John O’Neill, David Gallop and Richard Colless in frame for Sport Australia job
Several big name administrators including have thrown their hat in the ring to be the next chair of Sport Australia.
Some of Australia’s most decorated sports administrators, including former rugby boss John O’Neill and rugby league chief executive David Gallop, have emerged as leading candidates for the Sport Australia chair role from a field of 33 applicants.
The Australian understands O’Neill is in the running due to his leadership record, which saw him elevate Australian rugby into a golden era and then doing the same for soccer at the Football Federation of Australia, and his ability to build a much-needed professional bridge to one of Australia’s most powerful men in sport – John Coates.
O’Neill has been friends with Olympic chief Coates for more than 40 years.
The Olympic boss and previous Sport Australia chair John Wylie had a long-running, and at times, explosive feud.
O’Neill has a resume which includes securing the hosting rights for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, taking Australian rugby into a bumper professional era as well as being at the helm of the FFA when the Socceroos made the World Cup (2006) for the first time in 32 years. He is also currently the chair of The Star Entertainment Group and is on the Brisbane 2032 Olympic bid leadership team.
Gallop is a candidate for chair who comes with an unmatched understanding of Sport Australia, having been on that board for eight years and in that time acting as its interim chair.
Gallop too has been at the helm of two of Australia’s biggest sports. The lawyer, a long-serving former National Rugby League CEO and FFA boss, is well regarded in sporting circles and is eager to secure the role to help steer Australian sport. Former Swans chairman Richard Colless, who notably served the club for 20 years overseeing its growth to become one of the AFL’s most respected and successful outfits, has also been mentioned as an applicant for the role.
However, senior sources within Sport Australia have told The Australian “it’s time” for a woman to chair the government sporting body.
Overseeing the appointment of the next Sport Australia chair are former Olympic swimmer Sam Riley, Paralympic champion Louise Sauvage, former Matildas vice-captain and lawyer Moya Dodd, department of health associate secretary Caroline Edwards and the committee is being chaired by formed minister for sport Warwick Smith.
Many distinguished women have emerged as possible replacements for Wylie including the accomplished Gabrielle Trainor, an AFL Commissioner and current Sport Australia board member, but she is understood not to have applied due to time constraints.
Minerva co-founder and Suncorp chair Christine McLoughlin was short-listed but didn’t apply because of time commitments.
Diane Smith-Gander, who has strong sporting governance experience, is another applicant. She has previously served as chair of Basketball Australia, the then Australian Sports Drug Agency and the NBL Commission of Basketball Australia, as well as playing state basketball. One of the key focuses by the new chair will be ushering Australian sport through the COVID-19 pandemic and next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Beyond that, there will be a focus on the Brisbane bid for the 2032 Olympics.
It’s clear one of the top priorities is reviving the relationship with Coates. Tensions peaked between Wylie and Coates when former Hockeyroos player Danni Roche challenged for the AOC presidency in 2017. Coates said Roche’s candidacy was driven by Wylie to exert influence over the Olympic movement.
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