Who is Western Bulldogs president Kylie Watson-Wheeler
The senior vice-president for The Walt Disney Company took over as Western Bulldogs president as the club hit full-blown crisis. But Kylie Watson-Wheeler has Bulldogs in her blood.
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Seven years on, Peter Gordon’s words still ring in Kylie Watson-Wheeler’s ears.
It was early October 2014 and Gordon’s Western Bulldogs were on the brink of a full-blown football crisis.
“We have a situation,” the then-Dogs president informed Watson-Wheeler, the club’s freshly appointed board member.
Captain Ryan Griffin had walked out on the club and was seeking a shock trade to AFL expansion club Greater Western Sydney.
Events escalated dramatically the next day, when coach Brendan McCartney was sensationally sacked at an emergency board meeting with a year to run on his contract.
“It was an incredibly tough time for the club,” Watson-Wheeler, who replaced Gordon in the Bulldogs’ top job last December, reflected this week.
“The burden on Peter, who was the face of what was happening at the time, was massive, but I think it does demonstrate that there are moments in time in a club when you do have to make the tough decisions and you do have to accept the criticisms and public outcry in order to do what’s right.
“Externally there was so much angst and negativity, but within the walls and as a board we were all very united and clear on where we were going.”
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It’s history now that the Western Bulldogs would appoint Luke Beveridge as coach and deliver a drought-breaking premiership to the club’s loyal and long-suffering fans just two years later.
So much has changed at the Whitten Oval since that glorious 2016 salute, likened by favourite son Bob Murphy to the US “moon landing”, that all the talk of fairytales now surrounds their Grand Final opponent, Melbourne.
“Bevo just has such a wonderful style and from my perspective I’ve always thought that he really encapsulates the values of the club,” Watson-Wheeler says.
“How prepared he is to show his emotions and his love for his team is just so complimentary to the direction that we wanted the club to go in.
“He’s a master storyteller and always finds a narrative that is meaningful to take the playing group on a journey.”
Watson-Wheeler, 50, the senior vice-president and managing director for The Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand, is a bona fide Bulldog.
She grew up watching footy on the outer wing at the Whitten Oval, standing on a wooden box fashioned by her grandfather “so I could see”.
“We are a multi-generational Bulldogs family. I have always gone to the footy with my dad and my sister and the club means a lot to me,” she says.
“It’s in my heart and in my blood. It has shaped who I am and I do think that there is an underlying resilience and doggedness about being a Bulldogs supporter – to get up when you are knocked down and to keep fighting the good fight.”
In 1989, while studying for Year 12 exams, Watson-Wheeler sat in gravel behind the goals while Gordon, a tearaway young lawyer, delivered his famous ‘Save the Bulldogs’ rally speech.
“I don’t think I did much study that day,” she quips.
“To succeed Peter as president three decades later was pretty humbling.
“He’s done so much for our club over such a long period of time and I’m just so glad he received the accolades he did when he decided to hang up the reins.”
The mother of two was asked by former Bulldogs president David Smorgon to assist the club with marketing concepts before being drafted onto the board in late 2013, becoming vice-president in the months after the 2016 flag.
“The feeling that we could never actually taste that success, that it would always be elusive to us, was certainly present (in the club’s psyche),” Watson-Wheeler says.
“It was a combination of shock and elation when we won it and that is what is so wonderful now because we have done it and we have demonstrated to our fan base that we are in it to win it.
“Perhaps the incredulousness (of making a Grand Final) is gone this time.
“It’s been a wonderful time for the club – on and off the field. We are financially stable, we have a healthy balance sheet and are progressing our redevelopment, which will establish the Whitten Oval as our heartland in the west for years to come.
“We have a strong and united board, Ameet (Bains) is a fantastic CEO and our executive and the people within the ranks of our club are high-quality individuals.
“Stability behind the scenes is really important – it enables the football department to do what they need to do to get the job done.”
The Bulldogs boss slipped quietly into Perth last week and will leave her quarantine hotel with Demons counterpart Kate Roffey on the morning of the big game.
“Kate and I were given a late clearance to come out (to WA),” she says.
“We arrived last Friday before the prelims and had a lot of faith in our boys that we were going to make it.”
Asked if it was a coincidence female presidents led by Richmond’s Peggy O’Neal were enjoying such success, Wheeler-Watson said: “Certainly, Peggy is a trailblazer and has been a huge inspiration to us. We have seen her weather storms and success with unwavering grace and I am thrilled to be sharing this moment with Kate, but I think it demonstrates an acceptance that the president’s appointment should always come down to who has the qualities to govern the club, regardless of their gender.
“You don’t have to be male to be a strong, collaborative and decisive leader.”
Watson-Wheeler drove the mega deal that saw the AFL’s Docklands ground rebranded Marvel Stadium in her role with Disney but is a president that prefers good governance over the limelight.
“We have a lot of opportunities to weigh into the big issues in our presidents gatherings and I’m also on the competition committee, so I’m more likely to provide my opinions and feedback in those forums rather than the public space,” she says.
But as an expert in the entertainment industry, Watson-Wheeler does not subscribe to the theory that the game is too long.
“I love football just the way it is, but there are opportunities to engage new audiences and to recognise that young kids view content differently,” she says.
“So being aware of that and thinking of different ways to connect with them in what is becoming a very competitive landscape while preserving what is magical about our sport is important.”
Watson-Wheeler said football had been a “welcome relief” through Covid and “we are so grateful to our fans for sticking by us”.
“Hopefully we can reward them with another Grand Final win,” she said.
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