Gary Pert’s departure from Melbourne was not assured when he uttered the fateful words that Melbourne had the greatest culture he had seen in football, but it certainly created an impression that the leadership was out of touch, and change was needed.
As the words fell confidently from Pert’s lips in that October 2023 radio interview, which was intended to calm nerves about the Demons but managed to do the complete opposite, doubts were sown about the judgment of the club’s leaders.
Melbourne chief executive Gary Pert.Credit: AFL Photos
All evidence at the time – from the freefall out of finals after the 2021 flag to the well publicised off-field difficulties of Clayton Oliver, and the repeated criticisms and revelations from former chairman Glen Bartlett in litigation – pointed to a club that was at best fractured and at worst dysfunctional.
What it did not project was a robust and strong culture. That the chief executive would insist everything was OK was to be expected; that he should so hyperbolically overreach to insist it was the best culture he’d seen in football made him appear disingenuous or out of touch.
To be clear, Pert has officially resigned from the club as chief executive with the intent of retiring; he has not been sacked. The board say that he had spoken to them about retiring in the middle of next year but through the process of two club reviews, one of which was led in part by him, recognised the virtue of bringing that departure date forward.
The train wreck radio interview and then the clumsy floating of Clayton Oliver by Pert with other clubs for trade once more this year did not lead to Pert being pushed out, but they did show a change of leadership was necessary for the club to move on.
As a senior Melbourne figure said on Thursday: “Perty would admit that if he had his time again, he would not have said what he did about culture on radio and would have handled the Oliver situation differently [this trade period].”
They also said those missteps should not overshadow the fact Pert conducted the review in 2020 that led to change and the club winning a flag the following year, plus the almost doubling of membership in his tenure.
Through being involved in this year’s reviews, Pert discovered, or had it reinforced to him, that his departure was necessary to bring meaningful change at Melbourne. The reviews did not recommend that he go – but they did make it clear that leadership change would be beneficial.
Combined with the departure in September of president Kate Roffey, this leadership reset would create “clear air” and a project a new start for the club.
The review recognised Pert’s value with the ongoing pursuit of the Caulfield racecourse development for a Melbourne home base. That’s why he has been retained as a consultant beyond Christmas when his reign as Melbourne’s longest serving chief executive will come to an end.
The knowledge that there would be a change of CEO was also a significant factor in Steven Smith’s change of heart to seek to join the board now.
Smith, the former Melbourne player and Melbourne Cricket Club president, had been reluctant to join the board after Roffey’s departure when there was a strong push from coterie and business people for him to take over as president. He had only just retired from his legal career and had plans to take a break and travel next year with his wife.
The arrangement, as pushed hard by Green to Smith over the past five weeks, that he join the board now to be involved in the critical decisions and appointments made after the joint club reviews, and then travel overseas for several months next year to then potentially take over at the end of next season as president, was a clever compromise.
That Smith could be involved in the selection of the new chief executive was important. This succession plan assumes the other directors agree, which it would appear likely.
It also defuses the perception of Smith coming in as the white knight to fix all of Melbourne’s problems, and instead fosters the idea of an orderly transition.