By Sam McClure
AFL boss Andrew Dillon’s move to dramatically restructure his executive team midway through the season has been met with relief from clubland.
The restructure, which will see its football operations split into two parts, is believed to be a positive move in the eyes of the clubs.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, five of the six football bosses and chief executives spoken to by this masthead believe that, while messy, the restructure signifies that the AFL is listening to its clubs.
Andrew Dillon has defended his leadership team at the AFL.Credit: Getty Images
The other clubs said they would wait to see what impact the changes have before offering an opinion.
This masthead revealed on Thursday that, on top of hiring a new chief operating officer, the AFL is on the lookout for a second football boss to sit alongside Laura Kane.
Under the restructure, Kane will head up football operations, which will include a newly formed health and medical team.
But the league will also hire a football boss in charge of performance. That position will also sit on the executive.
In announcing the restructure on Thursday, Dillon said the football portfolio had become too big for one person to manage.
“The game is the reason we exist; it is as big and as good as it has ever been, and the AFL football department must continue to evolve,” he said.
“It must be structured, resourced and led in a way that can ensure everyone – the clubs, players, coaches, umpires and officials – can continue to perform at the highest possible level.
“Laura will continue to play a major leadership role within the AFL, but the overall responsibility has grown so much that the traditional leadership role for an individual executive in footy is no longer the best model.”
On Tuesday, speaking at the launch of the AFL and AFLW players’ injury and support fund designed to help past players, Dillon was quick to defend his executive team following the bungling of a range of football matters – such as the miscommunication with the AFL’s umpiring department over Collingwood star Lachie Schultz’s concussion drama against Fremantle.
Executive general manager of inclusion and social policy Tanya Hosch will depart the AFL on June 6, with the league confirming her exit on Thursday in a media release.
As The Age reported this month, the league and its most senior Indigenous employee had been negotiating her departure after nine years.
As part of the restructure, First Nations engagement and inclusion will fall into the corporate affairs portfolio at AFL House.
In an AFL statement on Thursday, Dillon said: “Tanya has been tireless in her work to ensure that inclusion has been a part of everything we have done, from encouraging more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples into the AFL industry, to supporting clubs at all levels of our game to navigate complex social issues and create policies to reduce vilification.
“As an industry we are indebted to Tanya for making us better.”
Hosch’s work included oversight of the respect and responsibility policy, the league’s first gender diversity policy, anti-vilification directives, and advocating for social inclusion in broadcasts.
“At the AFL, we say we are ‘a game for everyone’ and I always saw my role as part of that story,” she said in the statement.
“The game belongs to all of us that love it and serve it, and I have been humbled to have had the opportunity to be a steward for a time.”
Hosch joined the AFL in 2016 and was the first Indigenous person and second woman to join its executive ranks.
Dillon said the AFL would continue to invest in people and programs to drive participation and engagement from Indigenous people and those from diverse backgrounds.
“We are unified in the power that sport has to shine a light on issues and make tangible change, where diversity of our participants is welcomed and celebrated, not vilified. Specifically, there is no place for racism at any level of our game,” he said.
The position of general counsel will no longer be part of the executive team, but Stephen Meade will continue in that role.
The integrity portfolio will be split from the general counsel position, and will move to the remit of the incoming COO. Fremantle chief executive Simon Garlick and Sydney CEO Tom Harley are in contention for the COO role.
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