Magpies challenger outlines coach plan, rejects ‘power and privilege’ gibe

Former Channel Nine boss and AFL lawyer Jeff Browne has hit back at a suggestion from a Collingwood vice-president that he has an agenda of “power and privilege” and revealed the three current board members that he would have retained first had he been able to strike a deal to take over the club.

Browne also revealed his view on the coaching position and Nathan Buckley, saying that he was not privy to enough information to make a call on Buckley yet but that if Buckley was not coach, the Magpies should “go your hardest” at the best available candidate.

Browne, whose bid for a peaceful takeover of the board without a full spill was rejected by the current board on Wednesday, said he was willing to put forward seven prospective board members on a ticket if members triggered an extraordinary general meeting.

Browne said current president Mark Korda carried “baggage” for the club’s mismanagement of the salary cap as chair of Collingwood’s finance committee and that Browne would not have put his hand up for the presidency had the board appointed a suitable outsider as president such as ex-premier John Brumby or ex-MCG Trust chairman John Wylie to replace Eddie McGuire.

Browne did not completely rule out having prominent ex-players, Craig Kelly and Peter Moore - both fathers of current players and Browne supporters - on his ticket. “They obviously have some conflicts (of interest), but they could be carefully managed,” he said. Kelly is Buckley’s manager.

And while he disputed vice-president Jodie Sizer’s characterisation of him having an agenda of “power and privilege,” Browne also indicated Sizer, the Indigenous woman leading the club’s Do Better report implementation, would have been one of his three preferred directors on a composite board, along with VRC boss Neil Wilson and ex-Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate.

In response to the criticism of his candidacy by Sizer, he said: “Jodie Sizer has apparently said that she wouldn’t serve on a board under me and that I came from a background of power and privilege.

“I grew up in Greensborough. I played my football in the Diamond Valley League. I was zoned to Collingwood and played in the under 19s, before moving on to play for Preston in the VFA. I was a teacher then and I was putting myself through law school working at the Bundoora Hotel to pay my way.

“That’s where I come from. I’ve gone on to have a legal career. I was the AFL’s adviser for over 20 years. I don’t see that as a hindrance - I see that as quite helpful. The salary cap rules that seem to have caused so much problem for Collingwood were significantly written by me.

“The fact that I’ve had a career in business at a high level, and the fact that I’ve had a long association with the AFL, I would have thought they were things that were relevant to the position of president of Collingwood.

“My background is far from a privileged one and, I like a lot of Collingwood supporters, have very humble beginnings.”

Jeff Browne (right), Eddie McGuire and Browne’s wife Rhonda Wyllie in 2015.Credit: Jesse Marlow

Browne was responding to Sizer’s comments on SEN and also to the (seven-member) board’s rejection of his offer to have a four-three split, with Browne taking over the presidency in a negotiated outcome.

Browne said he had not enough information to make a decision on Buckley’s future, but expressed confidence in football boss Graham Wright.

“I’ve not spoken to Nathan Buckley,” Browne said. “I’ve not spoken to anyone who’s analysed the coaching performance in depth. I do know in high performance organisations there are times when you must make a change and there are times when you must back your own people. I don’t which applies to the coaching position because I haven’t had any access to detailed information.

“But I do acknowledge that I think Graham Wright is the right person in the job and if I were involved in the club I would obviously be speaking to him very closely but as well, to Nathan.“”

On the question of what he would do as president if Buckley exited, Browne said: “You’d have to see who was available and go your hardest for the best one you could identify.”

He suggested a coach-search process would include external experts, mentioning Paul Roos and Jason Dunstall as expert advisers to other clubs. “I don’t know who, but I think that concept is a helpful one.”

Browne said he had never suggested he wanted to retain Buckley to board member Paul Licuria when the pair spoke.

Browne said he had never spoken to David Hatley, the member organising the EGM, confirming that he would put his name forward if there was an EGM with the number on his ticket “open to discussion.”

“The ultimate decision makers in relation to the Collingwood Football Club are the members, not the board. If the members want to petition for an extraordinary general meeting of the board, I’ll put my name forward.”

Browne revealed that Sizer, Wilson and Holgate would have been his preferred options in a composite board, ahead of ex-player Licuria.

“They’re the three I would welcome.

“Neil Wilson hasn’t had anything to do with the mistakes of the past. Jodie, nothwithstanding her comments about me this morning, is a good person to execute the Do Better report and I think that’s important. And Christine Holgate is a very talented executive.

Browne said it had been the “leadership vaccuum” - evident in the board’s initial sharing of the presidency, post-McGuire’s resignation, between Korda and Peter Murphy - that had led him to pursue the presidency.

“Now they settled on Mark, and here’s my problem with that - Mark was chairman of the club’s finance committee .... How could the chairman of the finance committee not know about the implications of the financial situation in relation to the salary cap?

“I don’t think he’s a natural leader, but he carries that very specific baggage that actually resulted in us showing very good footballers the door.”

Browne, asked about McGuire’s responsibility for the salary cap problems, compared to Korda, said: “The whole club needs to be accountable for that. I’ve called out Mark because ... he was was the one (director) closest to the issues that got us in trouble.”

Browne said of suggestions that McGuire, a close friend, would influence him: “He (McGuire) totally accepts that whoever is president ... should have a mandate to lead the club. He won’t seek to interfere.

“But ... if I was president and I needed some help, some background or some information, I know that I could call on him to assist. But it would be my call.”

Browne said he did not expect the current board to go into caretaker mode on the issue of the coaching position until a board contest was decided.

Browne said that, since the Korda board had rejected his proposal, “I don’t know that we have a lot to talk about.

“I’m in the hands of the members at the moment. If there is a meeting called, then I will say the things that I think need to happen at Collingwood, the things that I think I can add. And will also acknowledge that there are many good things at Collingwood - the club is in a sound financial position.

“But I can’t come out now and publish a manifesto on what I think needs to happen at Collingwood, other than to say that I think it needs a change of leadership and strong leadership.

“I think the three critical issues at Collingwood are: a lack of leadership, secondly a lack of confidence that has caused across the membership base and thirdly...the fact that it’s the members who really own the Collingwood Football Club and they should be heard.”

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