Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett to go out swinging in his final year
In the same week Eddie McGuire announced he would be extending his reign, Jeff Kennett has announced 2020 will be his swansong. And he believes the AFL will be relieved to see the back of him.
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The AFL’s fiercest critic - Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett - will step down from his post at the end of the season.
In the same week Collingwood counterpart Eddie McGuire announced he was extending his reign to nearly a quarter of a century, Kennett said the time was right to “give other people an opportunity to serve”.
“I’ve informed the board, so yes, this will be my last year as president,” Kennett said yesterday.
“I never intended to come back but I was asked to by the board because of what had happened with the mess up over the former CEO (Tracey Gaudry) and to re-right the ship.
“I will have done nine years (over two terms) and I only intended ever to do six.
“It’s time for others to continue to build.”
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But the outspoken Hawks boss said he had no intention of bowing out quietly.
The former Victorian premier yesterday savaged AFL football operations boss Steve Hocking for suggesting he was open to changing the name of the men’s competition to AFLM.
Kennett, 71, said Hocking’s handling of the episode was “embarrassing” and “unprofessional”, before declaring that the AFL was “an organisation with little administrative discipline ... answerable to no one”.
It was the polar opposite response to McGuire’s, a member of Hocking’s hand-picked competition committee, who urged supporters not to “get our knickers in a twist over this one”.
Kennett said of the pair’s differing views: “There are so many conflicts of interest within the AFL and between individuals. It’s like rounding up the wagons isn’t it?
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion but they can expect to have those opinions challenged.
“Eddie won’t be surprised that I’ve got a different view.”
Asked if he would continue to challenge the AFL’s decision-making in his swan song season, Kennett said: “I will continue to discharge my responsibilities as president of Hawthorn on behalf of my members as I believe it to be in their interest.”
On whether the AFL would be happy to see him go, the Hawks’ boss said: “I have no doubt they will be absolutely ecstatic.”
Kennett returned for a second stint as Hawthorn president in October 2017 after the then Richard Garvey-led board parted ways with Gaudry just five months into her tenure.
His board immediately installed Justin Reeves as CEO and extended the contract of master coach Alastair Clarkson until the end of 2022.
Kennett had previously served as president from 2005-11, including the 2008 premiership.
The Hawks will resume talks with the Tasmanian Government in the coming weeks in the hope of extending the club’s lucrative deal to play four “home” matches a season in Launceston.
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Plans for the club’s new $130 million headquarters at Dingley are in their final stages.
“It’s not all to my credit but I was asked to come back to do a job, I hope I have done that to the best of my ability,” Kennett said.
“The board is very collegiate, we have a very good administration and a good relationship with the football department.
“The club is in a very, very strong position, both administratively and in terms of football prospects, not only for this year but the next two, three or five years.
“It’s a very good time to hand the baton to someone else at the end of the year.”
Kennett said it was still unclear who his replacement would be before the handover at the club’s November’s annual meeting.
“There’s a long way to go yet,” he said.