Mark Robinson probes outgoing AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan on the biggest issues during his tenure
Gillon McLachlan has seen plenty in his time as AFL CEO, and before he hands over footy’s top job, McLachlan sits down with Mark Robinson to talk his tenure, and what the future may hold.
Gillon McLachlan has held footy’s most powerful and scrutinised position since 2014, overseeing some of the most controversial moments in the league’s history, as well as steering the competition from the doldrums of the Covid-19 seasons.
After a prolonged farewell tour, the AFL CEO called his final Brownlow Medal on Monday night and after this weekend’s grand final, McLachlan will hand the job over to Andrew Dillon.
Ahead of his last grand final as the head honcho, McLachlan sat down with Mark Robinson to reflect on his time in footy’s hottest seat.
Mark Robinson: Mark the taxi driver drove me here and I asked him to rate your tenure out of 10. And he knows more people than we do because he sees the cross sections of society. Anyway, he gave you eight out of 10. He didn’t give you a 10 because he said everyone makes mistakes. Do you agree?
Gillon McLachlan:I don’t have regrets.
MR: Not regrets, mistakes.
GM: I have apologised. I got a press conference wrong around Adam Goodes when I tried to nuance.
In the press conference. There are pieces of language here and there and in press conferences because they are so public … they’re the things that jump to my mind, where you say you’d like to have your time again or say again. But the decision making that accumulates over time to end up where we are here, I’m comfortable.
MR: Has the sense of finality hit yet?
GM:This week. There were things I had to get done and now, it’s very real and you know you’re going to miss so much of this job. But it’s time.
MR: What will you miss the most? The game? The people? The thrust and parry of negotiations?
GM: I’m not going to be lost to the game so I won’t miss the game because I’m still going to go. And I’ll be involved inat community level.Number one, two, and three are the people. I’ve had an incredible team. I’ve been there so long, I’ve hired most of them and are friends with lots of them. That’s the biggest loss for me by some margin. Clearly, there’s different parts of the privilege and responsibilities of this role that you’ll miss, that you actually get to shape the agenda, so when you have that position, when you’re responsible for this game, and when it works and goes well the highs are pretty significant. And right now, and to Mark your taxi driver’s point, hopefully some of the decisions made over the journey says that things are going pretty well.
MR: We spoke last Saturday morning before you got to the airport, and you then stole the line “this is the greatest show on earth’’ and used it on Brownlow Medal night.
GM: What (laughing)?
MR: We spoke about it on Saturday morning and you nicked it.
GM: The game is out of control. And that’s why I referenced it Monday night — Berlin, London, New York. Big sports towns and they can’t compete with what we’ve got going here. No sport in my view could compete with what we’re delivering in terms of connection, passion, energy, entertainment, out of body experiences, totally giving people real purpose in their life.
MR: How much of a role do you think footy has played in re-energising the city and the state, after Covid?
GM: I’m biased, but I personally think significant, at community level and at the elite. I’ve been in this game a long time and I’ve never seen anything like this season and I’ve never seen the passion of these finals. We had four night finals at MCG averaging 95,000 with a margin of four points and just pulsating stuff. And that flows through everywhere. People bouncing into work, bouncing into coffee shops, the heart beat of this town is back and footy is right in the middle of that.
MR: Under your watch, we lost footy because the coaches smothered the game with defence. But under your watch we got footy back as a spectacle.
GM: I can’t credit Steve Hocking enough. He was hired with a singular purpose and that was to open this game up. I said I’d support him wherever he wanted to go, but there’s only one condition — no additional lines on the ground, no visible changes. He went all in and, you know, you get that from a guy who lived and breathed it. And who hadthe courage to make the decisions.
MR: Most people like you, but there’s a small group which doesn’t. Is that just part of the business of being a leader, and do you take it personally?
GM: You have to make hard decisions and I accept the responsibility of that.
MR: There have been human casualties during your tenure. Adam Goodes, Hird right or wrong, Dean Bailey.
GM: I said this to a group of people yesterday, the hardest part about this role is being a regulator. But the minute you walk past a difficult decision, two minutes later you’re dead. That’s the hardest part because there’s people involved, real people.
MR: How did you deal with the fact people were hurt on the way through?
GM: You have to ultimately try to treat everyone with respect, get all the information,and make the right decisions and they’re not easy.
MR: Have you lost friends?
GM: Certainly relationships get strained and that’s part of the price.
MR: Ever listen to the radio and hear someone having a crack at you? Do you smile or take on board?
GM: I don’t really put huge weight in talkback on social media. I go to a lot of football, I’m very public, I walk around and the crowd is very generous to me. And what I do know is you know when things are not going so well.
MR: What do you envision the game to be in, say, 2035? Playing it and watching it?
GM: For the supporter, access will be ubiquitous. Hopefully it’s affordable, accessible in the best facilities in the world, stadiums full with a cross section of our communities, the biggest sport in Queensland and running down NRL in New South Wales. I’m certain it will happen. With the investment we’re making into community and game development, it’ll be hard to stop from here with the deals we’ve got.
MR: Always enjoyed the media side of your job?
GM: It’s part of the job, I never really thought about it. I like it when people care, and there’s not an agenda before the whole thing starts. I enjoy it when people are passionate and care about the game.
MR: Have you been a fair CEO? You protect the game, but have also been open-minded about other people’s positions or views?
GM: I think so. I don’t think I’m defensive. But if you’re not right more than wrong, how do you do the job? You won’t survive. You’re dead.
MR: Why does the AFL not punish its senior people in football. Eddie McGuire and Jeff Kennett for their comments, for example, yet fans are turfed all the time for bad behaviour?
GM: I understand what you’re saying. I don’t agree but I understand. I think there’s accountability set everywhere in our game.
MR: What does AFLW look like in 2035?
GM: I hope that it’s profitable in a decade, profitable, standing on its own two feet, filling venues, and inspiring lots of girls to choose that as a career.
MR: Profitable? Currently, it’s taking a lot of money from the game?
GM: It doesn’t have to be (profitable), but if it is profitable it means there’s growth. Some people’s response might be that it’s all about the money, but it’s not. The game is growing, the support is growing, the broadcast is growing. It doesn’t have to be profitable, but that’s the aspiration.
MR: What’s AFLW done for young girls?
GM: I’ve always hoped the joy and the lessons of football would be there for my girls as much as my son and they get that now. I get great pride when they have a kick in the park. I was driving to school the other day and my two girls were discussing the Maynard incident and they both had alternative views. They were absolutely unequivocal on whether Maynard should’ve been suspended. So, that’s amazing. My girls go with 10 mates to the MCG, they like it.
MR: Are you going to become chairman of Racing Victoria?
GM: I’m not making any decisions about my life here.
MR: Why is everyone so inquisitive about your future?
GM: I don’t have an answer. But it won’t be boring. I know this stuff will never be able to be replicated, but I’ve had it, and others can judge, but I feel the game is in rude health. I feel the supporters love the game more than ever.
MR: So, what are you going to do?
GM: You’re persistent.
MR: Taxi driver Mark said you had the best job in Victoria, albeit there’ve been some huge challenges. The Melbourne tanking story and the Essendon drugs saga were happening when you started. They were torrid days.
GM: Covid was brutal.
MR: You don’t want to talk about Melbourne and Essendon? You did say at the time that you “didn’t even know what tanking was’’. Remember that?
GM: Yeah, you’d like some words again.
MR: Are you absolutely confident Tasmania will get up?
GM: Yes.
MR: Absolutely guaranteed?
GM: There’s no guarantee. You asked me if I was absolutely confident and I said yes. This is a deal where we’ve raised a billion dollars, the federal, state and the AFL. A conditional licence has been issued. Look at South Australia, no one wanted the Adelaide Oval to be redeveloped and now that’s part of the state and changed it economically. I believe the same thing will happen in Tasmania and if a government doesn’t want to go ahead, there won’t be a licence and it will be a huge loss. I believe there will be strong enough leadership to prevail.
MR: When do you actually walk out the door?
GM: 5pm on Monday, after a few drinks with staff.
MR: Sad day or happy day?
GM: Everything. It’s a certainty I will get emotional.
MR: Did you sleep easy through your tenure? Is it true you could survive on four, five, six hours a night?
GM: I’d like to sleep more if I was honest.
MR: Two years ago, we were in lockdown, the footy was rubbish, no one could watch it, and look at the footy now. Describe the transformation?
GM: The roots were well down before Covid. There are two parts about that. All the changes we’ve made through equalisation from 2014, ’15 and ’16 translated through, then in ’17, ‘18 and ’19 we had record crowds. There were a lot of changes. Making it affordable and cheap. Remember the first interview I did with you in 2014? I came out and said I’m going to reduce all the prices and you asked me what the price of a pie was. And I said, at which venue (laughing). Anyway, all those roots were down and then it was just an incredible effort by so many people and our supporters to get through Covid. And all those changes we made through Covid have come together now and it’s all peaking.
MR: If you were to write a book, what would you name it?
GM: What I Really Think
MR: It would probably be a bestseller. Thanks Gill, enjoy life.
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