Clubs demand secret ballot on Brownlow day amid ‘embarrassing’ AFL power struggle

The AFL leadership crisis that has punctuated the 2025 season and cast a shadow over September is threatening to come to a head in the hours leading up to the Brownlow Medal count.

That is when the club presidents have pushed to take control over the election of at least one new commissioner, who would ultimately replace the besieged Richard Goyder as the next chairman of the AFL.

Outgoing AFL chairman Richard Goyder (top), Peter Gordon (front left) and Jeff Browne are three central figures in the AFL Commission power play.Credit: Artwork: Jamie Brown

So fearful are the clubs of reprisals from head office, should they go against the wishes of Goyder and his circle of commission supporters, that they have requested a secret ballot that would be held at their meeting with the commission on Monday week.

The move for a secret ballot came on Monday after the club presidents met and voiced their disenchantment with the process that would decide Goyder’s replacement. Not only were they upset at having the decision taken out of the hands of the nominations committee, but also at Goyder’s refusal to tell the presidents how many commission positions would be vacant come the annual general meeting in March.

A letter written by Essendon president David Barham on behalf of the majority of the club bosses was emailed to Goyder on Monday night. Only three club presidents – Andrew Bassat (St Kilda), Tim Reed (GWS) and Chris Sutherland (Fremantle) – did not agree to the letter or the proposal. That trio would be unlikely to vote for the clubs’ most favoured candidate Jeff Browne, as would the Brisbane Lions’ Andrew Wellington.

But should the clubs win the right to vote for the next commissioner, the position would almost certainly go to Browne, a former Collingwood president, Nine boss and AFL legal counsel, who has the support of at least 12 presidents.

Essendon president David Barham.Credit: Matt Willis

At the time of publication, Goyder had not responded to Barham, but the indications were that the outgoing chairman was digging in on nominating his own successor with the weight of numbers, but by no means the majority, of his eight-member board.

Goyder had supported former Geelong president Craig Drummond but, fearing Drummond would lose to Browne, had introduced a last-minute candidate in former Bulldogs president Peter Gordon.

That move seems to have backfired because a significant number of presidents have indicated they would not ratify Gordon as the next commission chairman. One scenario could mean Drummond re-emerges as the compromise candidate.

It has been a spectacular piece of mismanagement on Goyder’s behalf and eerily similar to his attempt to push current Bulldogs president Kylie Watson-Wheeler as Gillon McLachlan’s replacement back in 2023. That move briefly diminished Andrew Dillon’s candidacy and ultimately embarrassed Watson-Wheeler.

Much has been made of Goyder’s abject failure to put in place a succession plan as he tried to remain in power for another term, despite assuring the clubs back in 2023 that this would be his last as chairman. He was determined to chair the nominations committee, despite the clubs’ attempts in March to unseat him.

That move failed, but the clubs had a win last month when – led by Adelaide’s John Olsen and Sydney’s Andrew Pridham – they told Goyder he had to quit or might find himself forced out.

Then Goyder hit back by introducing Gordon in a bid to thwart Browne, who had said he would not serve on a board under Goyder. The other candidate who said he would not serve on a Goyder-led commission was David Koch, and he failed to make it to Goyder’s shortlist.

Another potential candidate for the chairmanship was investment banker John Wylie, who previously chaired the MCG Trust and the Australian Sports Commission. But he was overlooked by Goyder’s nominations committee, which preferred one-time Essendon director businessman Peter Allen.

This is an unedifying saga that has divided the AFL community. Goyder has scant support at club level but the strong backing of recently departed AFL corporate affairs and communications boss Brian Walsh, who has been working the phones pushing the cause of Goyder and his preferred candidate, Gordon.

Outgoing AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder.Credit: AFL Photos

Gillon McLachlan’s role in the story remains intriguing, with a number of clubs convinced that Goyder was clinging to power with a view to installing McLachlan back to a leadership role at the game’s head office. McLachlan announced his departure at the start of the 2022 season but later regretted the decision and stayed in the job until the end of 2023.

Paul Bassat, Andrew’s brother and a strong Goyder man, is also likely to stand down in March, which would create a second vacancy, but Goyder has refused to divulge that information to the presidents.

But the cavalier manner in which the chairman has handled the governance of Australia’s most powerful sport has antagonised most of its most traditionally powerful clubs, notably Collingwood, Carlton, West Coast, Essendon and Adelaide. Sydney and Port Adelaide remain equally disenchanted, although Swans chairman Andrew Pridham’s role in the power struggle has been overplayed by the Goyder camp.

John Olsen, the former South Australian premier who played a leading role in the historic Adelaide Oval deal and who negotiated with Goyder during the botched handling of the Izak Rankine homophobic slur, has emerged as a strong player. He was not due to come face-to-face with Goyder at the Crows’ home semi-final on Friday night, as Goyder will not attend the AFL semis this weekend due to family reasons.

Almost three years have passed since Goyder asked the 18 club presidents to ratify his leadership for another three-year term. Questions were asked at the time but Goyder refused to discuss his plans until after he had been voted back in.

He later told the club presidents that he would step down at the start of 2026. The outgoing chairman would have all manner of reasons for changing his mind, but none have resonated as truly unselfish. The sad fact remains for Goyder that attempts to protect his legacy have proved fruitless and further diminished by the clumsy manner of his departure.

That he could not find one commissioner on his board over his past three years to emerge as a suitable replacement is an indictment. That he has put the pursuit of his own cause ahead of the game is worse. If Goyder has a legitimate reason for opposing Jeff Browne, he should have spoken up and not indulged in this shadowy power play.

It is true the clubs could cave in as Goyder supporters work to divide and conquer, but rarely have they seemed this close to being united in their disappointment at such poor treatment and lack of clarity.

TAB boss Gillon McLachlan remains an intriguing figure in AFL circles.Credit: Eamon Gallagher

Three years ago, grand final week was haunted by the emergence of horrific claims of racism against the Hawthorn Football Club and some of its key figures, who were later cleared of wrongdoing. Goyder’s poor governance and bungled exit strategy, which now has key influencers working the phones and crunching the numbers after more than a decade of remote leadership, seems minor by comparison.

But this discord between the competition’s governors and the clubs, and the staggering lack of trust and transparency, has hurt the game and its reputation as Australia’s all-powerful Indigenous code – one that has gone from strength to strength in this era of globalisation and worked for decades to set a cultural tone.

This at a time when the game needs to reassess its priorities, strategise its role in a changing media landscape, rebuild at community and grassroots level, refocus its gambling revenue obsession, create a 19th team and strengthen the AFLW.

It feels embarrassing that the commission, which was put in place back in the 1980s to wrest control from selfish clubs and better govern the game, is so dangerously at odds with those clubs as it has failed to oversee a clean and respectful handover. And while the man at the top has tried to cling to power.

This masthead has contacted Goyder for comment.

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