Hawthorn board: President Jeff Kennett walks back promises as Hawks executive faces divide

Hawks director Richie Vandenberg said he didn’t want Jeff Kennett’s transition to distract the team. But that may be difficult now. Go inside the Hawks boardroom stoush.

Jeff Kennett had pledged to stand down before the end of his term — but will he? Picture: David Caird

Hawthorn is set for another season of damaging boardroom distraction after president Jeff Kennett is alleged to have walked back a deal that saw premiership player Andy Gowers relinquish a board challenge.

Gowers was set to nominate for the Hawthorn board last year but, after being told by Kennett he would be the chair of the independent nominations committee, he agreed to a cease fire.

On Monday night, Kennett, instead, sought to elevate Hawks vice president and key ally Peter Nankivell to the post, with the nominations committee to play the defining role in deciding Kennett’s successor.

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News Corp understands Kennett also suggested he might stay on longer as president than previously indicated, despite his stated succession plan playing a key role in easing tensions last year.

Kennett has suggested the committee should report back to him on a successor by no later than June 30 this year, but is yet to make clear he will step down before his tenure finishes at the end of 2023.

Jeff Kennett had pledged to stand down before the end of his term — but will he? Picture: David Caird

He has said only that when the committee makes a decision he will then chart the course for a succession plan.

The decision has again mobilised the Hawks for Change lobby group, which played a key part in elevating former Australian Super boss Ian Silk onto the board last December.

It is believed former football director and 1991 premiership player Gowers would have easily been voted in given popular fan support.

He would not have stood down from that process if he knew the nominations committee chair deal would be so quickly withdrawn.

The messy handling of the Alistair Clarkson-Sam Mitchell succession plan has caused considerable unease in the Hawthorn membership base, which the Hawks for Change movement successfully tapped into.

The group refused to comment on Thursday but is likely to make their public position clear in coming days ahead of what shapes as a certain turf war over the club’s levels of governance.

Hawks director Richie Vandenberg told News Corp on Monday the board did not want to make Kennett’s transition a distraction to the team’s on field fortunes.

Andy Gowers is a premiership player who had planned to run for the Hawks’ board.

But an ongoing squabble over the timing of Kennett’s removal and who chairs the nominations committee would be the worst possible outcome for new coach Mitchell.

Kennett told the Herald Sun on Thursday the succession plan was still on track.

“I would have thought so. I can’t go into any detail but what we have outlined is in train,” he said.

Asked when he would make way for a new president, he replied: “We have just got to let the process run its course. I can’t give you a day or a time, but the process is in place.”

Hawks for Change made clear in December it expected Kennett to stick to his timeline and move on quickly after June 30.

“Hawks for Change notes the comments of current president Jeff Kennett,” it said in a statement.

“We at Hawks for Change have undertakings that 30 June 2022 is the final date for the nominations committee to report, and the board will promptly act on that recommendation.

“It is our expectation that Jeff Kennett and the board will honour those expectations.”

Originally published as Hawthorn board: President Jeff Kennett walks back promises as Hawks executive faces divide