Zerna

The landmark tanking probe resulted in changes to the AFL’s priority draft pick system.

Extra draft picks are now awarded on a discretionary basis by the AFL Commission.

Under the old system, clubs that won fewer than five games in successive seasons automatically received additional draft picks.

Asked if tanking was still a problem in the AFL, McLachlan said: “I hope not.”

McLachlan reiterated the statement following his weekly breakfast radio slot.

“No I don’t (think cheating is a problem in AFL today). We’ve got strong laws that are enforced by a strong integrity team,” McLachlan said.

“These were unprecedented sanctions, this is 10 years ago, this is the first time club officials were held to account … so they were incredibly strong sanctions that I think hold up today.”