Robbo: Mark LoGiudice exit from Carlton was bloodless

Carlton has ensured a smooth transition of power from outgoing president Mark LoGiudice, but his reign hasn’t always been smooth sailing.

Mark LoGiudice will step down at the end of the season. Picture: Kylie Else

Three months back Mark LoGiudice had set his mind to having another three years as Carlton president.

Then he changed his mind.

Twelve years on the board and eight as president, he reflected, was ample devotion to a club that, off-field anyhow, hasn’t been in a better position in the past 25 years.

On-field, it’s been a different story.

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Mark LoGiudice had a change of heart of holding onto the top job. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

LoGiudice will depart at the end of the season, enabling a smooth transition for the incoming president Luke Sayers.

Any suggestion of a coup or bloodied showdown in the boardroom between LoGiudice and Sayers would be fanciful reporting.

LoGiudice has told friends it was completely his decision and that Sayers was the ideal replacement.

Still, considering the brutal history inside Carlton’s boardroom over many generations, many will find it difficult to believe the Blues could be so straightforward and perfunctory.

But bloodless it was.

So why the change of mind by the millionaire businessman with the lifelong love of the Navy Blues?

There wasn’t an exact moment for LoGiudice, more a bunch of moments that gave him a sense of accomplishment.

Such as eradicating the debt. When LoGiudice took over from Stephen Kernahan in mid 2014, after the club had just celebrated its 150th-year shindig, the Blues were $7.5million in debt. They now owe nothing.

LoGiudice took over from Stephen Kernahan in 2014. Picture: Michael Klein

Such as formally signing a document earlier this year that the Blues would not be an AFL-assisted club.

To no longer be on the AFL purse strings means more to LoGiudice and his board than it would to the army of Blues fans.

To escape the shadow of headquarters was uplifting and strengthening.

Such as breaking 80,000 members.

And such as completing Stage 1 of the Ikon Park redevelopment.

They are resounding ticks for the business of football.

Certainly, they can’t be ignored when assessing LoGiudice’s presidential achievements.

“Few would be aware of the enormous amount of time Mark has put into the club during his presidency,” Blues chief executive Cain Liddle said on Wednesday.

Yet, the core business is football and winning premierships and the Blues under LoGiudice have not gone close in that regard.

From the start, the Blues undertook a major overhaul of their football department staff and playing list.

It was a ground-zero approach and six years later, it’s fair to say patience has been the one constant of the rebuild.

Turmoil has dotted the landscape and the decisions surrounding that turmoil are the responsibility of the president and his board.

It began when they sensationally sacked Mick Malthouse half way through 2015 and when the club was at its lowest ebb.

Mick Malthouse was sacked as Blues’ coach in 2015. Picture:Wayne Ludbey

They appointed Brendon Bolton from the football factory at Hawthorn.

Amid the continued promise the green shoots would explode into September roses, Bolton was sacked midway through 2019.

It was another messy period for LoGiudice. A failure in fact.

His next coach, David Teague, is not delivering either and if performances don’t improve, perhaps one of LoGiudice’s final determinations will be whether Teague keeps his job.

LoGiudice would laugh at that suggestion.

At his presidential speech at the Marvel Stadium last Sunday, he said it was incomprehensible the media was attacking Carlton after only five rounds of football.

He did not talk about Teague, but he has the same disdain for Teague critics.

The rebuild also saw the appointment of Stephen Silvagni.

It was a bells-and-whistles appointment, but he too got sacked and the full story of the fallout between Silvagni and Liddle has never been fully told.

It was a dark day for LoGiudice because he was instrumental in getting SOS back to the club.

And he was a friend.

Brendon Bolton and LoGiudice at the announcement of Bolton’s sacking. Picture: Michael Klein

And LoGiudice oversaw the decision.

Hazard a guess that time was the most difficult in his reign.

A criticism of LoGiudice was that, at stages, he was the invisible president.

That he wouldn’t front the media when the Blues were struggling.

That was by choice.

Not a natural in front of the microphone, he was a businessman and decision-maker and those strengths have got Carlton to where they are today.

Eddie McGuire he was not, but he never wanted to be like McGuire.

“That’s not how I operate,” he once said.

Fair or unfair, parts of the media canned him for it.

LoGiudice departs without a premiership and that will always annoy him.

But from when he began office to now, the Blues are a far better organisation.

That’s all you can ask of your president.

As for choosing the right coach, that’s up for debate.

Blues president stands down in shock move

—Rebecca Williams

Carlton president Mark LoGiudice will stand down from his role at the end of the year, handing over the reigns to director Luke Sayers.

After eight years as president — and 12 years on the board — the Blues confirmed today LoGiudice’s tenure would conclude at the end of 2021.

Sayers was unanimously elected as president-elect at a board meeting on Monday night.

A well-regarded business leader, Sayers has been a director of the club since 2012.

LoGiudice, who took over the role as president in 2014, said he relinquished his role with full confidence in the position the club was in.

“My duties as president will continue for the remainder of the year, in which during this period I will commence an official handover to Luke,” LoGiudice said.

“Our members have entrusted me as president of their football club over the last eight years, that is a responsibility I have never taken for granted and I thank each and every one of them for their support.

“I always will be and am forever grateful for the privilege to serve the club over the last 12 years.”

Carlton President Mark LoGiudice at Ikon Park. Picture: Kylie Else

Carlton chief executive Cain Liddle acknowledged the contribution LoGiudice had made during his tenure as president, highlighting the club’s debt-free position and the redevelopment of the club’s facilities at Ikon Park.

“Few would be aware of the enormous amount of time Mark has put into the club during his presidency,” Liddle said.

“He has worked tirelessly to clear the club’s historical debt and has also been instrumental in leading what has been the biggest infrastructure redevelopment ever to occur in the club’s history.

“Importantly, we have a skills-based board with strong governance that remains committed to leading the direction and strategy of the club.

“This is largely due to Mark’s commitment in ensuring investment is made in acquiring skills-based directors for the successful execution of the club’s clear and concise strategy, and this is clearly evidenced with the appointment of Luke Sayers into the president-elect role.”

Sayers is the executive chairman of Sayers, a Melbourne-based investment and advisory company and was the CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers for eight years before that.

In 2019, Sayers was made a member of the Order of Australia for his service to business, to people with a disability and to the community.

Originally published as Robbo: Mark LoGiudice exit from Carlton was bloodless