‘Women have no place at the club other than in the pink seats at Chin Chin’: Roxanne Bennett

A Geelong identity has ignited debate by claiming women are only welcome at the Cats “in the pink seats at Chin Chin”, after the club passed over its female vice president Diana Taylor for the top job.

Geelong Cats president hopeful Diana Taylor has refused to be drawn “at this point” on whether she believes her snub for the club’s top job smacked of sexism.

The club has been lashed by high profile Geelong woman and former radio queen Roxanne ‘Roxie’ Bennett for passing over Taylor — its longtime female vice president — and giving the job to a man.

Taylor sensationally quit Geelong’s board this month after missing out on the presidency — which went instead to managing partner of the Australian arm of the global Boston Consulting Group, Grant McCabe.

She was appointed vice president in 2019 and had been on the board at Geelong since 2010.

Taylor, a lawyer, put herself forward be the club’s first female president, replacing Craig Drummond, but was not given the gig.

A spokeswoman for Diana Taylor on Friday said “at this point” she was not willing to comment further on what had occurred.

It follows a social media post to “fellow Cats lovers” by Bennett, a Cats member and pioneer AFLW member, on Thursday, strongly implying the decision was sexist.

Roxanne Bennett says it’s “beyond belief” Taylor was passed over. Picture: Supplied

Bennett blasted in her furious social media post that the decision “makes me feel like women have no place at the club (other than in the pink seats at Chin Chin!)”.

“It’s left me wondering how much progress has really been made since the days when AFL clubs were ‘just a place for the boys’ — on and off the field?

“Now we have lost her — I don’t feel that we are the greatest team of all,” she said.

A Cats’ spokeswoman told the Herald Sun that while Taylor had contributed significantly to the club over her 14-year tenure as director and vice president — and had done so with great passion and commitment — “the board conducted a thorough process to elect the next president in line with the club’s constitution”.

Bennett, who ruled Geelong’s airwaves for decades before hanging up her mic at the end of 2022, remains an influential personality and businesswoman in the Geelong region.

Melbourne restaurant icon Chin Chin recently opened a Geelong pop-up called ‘Club Chin Chin’ at GMHBA Stadium, under celebrated restaurateur Chris Lucas.

Hot pink is the signature colour used in Club Chin Chin’s decoration and branding.

Bennett says the new pink Chin Chin Club at GMHBA Stadium is about the only place women are embraced at GFC.

Chef Benjamin Cooper with Club Chin Chin menu items. Picture: Pete Dillon

Bennett — who was linked to Scale Facilitation, part of the troubled global empire of businessman and former Geelong boy, David Collard — said it was inconceivable that the club’s board had chosen not to vote for experienced and qualified Taylor as its new president, when she had put her hand up for the job.

“It’s beyond belief that they chose anyone over Diana, who this year alone was awarded the Frank Costa Community Leadership Award and the Order of Australia Medal (AM) for services to Australian Rules football and the broader community,” Bennett posted.

“Even if you put that aside, the fact that she has been the vice president of the club since 2019, combined with her experience, knowledge and connection to our club, says to me that she is without a doubt the most qualified! So what happened?”

Diana Taylor resigned after she lost out to Grant McCabe as president.

Grant McCabe will take over the Geelong presidency at the end of this year.

Announcing its choice on May 29, the Geelong Football Club said McCabe would take up the presidency at the end of the year.

“Grant has been a director of the club since 2019 and played an integral role in the club’s successful bid for an AFLW licence, leading the integration of women’s football into the club and Geelong region,” it said.

“Having grown up in Geelong, where his extended family still reside, Grant attended St Mary’s Technical School and Newcomb Secondary College before completing degrees at RMIT and Melbourne University.

“Grant is currently Managing Partner of global consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group, Australia and New Zealand, and brings a wealth of industry knowledge to the club, having also been appointed by the AFL as independent chair of the AFL Industry Governance Committee for Player Development in 2017.”

Following the announcement, Taylor said she was quitting the board.

“As a Geelong person and someone who has worked across our nation, I have developed a broad perspective for how great our club can be now and into the future,” she said.

“I had hoped to bring that perspective and my experience to the role of president. I also believe that after 165 years of club history and watching the progress of other AFL clubs, the time is right for the club to have their first ever female president.

Roxie Bennett with David Collard.

“My nomination was not successful. The board has taken an alternative direction. At this point, I consider the most appropriate step is to resign from the leadership positions that I hold with our club.”

In December 2022 Roxie Bennett said she was giving radio away because she had been “juggling on-air commitments with another part-time role with a company called Scale Facilitation, which has offices in Geelong, across Australia and New York”.

“My position recently changed to that of head of strategic relationships, and this means that I’m required to do a lot more travel and, unfortunately that’s not conducive to physically being in a studio five days a week,” she said at the time.

Originally published as ‘Women have no place at the club other than in the pink seats at Chin Chin’: Roxanne Bennett