Andrew Dillon talks gambling ad bans, player concussions following first full season as AFL boss

Andrew Dillon has opened up on the challenges of his first season in the top job including some of the game’s big issues such as gambling ad bans and player concussions.

AFL boss Andrew Dillon might have felt a bit rumpled on Tuesday morning.

The night before, he had read out the votes for the Brownlow Medal, where he had a first beer at 11.30pm and left a couple of hours later.

He had called an executive meeting for 8.30am, despite fears of grumbling and sore heads.

A couple of hours later, he sits in his Docklands office, where 13 different Sherrin footballs are displayed, along with a didgeridoo and footy boots from his celebrated career in amateur footy.

Dillon somehow looks fresh as he fields questions. About the challenges of his first full year in the job. And the kinds of industry talking points, such as gambling ad bans and player concussions, which punctuate every AFL season.

Andrew Dillon would have completed his first season as AFL boss after this week’s Grand Final. Picture: Michael Klein

The first impression is not of who Dillon is, but of who he is not.

Dillon does not present like his two immediate predecessors, Gillon McLachlan and Andrew Demetriou. He doesn’t command a room as they do. To be fair, nor does he try to.

Dillon can crack a joke, often against himself. But he’s without shows of mischief. He will not throw verbal hand grenades, as if for the fun of seeing where they land.

Instead, he plays safe, like a politician who bats away tricksy questions with answers aimed at generating no headlines. He won’t even offer his tip for today’s grand final, except to say that the result will be close.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon read out the votes for this year’s Brownlow Medal. Picture: Getty Images

Andrew Dillon and his wife Amanda Dillon at the red carpet during the 2024 Brownlow Medal. Picture: Getty Images

Dillon, 54, readily agrees that he does not of nature seek to be the centre of attention. He is slightly vanilla, by choice, a leader who appears to instinctively rank collegiality and consideration ahead of jarring visions of change.

It’s been suggested that some club chiefs have been surprised by his lack-of-mongrel approach.

Has his style worked this year?

“I think that’s probably for others to judge,” he says. “I’m really close to Andrew and Gil and speak to them regularly. The advice from them, and I’ve got it from others as well, is that you can’t be who you’re not, so just be yourself.”

Dillon has lucked in, at least insofar that he has overseen a season which he calls a “nightmare for tipsters”.

From start to finish, the footy has thrown up upsets and nailbiters. It goes to the AFL’s equalisation ethos – that supporters of any AFL team on any day can harbour “hope” of victory.

Two interstate teams in a Melbourne grand final is a win for all, he says, identifying a 125-year wait time since the clubs of South Melbourne (now Sydney) and Fitzroy (swallowed whole by the Brisbane Lions) played in the 1899 grand final.

There have been wider issues – there always are.

Dillon says increased player safety, especially of the head, is a priority to AFL football.

The lifelong consequences of player concussion will unfold over many years, driven by both courtroom findings and advances in medical research.

Dillon himself was relatively lucky. Over 290 games of amateurs footy for Old Xavierians, he was concussed twice. He remembers dizziness, but he was spared fuller effects.

The second time, in 1993, his coach made him sit out the following week.

Increased player safety, especially of the head, is “an absolute priority” from community to AFL football.

Dillon is across the arguments about preserving the fabric of the game. It’s evolution, not revolution. Footy is a contact sport that is 360 degrees, he says, but there have been 30 rule changes in the past two decades aimed at player protection.

Of continuing court claims about historical racism at Hawthorn, first aired two years ago, Dillon laments the “long time” of the dispute, but argues that “fair and proper process” is “extremely important”.

Another issue – gambling ads – also highlights Dillon’s outwardly conciliatory approach.

Andrew Dillon says he’s excited about trials of smart ball technology. Picture: Getty Images

Speaking about a political push to ban gambling ads on digital platforms, headline magnet and Australian rugby league chief Peter V’landys this month called out the “loud voices who are expounding an ideology”.

Dillon chooses his words more carefully.

He says he shares concerns about the normalising of gambling for children. The solution is about “landing something that is a sensible regulation that provides a regulatory environment for our wagering operators”.

He deflects this year’s successes to the efforts of previous administrations. In keeping with AFL long arcs, Dillon speaks of medium to long term plans.

“I’m a fan of looking at stuff,” he explains, citing discussions about a wildcard round (in which teams seven to 10 play off for the final two top eight final places).

He’s excited about trials of smart ball technology. Electronic sensors in the bladder could pinpoint the ball’s exact position on the field, if it has been touched at any given moment, as well as kick and handball lengths.

The technology might eliminate some of the trickier elements of umpiring, of whom he is a great defender.

Dillon, as a teenager from the late 1980s, umpired junior footy matches. He learned a lot about resilience in the face of “very direct advice” from parents on the boundary.

Umpires are “incredible athletes and incredible decision-makers”. He says to expect game day clean sheets for umpiring decisions is unreasonable.

“They’re so important,” he says of umpires, “because there isn’t a game without them.”