Collingwood presidential election: Jeff Browne has vowed to reunite the club’s factions if swept to power
Pies presidential aspirant Jeff Browne has stated it’s “time for healing” after another divisive year and is determined to reunite boardroom factions if his ticket is swept to power.
Collingwood
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Collingwood presidential aspirant Jeff Browne has vowed to reunite the club’s factions and work closely with the existing board members if he and his ticket are swept to power in the Magpies’ first election in two decades.
Browne launched his campaign to gain the Magpies’ top job alongside two of his fellow ticket members – Barry Carp and Renee Roberts – at the Grace Darling Hotel on Sunday, a venue deep-seated in the club’s rich history.
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He said the Magpies’ fightback was already underway, saying the club intended to forge its own pathway in the hunt for its 16th premiership without borrowing from the blueprint of other AFL powerhouses.
“One thing I don’t want to be is like any other club, I want every other club to be like us,” Browne told the members in attendance.
He said it was “time for healing” after a divisive year, revealing he had had a fruitful discussion on Saturday with outgoing president Mark Korda, who plans to stay on the board until the end of next season.
“We are both professionals and we can work together,” Browne said. “He called me (on Saturday) to tell me about the (new) KFC sponsorship.”
“We have had a very disappointing year and I think we need to refresh our club.
“The best way to do that is to bring some new people in with new ideas, to encourage debate, to consult with the members, to build on our relationships with our sponsors.
“Renee, Barry and Christine are the right blend of combination (for the board). With that mix of ability and skills on the board, combined with the remaining board members, we will have equal to or the best board in the AFL.”
Eleven candidates are vying for four vacant seats on the Magpies’ board, with voting running from last Friday through until December 10.
Browne also told the members in attendance that:
It would “take a couple of years to get advanced on the track towards premiership success”, but the club would do everything in its power to give the players and the coaches the best resources to provide the best chance of success.
The first thing he would do if elected is to run “a listening tour” to speak with players, coaches, officials, staff and members to seek their views.
He hadn’t yet spoken with new coach Craig McRae, but was buoyed by what he had heard about his impact with the players already.
The club would be in a position in the next 12 to 24 months to start aggressively targeting the free-agency window.
One board member would sit with Legends members at every home game in an effort to get instant feedback.
He said the Grace Darling Hotel had been the scene of one of the early meetings in 1889 that ultimately helped to lead to the club’s formation three years later and was also the scene of the Collingwood Football Club’s first board meeting in 1892.
Carp and Roberts spoke about their life-long association with Collingwood as passionate supporters.
“Like everyone, we want to be premiers, we want success on field of course, but it is important to have off-field success, too,” said Carp, who is the founder of venture capital firm River Capital but whose love of Collingwood started with his idol Phil Carman.
“At the end of the day, we want to be the best club in Australia again, and hopefully I can make a contribution to that.”
Roberts, who is a financial regulator specialising in leadership, strategic and operational transformation, has followed the Magpies all of her life.
“I have been a Collingwood tragic all my life and I have also worked in corporate life for a very long time,” Roberts said. “To be able to contribute in a positive way to the future success of Collingwood and to be able to give back in a way is something I’d love to do.”
Ousted Pies director opens up on membership drama
VRC chairman Neil Wilson says he is as committed as ever to help Collingwood achieve success on and off the field after an eventful first seven months on the club’s board.
A lifelong Magpies supporter, Wilson was headhunted by an external recruitment agency to participate in an extensive director selection process earlier this year.
He was then appointed to the board in April as a replacement for former president Eddie McGuire.
But while Wilson had been assured during the interview process that his membership status guaranteed his eligibility to run for the board, it was later revealed his MCC membership nominating Collingwood as his club of choice meant he wasn’t a qualified voting member.
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That means Wilson is now one of 11 candidates vying for four vacant board positions, including would-be president Jeff Browne.
Eligible Collingwood members have until December 10 to cast their vote.
Wilson prefers to look to the future rather than what happened in the past, saying: “It’s great to see so many people showing an interest in the club by nominating for the board.”
“The only one I know well is (fellow board member) Christine Holgate, who I have enjoyed working with in the time that I have been on the board.
“My time on the board has given me even more confidence that I can contribute to the club. There are some great things going on at the club and there has been good progress with the teams, coaching positions, the ‘Do Better’ report and maintaining a strong financial position during the difficult COVID-19 impacted times.
“The members will choose the board and the board will then work out where the leadership sits. It is not about the individuals; it is about what we can do together to provide the club with everything it needs to give it the best chance for success on and off the field and court.”
Wilson was sought for the board role because of his executive expertise, including as the VRC chief executive before becoming chairman.
“I’ve been a CEO of a sporting club (the VRC), which means I have got significant experience in the operational aspects of sponsorship, membership, running big events and building infrastructure, which I think can only add value to Collingwood,” Wilson said.
He has previously been a Collingwood voting member, but in the past few years his membership had been as an MCC member with a Magpies club support package.
“I’ve been a Collingwood supporter since I opened my eyes,” Wilson said of his passion for the Pies.
“I grew up in the country listening to the footy. When I came to the city I went to Victoria Park to watch most games, and then on to the MCG when the move was made.
“It’s a great family tradition, with my mother and my children Collingwood supporters.”
He even converted his wife - once a Carlton supporter - into switching to the Magpies.
Long-time journalist and 37-year Magpies member Barrie Cassidy recently led calls for Collingwood to change its constitution by overhauling its voting rights to open up elections to all members - not only Social Club, ‘Club 5’ and ‘Legends’ members.
Of the Pies’ 80,000-plus members, those permitted to vote this year will be less than 15,000.
A number of AFL clubs, and many other major sporting clubs including the VRC, allow all members to vote in their elections.
Pies powerbroker: Why one stands alone to reinvigorate club
Collingwood past players’ president Paul Tuddenham has endorsed Magpies presidential aspirant Jeff Browne as the right person to lead the club’s 2022 fightback.
As the club’s first election in more than 20 years kicked off on Friday with voting to run through until December 10, Tuddenham emailed the database of Magpies’ past players to detail his thoughts on why Browne should be elevated to the club’s top job.
“The reality is, he’s our best option for president … full stop,” Tuddenham told News Corp. “No matter how you get there, or what his ticket looks like, or what the final composition of the board might look like … in simple terms, Jeff is the right person for the job.
“I believe that personally and I believe, that in the best interests of the past players, he is the right person to take the club forward.
“I will indicate that (belief) with an email to the past players (on Friday).”
Tuddenham, who played 40 games for Collingwood between 1987 and 1991 and whose father, Des, was a club great, has worked behind the scenes in an effort to defuse what looked like being an explosive club election for much of the year.
He has believed all along that Browne — who was the AFL’s external legal advisor for more than 20 years and is a former Channel 9 boss — was the best candidate to replace outgoing president Mark Korda.
“I think it is clear that Jeff has got the support from virtually all of the relevant stakeholders,” Tuddenham said.
“We have been working very closely with the (current) board for a number of months to try and reach a peaceful conclusion.
“While there is an election, I think Jeff’s ticket and certainly himself as an individual has the support of the existing board, whether or not that has come with a bit of push and shove.”
Tuddenham said Browne’s vision for Collingwood included:
# A better game day and engagement experience for members in the post Covid-restrictions 2021 season;
# A stronger link between past and present Collingwood players;
# A plan to remove player welfare from the AFL’s football department soft cap in order to provide the current players with the best opportunity to thrive in their careers and post-footy.
Eleven candidates will compete for four vacant board positions in the election, including current directors Christine Holgate and Neil Wilson.
Tuddenham said: “We had a really tough year and some mistakes have been made in the past. We’ve also had to deal with two years of Covid.”
“The timing is really good for us all to come together now. We have got a new coach (Craig McRae), a relatively new GM of Football in ‘Wrighty’ (Graham Wright), we have got a refurbishment of the Holden Centre, and there are a couple of new sponsors who are either on board or about to come on board.
“There are challenges that exist for us.
“It’s not the club’s fault, but the reality is with two years of Covid and with a poor year on the field this season, we need to re-engage with our members and fans.”
Tuddenham stressed player welfare was a critical area that needed to be addressed.
“The big one for us is player welfare,” he said. “The fact that current player welfare sits within the soft cap, I’ve got some concerns about.
“I think football operations and welfare need to be mutually exclusive and that more resources need to be thrown at player welfare. I’m really happy Jeff is going to do that.
“We have (1990 premiership star) Gavin Crosisca working part time at the club as the past player welfare executive and I think there is opportunity to integrate his role with the current player welfare to ensure there is a better transition from playing AFL to life after football.”
Browne unveiled his plans for Collingwood exclusively in Thursday’s Herald Sun, with Tuddenham saying the would-be president was fully committed to the role.
“The fact he is willing to commit a lot of time, to sacrifice some of his business commitments and his personal life to commit to the presidency is a fantastic thing,” he said.
“He has had to fight the fight over four or five months. He has had some criticism come his way but I have been really impressed with the way he has stayed the course.”
Board hopeful’s quirky connection with Pies hero
Former Victorian racing integrity commissioner Sal Perna wants to bring an independent voice as well as his experience in governance and integrity to the Collingwood Football Club board — if he is elected next month.
But the lifelong Magpies’ supporter also wants to see an end to the club’s 2021 boardroom dramas, maintaining they must have had an impact on the team’s on-field fortunes this year.
While he acknowledges he faces an uphill battle to win one of the four vacant slots from the 11 nominees, Perna “won’t die wondering” and intends to be an active voice for the members if voted in.
“One of the things I’ve been proud about is that I have got independence … I am not aligned to anyone (seeking a position), I don’t know anyone socially or professionally,” Perna said.
“I want to be able to reflect the fans’ views and the members’ views.
“I sit with my daughter at the football at all the Collingwood games in Melbourne and we know what it is like to be a supporter and a member. I think that’s something that is valuable on a board and if I am elected, I’ll be there to represent those views.”
Perna has had an extensive career including 20 years in the police force, corporate experience with Telstra and Australia Post and serving as the state’s inaugural racing integrity commissioner for a decade, retiring from the role earlier this year.
His work as racing integrity manager included several major investigations including those into live baiting of greyhounds, Aquanita Racing and Darren Weir.
Perna said he wouldn’t have a problem working with Jeff Browne — the man expected to be Collingwood’s next president — who is also one of the candidates seeking a position on the board.
The other nominees are current board members Christine Holgate and Neil Wilson, Browne and his preferred candidates Barry Carp and Renee Roberts as well as Amanda Cameron, Sean Callanan, Colin Moorhead, Mark Febbraio and Chris MacDonald.
Asked if he was prepared to work with Browne, Perna said: “I couldn’t see why not. I have got very good relationships with all the people I have worked with.
“Teamwork is a critical thing. We expect teamwork on the field, so I think we also should expect teamwork on the board.
“We always hear that (boardroom issues) don’t affect the players, but I am not too sure about that. I think it does.”
Perna has been connected with Collingwood — the suburb and the club — all of his life.
His parents arrived as post-war migrants, taking up residence in Brown St, not far from Victoria Park.
He and his mates spent Tuesday and Thursday nights at the ground watching their heroes at training.
“John Greening, Wayne Richardson and Barry Price used to come out before the others,” he said. “They would come up to us behind the goals. They used to show us how to kick the ball, so we could kick the ball back to them (at training).”
He wrote to Greening — one of Collingwood’s superstars of the early 1970s before a sickening off-ball incident cruelled his career — and he still has the Magpie star’s two-page reply.
Perna was later selected as Collingwood’s representative in the schoolboys’ Sun Kick in 1972 — which took place at the MCG on Grand Final day.
“A friend of mine organised for John Greening to ring me for my 40th birthday,” he said. “I didn’t believe it as I hadn’t had any contact with him since I was a kid.
“Since then, I’ve become friends with him, we ring each other on our respective birthdays.”
As a young policeman stationed at Collingwood, one of Perna’s roles was keeping an eye on the opposition cheer squad at games. He recalled: “I don’t think they liked me.”
He has been to every Collingwood Grand Final — win, lose and draw — since 1970, was a member for the first time in 1980 before police work got in the way, but has now been a Legends member for the past 20 years.
Eligible Legends, Club 5 and social club members can vote from November 19 with the final result set to be ratified by the club’s AGM on December 16.
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