‘I don’t buy that one bit’: Andrew Dillon defends AFL’s diversity at top level

The incoming AFL chief executive, who was appointed after a 12-month process, has denied the league has a “boys’ club” problem.

Andrew Dillon has been announced as the next AFL chief executive and will take the reins at the end of the season. Picture: Michael Klein

Next AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon has hit back at questions over the existence of an elite boys’ club at league headquarters, saying he wants the game to be a “safe place” for everyone.

Dillon, who was on Monday announced as the successor to Gillon McLachlan and will take over from the end of the current AFL season, says the league’s senior ranks are diverse and denied his appointment was a “jobs for the boys” style selection.

“You only have to look at the calibre of our executive team and the calibre of my football, integrity and legal team to say that there’s no boys’ club here,” Dillon said.

“We’ve got a talented, diverse workforce and everyone’s opinions are listened to and acted on. “The more diverse the talent, the better the decisions you get, so I don’t buy that one bit.”

The incoming chief executive was appointed following a 12-month search that AFL chairman Richard Goyder said was a “very, very competitive process”.

Andrew Dillon (centre) alongside AFL chairman Richard Goyder (left) and current chief executive Gillon McLachlan at the announcement of his appointment on Monday. Picture: Michael Klein

Dillon, who runs the AFL’s legal, integrity and football departments, played in six consecutive VAFA premierships for Old Xaverians in the late 1990s alongside other senior industry figures Simon Lethlean (St Kilda chief executive) and AFL head of umpiring Dan Richardson.

He began at the AFL as in-house legal counsel in 2000.

He said he wanted to foster a “culturally safe” environment across the league and make all people feel welcome.

“And as importantly, it’s got to be a safe place,” he said.

“We want to be culturally safe and also safe from a physical point of view, so we’re going to continue to put the health and safety of all our players and participants (front of mind).”

Goyder said the AFL Commission’s appointment of the league’s chief executive was “the most important decision the commission makes”.

Dillon’s appointment is a case of finding the ‘right person at the right time’ to take the reins, Goyder says. Picture: Michael Willson / Getty Images

“We are confident in Andrew we have got the right person at the right time to take us forward and guide us into what we think is an exciting era ahead,” he said.

He said the AFL had not “lost momentum” with the delay before announcing Dillon as its next leader.

“I think the most important thing is the outcome and the outcome is what we’ve announced last year,” Goyder said.

“It got announced last year (McLachlan) was going to go, towards the end of last year the Hawthorn thing (serious allegations of racism made by past players and family against senior Hawthorn figures) lobbed, we wanted to deal with that.

“There’s been a few other things that have been a priority of the AFL which have been incredibly important to the game, so I don’t think we’ve lost any momentum over the period.”

Originally published as ‘I don’t buy that one bit’: Andrew Dillon defends AFL’s diversity at top level