By Anthony Colangelo and Daniel Cherny
Collingwood sought legal advice to clarify whether new director Dr Bridie O’Donnell was eligible to sit on the Magpies’ board without voting rights, given she has not been a member for long enough to satisfy the club’s constitution.
This comes as new Pies president Mark Korda says he will not step down from his role and has warned potential challengers to his position – and those of his fellow directors – that a coup would not be a good outcome for the club.
Dr Bridie O’Donnell will not be able to vote on the Collingwood board until a motion is passed at the club’s annual general meeting after the season. Credit: Joe Armao
Doubts about O’Donnell’s board eligibility were raised on Wednesday, a day after she was announced as the replacement for long-time director Alex Waislitz, who stepped down on Tuesday. Waislitz had said at the beginning of the season that this would be his last year on the board.
O’Donnell is a medical doctor, former international cyclist and state government official.
There had been some social media criticism of O’Donnell because of a photo of her in a Western Bulldogs jumper, and confusion as to whether she could even be appointed as a director because she had not been a member of the club for long enough.
O’Donnell told 3AW on Wednesday she became a member in February 2020, which is less than 24 months ago.
Section 30a of the Magpies’ constitution states that board members can only be elected if “he (or she) shall have been a member of the club for at least 24 months immediately prior to nomination”.
Section 30b states this requirement can be waived at a general meeting. A general meeting must have 75 members present and entitled to vote for a quorum.
Collingwood on Wednesday evening said Dr O’Donnell would work with the board without voting rights until the annual general meeting to be held in early 2022, where a motion would be put forward to waive the requirement of 24 months’ membership. If that passes she can then be appointed to the board with voting rights.
“As a matter of due diligence, Collingwood took legal advice to confirm the eligibility of recently appointed director and member Dr Bridie O’Donnell,” a club statement read.
“For the avoidance of any doubt, Dr O’Donnell will serve the Collingwood board in an ex officio capacity until her appointment is ratified at the club’s 2021 annual general meeting.”
Asked if she had supported the Bulldogs, O’Donnell said: “I’ve been a fan of all of the AFLW clubs from when I moved down here. I was absolutely intent on making sure I could support women’s sport. I was working as the inaugural director of the [state government’s] office of women’s sport and recreation. But make no mistake, like I’m not divided in my loyalty.
“I’m a fan, I’m a member, and I’m loving Collingwood.”
Meanwhile, a Collingwood member of four decades is planning to collect signatures at the Magpies’ game this Sunday to force an extraordinary general meeting of the club.
The Age reported last week that it was only a matter of time before former AFL legal counsel and television executive Jeff Browne - who is also good friends with former president Eddie McGuire - launched a coup to become president of the Magpies.
But the move to topple the board could come as soon as this weekend, with Magpies member David Hatley, who says he works in the mortgage industry, declaring his plans to collect signatures at the Pies’ game against Port Adelaide at the MCG on Sunday.
Mark Korda will not step down, he said on Wednesday.
Signatures from five per cent of the club’s voting members are required to force an EGM.
“I’ve been a Collingwood member for about 40 years - a Legends member since it started in 2000,” Hatley told The Age.
“We pay almost $1000. This is the final tipping point for me. I’m going to get as many signatures as I can.”
Korda, who became president in April, has been on the board since 2007. He said he had met with Browne, who did not give a commitment that he would not challenge Korda and his board, nor did Browne say he would.
“I have met with Jeff Browne and we talked broadly about the CFC, he understands coups aren’t in the best interests of football clubs either,” Korda told 3AW radio on Wednesday morning.
“I can only see what I read in the paper, I have had the discussion with Eddie, Eddie is on the record [that] coups aren’t good for football clubs. Five of the current directors were part of Eddie’s leadership team, [and] as we all know Eddie left an enormous legacy over 23 years.
“I haven’t talked to him on that topic [Browne’s coup], Eddie’s on the record [saying] that coups aren’t good for clubs.
“Yes [I want to stay as president]. No [I have not considered stepping down in the interest of the club], we have got a fully-elected board by the members … we need to govern the club in accordance with proper process and protocols, so we will govern the club and govern the club well.”
“I’m a fan, I’m a member, and I’m loving Collingwood.”
Dr Bridie O’Donnell
The Pies have had a terrible start to 2021 on the field, which has followed an off-season trade cleanout. They are 16th with two wins and seven losses, and coach Nathan Buckley is out of contract at season’s end.
“We made it clear in the beginning of the season that we’d make a call on Nathan in the back half of the season. Everyone including Nathan remains committed to that timetable,” Korda said.
“We went from list management issues, followed by the Do Better report, followed by Eddie’s resignation, followed by the coaching contract is up, now followed by poor performance ... I can tell you behind the scenes membership is over 80,000, all our sponsors have re-signed … we have $10 million cash at bank, [and] $18 million in our future fund.”
Hatley said he was fed up with a lack of accountability at the club.
“There’s a significant number of us who are social club members and Legends members who haven’t been happy with what’s been going on the last eight or so months, with the whole trade debacle, what’s happened with Eddie and so forth, and a couple of casual vacancies being filled,” Hatley said.
“As it stands now, every board member that’s on there currently has never been voted in by a Collingwood member.
“Not for the fact that I want to get on the board. I know some people that have been interested in getting on the board. It’s more about the accountability factor. Open up all the positions, let the best people put up their hands, and let the members vote about it.
“I’m not doing this just to be an agitator, because I know these things like EGMs and that can get messy.”
McGuire was replaced on the board by VRC boss Neil Wilson.
Korda said a list of 90 candidates was put together by fellow board member Christine Holgate and a consultancy company. That list of 90 was whittled down to seven, who were all interviewed by the board.
“I am one of seven [on the board],” Korda, who runs corporate restructuring firm KordaMentha, said. “I probably represent a transition from the past to the future.”
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