Melbourne president Glenn Bartlett says Demons have the right man with new CEO Gary Pert

GLENN Bartlett says Melbourne conducted extensive checks into Gary Pert’s time at Collingwood, saying the info gathered revealed a “royal flush” and convinced the Dees they had their man.

GLENN Bartlett says Melbourne conducted extensive checks into Gary Pert’s time at Collingwood, adamant the new Demons CEO is the right man for the job.

Pert was introduced to Melbourne’s staff at a 9am morning tea today, days after being announced as the successor to Peter Jackson.

Melbourne president Bartlett has been disappointed at the negative reaction to Pert’s appointment, which came after Mick Malthouse was critical of his legacy.

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But Bartlett told the Herald Sun Pert would continue Jackson’s legacy and continue to grow former basket case Melbourne into a powerhouse.

He said the Demons could not have been more exhaustive with their reference checks for Pert, who was at the helm when the Pies won the 2010 premiership.

Melbourne used global recruitment firm Russell Reynolds to headhunt Pert then subjected him to an extensive interview process.

“There has been noise and things said that were completely wrong about this being an AFL decision. People don’t understand why Peter didn’t pick his successor.

Gary Pert resigns from Collingwood. Pic: Michael Klein

Peter Jackson will depart the Dees. Pic: Getty Images

“But that’s not proper governance. We have just come from a staff meeting where Peter, myself and Perty spoke to the staff and got to meet Perty and as he said, they will see him again next October when he starts and from there it will be onwards and upwards.

“I am not going to say who (we spoke to at Collingwood) but we spoke to a number of people at senior level and within the industry who were across what happened at Gary’s time at Collingwood and took their views into account.

“Things had been put out into the media people should be careful of, but it may well be the review had nothing to do with Gary finishing as CEO of Collingwood.

“In the ideal world for certain roles 5-7 years is plenty for a CEO of a football club. Eddie (McGuire) and Gary and Collingwood got a lot done.

“With growth of membership, with facilities, they got a lot of good stuff done and won a premiership. So we took all those things into account.”

The Demons considered Pert the obvious choice after searching across Australian sport and business to access who was right for the position.

“We had a royal flush in terms of our reference checks in terms of who we spoke to. I won’t say names, but it was senior people, people within the media, former teammates.

An emotional Pert after quitting the Pies. Pic: Michael Klein

“Peter had input into the process but early on we agreed the CEO doesn’t select the next CEO. We ran a very thorough process and we are a bit bemused by the noise from some people and misapprehensions.”

Melbourne head of football Josh Mahoney and commercial operations manager George De Crespigny were two of the internal candidates who missed out on the role.

But both have been provided extensive feedback about the process and their presentations to help them with their future career aspirations.

“I won’t say anything or confirm anything about any other candidate. But the four who missed out, we gave them really honest feedback and had conversations with them to help them develop their further career aspirations.

“I would say about our staff, and it was evident this morning at a senior level, is that they really want to be here and be part of it.

“So there was a really good vibe about where we are at and the future. Gary was fantastic, as was Peter.”

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