The discussion surrounding the next AFL CEO has gone “deathly quiet”, with SEN’s Andy Maher questioning what’s playing out behind the scenes.
McLachlan dropped a bombshell when announcing in April that he would be standing down at the end of the year, giving the AFL commission plenty of time to search for his successor.
But talk of the next AFL CEO has dried up. It’s now expected McLachlan will stay on into the new year – and perhaps longer – to resolve numerous issues impacting the game.
“Now I understand Gil’s tenure is being extended because of the Hawks review… but this has gone deathly quiet,” Maher said on SEN’s The Run Home.
“It’s a reasonably significant appointment, about three or four months ago (there were plenty of discussions)… it’s absolutely fallen off a cliff.”
Along with the Hawks investigation, McLachlan will also want to have Tasmania’s 19th license and the subsequent stadium deal finalised before he leaves AFL House.
There was no clear standout to be McLachlan’s successor. Numerous names from the AFL have been floated alongside several club CEOs.
Richmond CEO Brendon Gale was among the original frontrunners. But with his name seemingly not mentioned in recent speculation, Maher can’t understand why the former AFL Players’ Assocation CEO isn’t a clear front-runner.
“This is what I can’t understand. I maintain that Brendon Gale is absolutely cherry ripe, taylor-made ready,” Maher stated.
“The background is perfect. The experience is perfect. The timing is perfect. He is a strong presence, you need someone who can stand up and present, particularly off the back of Gillon McLachlan, that is one of his great strengths.
“It feels like there’s a reason for why some people, I suspect people on the commission don’t think Brendon Gale is right or has rubbed a few people the wrong way.”
Gale is reported to have drawn the ire of the AFL hierarchy for numerous Richmond indiscretions during the 2020 season up in Queensland where the Tigers ultimately won the premiership.
But Maher says that Gale defending his club is instead an admirable quality that should be utliised by the AFL.
“You hear some stories about the Tigers up in the bubble (in Queensland). If he’s advocating for his footy club and that upset a few people along the way because he was fighting hard for what Richmond wanted, that’s his job, he’s supposed to be doing that,” he continued.
“I would have thought (that’s an admirable quality).
“I presume he’s up for the job. If he wanted it, if they thought he was the right man, he'd have it now. It feels like they’re swirling all over the place trying to find somebody else when the right bloke, seemingly, is right there.
“It’s very, very odd.”
Gale has been Richmond CEO since 2009. President Peggy O'Neal will step down in November.
The Hawks investigation is hoped to finish by Christmas while the funding pieces are slowly coming together for Tasmania’s new stadium that would see a 19th license granted.