The Melbourne job: Who could the club chase to be their next CEO?

In the AFL era, Melbourne have matched only St Kilda in the number of chief executives they have churned through as the club attempted, but ultimately failed, to find the stable helm most other successful clubs enjoyed from 1990 onwards.

Another selection process to find a new CEO – Melbourne’s 10th since 1990 – is expected to officially start in the new year once the board positions are decided at December’s AGM. Board candidate Stephen Smith is expected to be an important voice in the process if he is elected.

However, that doesn’t mean potential candidates aren’t on the mind of the president Brad Green, with the process towards selecting and developing a list of potential targets under way.

Brad Green after his last game for Melbourne in 2012. He has the big job of choosing the club’s next CEO.Credit: Joe Armao

According to multiple competition sources, the Demons need a chief executive with the confidence and knowledge to ensure they know their way around a football department.

This doesn’t mean they need to have played football or have led a football department, but they need to know the right questions to ask and also be able to build authentic, trusting relationships with key leaders in the playing and coaching group.

Brisbane Lions CEO Greg Swann played a significant role in restoring the Lions and would do the same at the Demons, but the 62-year-old has no plans to be in the Melbourne frame, according to two competition sources with knowledge of the veteran administrator’s plans. He would have been Via Sistina odds had he chosen to run.

The coach Simon Goodwin will be an interested observer as Melbourne hunts for a new chief executive.Credit: The Age

An assessment of the current chief executives and potential candidates for the gig reveal that finding a candidate who could provide a bridge to allow the club to stabilise again, as they did under former CEO Peter Jackson, would be ideal.

Fremantle’s Simon Garlick, the Western Bulldogs’ Ameet Bains, the Giants’ Dave Matthews and Gold Coast’s Mark Evans have experience on their side but would need compelling offers to move from clubs that are poised to contend.

It’s likely Melbourne Cricket Club chief executive and former Hawthorn boss Stuart Fox will get a call from the Demons, having been appointed to his current role by Smith in 2017.

Fox understands Melbourne’s key components better than anyone, but the MCC role is considered a plum administrative job in Australian sport and not one to give up lightly.

MCC Commercial Operations executive Tanya Gallina had a long career in football before joining Fox and could follow a similar path to a club position as Kangaroos chief executive Jen Watt.

Melbourne Storm CEO and former Essendon executive Justin Rodski operates out of AAMI Stadium and knows how to manage a successful organisation, making him a person Melbourne will believe is worth considering.

Fox is not the only potential candidate with previous chief executive experience. Carlton sounded out former Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell in their search for a successor to Cook. He is leading a project for the Saudi Public Investment Fund and their sports investment fund, SURJ, spending half his time in Melbourne and half in Riyadh, and would need convincing to put his hand up, according to two sources with knowledge of his situation.

Those who have put their hands up for other chief executive jobs include long-serving Richmond executive Simon Matthews, who was supported in his bid to become Tigers CEO by Gale, and former Geelong football manager Simon Lloyd, who came close to winning the CEO gig at North Melbourne.

Lloyd is entrenched and settled as chief executive at Phillips Coaching, having begun there in June after leaving the Cats, while Matthews remains at the Tigers, where he is highly regarded.

Christian Petracca, Simon Goodwin and Steven Smith. Building trust and a connection across the club will be vital.Credit: The Age

The AFL is in a rebuilding phase itself after Kylie Rogers joined the VRC and Travis Auld the Grand Prix Corporation after Andrew Dillon won the battle to replace Gillon McLachlan, who is now the TAB chief executive.

Melbourne’s interim CEO and long-serving finance whizz David Chippindall is the only viable internal candidate for this job, although the Demons have several executives with experience at more than one club.

Chippindall understands the club, has done an outstanding job to protect their financial future, and should be given a chance to present his vision at least.

The club can also sound out people on the AFL’s emerging leadership program, such as Geelong’s Marcus King, Carlton’s Thomas Crookes, the Giants’ Jason McCartney, Collingwood’s Chris Larkins and former Melbourne Racing Club executive and now AFL commercial manager Peta Webster. The Lions’ Sam Graham and North Melbourne’s James Gallagher are also on the rise.

The two AFLPA chief executives before Paul Marsh in Matt Finnis and Brendon Gale became club CEOs, but Marsh has shown no inclination to go down that road.

Having said that, the Melbourne gig would be tough for a first-timer even with Green and Smith, if elected, able to mentor them.

In an ideal world, Melbourne would find an experienced hand able to bring through the next generation of executives to make the recruiting job more seamless next time around.

The only issue is that experience is not easy to find in the AFL world right now.

Although the revolving door slowed in the past decade or so, it never quite rotated smoothly.

That is what makes this Melbourne decision so important as they look for a leader who can implement the recommendations of the reviews and give the Demons the certainty supporters crave.

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