Collingwood election 2021: Jeff Browne has plans for Eddie McGuire in his campaign to become Magpies president

Jeff Browne says Eddie McGuire as a big thinker. And if elected president, he has pledged to get McGuire back working in the game.

Collingwood presidential aspirant Jeff Browne says he will fight to wrestle back the club’s right to millions of dollars in AFL funds if elected to the Pies’ top job.

In launching his campaign, Browne revealed one of his first acts as Magpies boss would be to call for a review of the contentious $6.2 million football department soft cap and a reversal of $2 million distribution cuts to the league’s richest clubs.

“Strong clubs like Collingwood should not be required to hand over any of their hard won revenue to effectively repair the balance sheets of other clubs,” the former Channel 9 boss and ex-AFL lawyer told News Corp.

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“The soft cap is a tax on success. It unfairly limits the right of clubs — and the obligation of club directors — to do whatever is necessary to provide the safest possible workplace for their players.”

Magpies members will go to the polls on Friday in the first contested club election in more than two decades. Voting closes on December 10.

Jeff Browne and Eddie McGuire at a social function in 2013. The pair are long-time friends after bonding over their love of Collingwood.

In promising to give greater voice to Australia’s most famous sporting club, Browne has also vowed to:

> PUSH for experienced football people, including ex-Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, to fill two current vacancies on the powerful AFL Commission,

> DEMAND the Pies play all 11 home games at the MCG, with improved match-day facilities,

> ENCOURAGE the AFL to invest further into stadia and infrastructure.

> SUPPORT a push by rival club bosses for an independent review of the AFL structure, governance, power sharing and funding arrangements. The last review was in 1993.

Asked about the off-field scandal engulfing Collingwood star Jordan De Goey, Browne said: “I am not privy to the facts of the case and I’ve been around long enough to know that you need all of the facts and to have spoken to the people involved before expressing any definitive opinion”.

Collingwood star Jordan De Goey is currently training in the US awaiting to appear before a New York court on December 8. Picture: Michael Klein

On his support for McGuire joining the AFL Commission, he said: “Eddie’s a big thinker, has genuine passion for the game and knows first hand the pressures and demands of clubs.

“That’s the kind of knowledge and motivation we need at the very top.”

McGuire resigned in February in the wake of the release of the ‘Do Better’ report into allegations of systemic racism at Collingwood, triggering a drawn-out fight for control of the club.

“I care very deeply about the ‘Do Better’ report and am committed to implementing its recommendations in consultation with Collingwood’s anti-racism committee and board member Jodie Sizer,” Browne said.

Browne, the league’s external legal adviser for more than two decades who drafted many of the game’s salary cap and draft rules, played a key role in the 1998 deal that saw the league ultimately take ownership of Docklands Stadium.

He wants the game to invest further into stadiums and infrastructure to safeguard its financial future.

“The ability to borrow against its interest in Marvel Stadium was critical to ensuring that the competition continued as well as it did, through the COVID-19 pandemic and without the league becoming uncomfortably indebted to government or discounting an upfront sale of future media rights or other revenues,” Browne said.

Chris Mayne, middle, is congratulated on his last game by Taylor Adams, left, and Brodie Grundy at the MCG. Jeff Browne wants 11 home games at the famous ground. Picture: Michael Klein

Despite being an MCG-tenant club, Collingwood is one of several Melbourne teams forced to stage ‘home’ matches at the cross-town Docklands ground because of AFL contracts.

“Our members and supporters want to see Collingwood in action on the big stage at the MCG,” Browne said.

The chairman of investment bank MA Financial Group, Browne is encouraging Magpies members to vote three members of his ticket onto the Collingwood board — Barry Carp, the founder of venture capital firm River Capital, financial regulator Renee Roberts, and ex-Australia Post boss Christine Holgate.

Regarding the bitter boardroom brawl that pitted him against several current club directors, including outgoing president Mark Korda, Browne said: “All that is behind us now and the continuing members of the board have welcomed the nominations of Barry, Renee and myself, and of course support the re-election of Christine.

“I believe that if we are all elected — as a ticket, we will have one of the strongest boards in the AFL.”

The results of the Collingwood election will be made public at the club’s annual general meeting on December 16.

Browne is expected to be voted as president by the new-look board at a meeting immediately after the AGM.

***His campaign committee is encouraging fans to visit the website jeffbrowne.club for details of his team and their vision for the future.

Browne’s life and work intertwined with footy

Jeffrey Browne always had a thirst for a footy fight.

As a hot shot young Melbourne lawyer in the early 1980s, he took on the then VFL Commission acting for players including Gerard Healy, Justin Madden, Peter Moore and Kelvin Templeton, who wanted greater ability to move between clubs.

“The VFL had an antiquated system that required clubs to pay transfer fees for players they wanted to recruit and the thinking was that the system had survived for as long as it had and it didn’t need to change,” Browne reflected this week.

“After despising me for those courtroom battles, which inevitably lead to players being more able to move to the club of their choice, the VFL asked me to help design a draft and new version of the salary cap, which I did.”

For a time, Browne was advising the VFL and running his own private practice representing players and clubs until Jack Hamilton, the league’s general manager, called to complain about a colourful doctor in Sydney, who was disrupting the competition by pinching players and soliciting them to join the Swans.

Browne represented players, including Collingwood legend Peter Moore, in a legal stoush with the then-VFL.

“Unfortunately, I had to decline Jack’s request to assist, and inform him that Dr Geoffrey Edelsten had already retained me to advise him on how to obtain those players,” Browne said.

“It became apparent that I could not continue to work both sides of the fence and in 1985, the VFL Commission and I agreed on an exclusive retainer for me to act solely for the league and no longer any players or clubs.”

As the league’s external legal adviser for more than two decades, Browne played a crucial role in the formation of the national AFL competition.

He was involved in refining the salary cap and preparing the draft rules, “so that if challenged, we could resist a claim that this new system constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade” and was asked to “prepare agreements for the competing clubs to contract with the league, on such things as abiding by the rules, accepting the authority of the newly formed Commission and giving the central body the right to market the clubs and the competition using the traditional names and logos of the clubs”.

“That was fundamental to realising CEO Ross Oakley’s push to improve the revenues from the commercialisation of the league, something he ushered in with great success.”

Browne was involved in the entry of both the Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles into the league.

Browne helped negotiate the entry of the West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears, was front and centre in a string of TV rights negotiations and sponsorship arrangements, collective bargaining deals with the players’ union and the redevelopment of the MCG.

“The AFL was able to establish facilities for Australian football, equal to or better than anywhere else in the world,” Browne said.

“Those achievements were extremely satisfying and quite fundamental to the strength the competition enjoys today.”

But in 2005, he jumped the fence to run the Nine Network, on the other side of the TV rights table.

“At our peak we employed over 2000 people at Nine and my time there taught me to respect, value and blend creative and managerial input, and the overriding importance of the right, values-based culture, in delivering optimum performance,” he said.

Browne grew up in Greensborough, Collingwood’s recruiting zone, and was good enough to play under 19s for his beloved black and white in the early 1970s.

“I played with Phil Manassa, Shane Bond and Geoff Walsh, but at the time I was studying at university and not really dedicated enough to make it through to the seniors,” he said.

He went on to play for Preston in the VFA alongside a young Ray Shaw and a gangly Craig Stewart.

Browne played in the VFL with Ray Shaw and Moore worked under him for a time.

“When I eventually became a qualified lawyer my first articled clerk — a position undertaken for a year by young university law graduates — was Peter Moore, who trained with me as a lawyer and together we began the foray into sports law and football in particular,” Browne said.

“Early on in my legal career I met Eddie McGuire and we began our lifetime friendship when he was a cub reporter attending tribunal hearings at the old AFL House.

“The thing we shared and continue to share in common, was our love of the Magpies and I was there when Eddie reached agreement with (president) Kevin Rose to take on the leadership of the club and begin the build into the powerhouse the club became.

“I have always been around Collingwood — all my life — and if given an opportunity to contribute to the club now, my sole objective will be to deliver new and enduring success from and the rich tradition that distinguishes our club from all others, anywhere in the world.”

McGuire’s sudden resignation in February opened the door for Browne to make his own run at the top job.

“Many didn’t know what the club would look like without Eddie after 23 years,” Browne said.

“There was mounting pressure on the coach after a series of disappointing losses and there appeared to be uncertainty around who would be the president, when it was shared for a while.

“I was approached by people who knew my love of the club and was urged to become involved. It really just developed from that, but the more I met good Collingwood people along the way, the more I felt a responsibility to at least put my hat into the ring.

“I knew that a renewal would need more than me, so I carefully selected Barry (Carp) and Renee (Roberts) from a host of others who I could have comfortably chosen, to join with me to help deliver a fresh start for 2022.

“I know of the work Christine Holgate has done and I truly believe that with Christine returned, Barry, Renee and I can deliver a great mix of skills and experience, at least the equal of any other board in the AFL.”

Browne and former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire bonded over the Pies.

As for the bitter board stoush that overshadowed this season, Browne said: “We should all look forward now and grasp the opportunity to achieve a significant refresh of the board.

“It is a peaceful settlement and an exciting time for the members of our great club and while other nominees have come forward, a vote for myself, Barry, Renee and Christine will deliver the best outcome.

“To the others who have nominated, I intend to speak with each of them individually to see, if they are not elected, how they can nevertheless contribute to the club in a meaningful way.”

The chairman of investment bank MA Financial Group and father of three, including Channel 7 news hound Tom Browne, said he wanted “Collingwood to be successful, but before ultimate success we will need to learn to celebrate effort”.

“Each of our men and women footballers and our netballers need to leave nothing on the field or the court,” Browne said.

“They have to do their best and if they do, they will improve and inspire others around them to improve. That is what team sport does.

“I am a huge fan of the great rugby league coach, Wayne Bennett.

“Wayne preaches the virtue of making athletes whole people, proud and productive at whatever they do. High-quality human beings who see victory in beating themselves.

“By supporting our athletes with proper mentoring, personal development and life skills programs, in a culture of mutual respect and confidence, honesty and integrity, we will ensure high and enduring sporting achievement, the ultimate measure of which is winning premierships.”