If there is a theme to this year’s Movers and Shapers list, it is the new order taking shape at AFL House as Andrew Dillon settles into his first year as chief executive.
The winds of change haven’t just blown through the AFL ... there is a freshness to this year’s list as well.
Some longstanding familiar names are gone and some fresh faces have joined us. See you later, Gill. Bye-bye, Buddy. And welcome to you, Nick Daicos.
See 50-41 HERE.
See 40-31 HERE.
See 30-21 HERE.
See 20-11 HERE.
See 10-1 below:
10. LEWIS MARTIN
Seven Melbourne general manager, head of sport
Last year: -
The TV rights extension is locked away and kicks into gear next year, so the partnership between the game and its free-to-air broadcaster is his to manage. Full streaming rights on 7plus will start on Brownlow night. There was a bit of self-congratulation around the earlier start to Friday night footy, but bringing it forward by 10 minutes to 7.40pm is not enough.
9. PAUL CONNORS
Player agent
Last year: 13
The empire has diversified with Nick Gieschen (see page xx) and Robbie D’Orazio both powerful player managers in their own right. But in addition to having the deepest list of stars in the competition under his umbrella, Connors is also at the forefront of the dizzying changes to the game’s list management rules, with the mid-season trade period being next on the agenda. He is a key figure among the powerful Old Xaverians network in football and the AFL listens to what he says.
8. ANDREW IRELAND
AFL commissioner
Last year: -
One of the most respected figures in the game, the former Collingwood defender joined the Commission late last year having served both the Lions and the Swans with distinction as chief executive. His experience at club level as well as in the northern states will provide welcome and much-needed wisdom and perspective around the Commission table and he is already being discussed as the next AFL chairman of the AFL. He would be a wise choice.
7. CRAIG KELLY
Collingwood chief executive officer
Last year: 16
Long considered to be Eddie McGuire’s replacement as Collingwood president, he instead chose to become its chief executive and is already leaving his mark as the Magpies cash in on last year’s flag. He is not afraid of the tough calls, with shutting down the netball team being a case in point, and he is big on innovation and backing his people. Allowing footy boss Graham Wright to take the season off is a brave call but one of a club confident in its people and processes.
6. RICHARD GOYDER
AFL Commission chairman
Last year: 5
The AFL delivered a beautiful set of numbers across all the key metrics in 2023, but it was nonetheless a difficult year for the chairman as he faced widespread industry criticism for the drawn-out process to find a replacement for Gillon McLachlan – and when he did, convincing McLachlan to delay his departure until the end of the season, which created a flow-on effect of holding up other key appointments, especially in the under-resourced football department. Given there was no real succession planning around McLachlan’s departure, the industry is now watching to see what Goyder has planned for when he steps down.
5. PATRICK DANGERFIELD
Geelong captain, AFLPA president
Last year: 7
The most recent CBA negotiations were hard-fought – they always are – but the players walked away with a brilliant outcome that didn’t leave anyone at the League gnashing their teeth in anger. There were reports last year that Dangerfield was under consideration for a place on the AFL commission while still an active player … it was a preposterous idea, but it was not entirely discounted given his close ties to the League. The Cats will be a huge focus this year with the end to his brilliant career in sight, but post-football he could branch into any direction he wishes.
4. KYLIE ROGERS
AFL Executive General Manager – Customer and Commercial
Last year: 10
Corporate Australia is in full-bloom love with footy and it is Rogers and her team who cultivate that interest and turn it into revenue worth more than $400 million. During 2023 she added managing the League’s relationship with its broadcast partners to her existing role overseeing Marvel Stadium, commercial partners and customer focus. She reportedly knocked back the Hawthorn chief executive role last year and while Dillon has just started as AFL boss, Rogers is right in the frame to one day replace him.
3. LAURA KANE
AFL executive general manager – football
Last year: 12
Her rise through the ranks of football administration has been meteoric. It was only in 2016 that she gave up law to run women’s football and talent pathways at North Melbourne. She has performed brilliantly every step of the way and her appointment as the AFL’s football supremo during last year’s finals – having held the role on an acting basis for much of the season – was widely applauded. She has since surrounded herself with a crack football operations team and is not afraid to speak her mind and set firm direction. She didn’t like Brayden Maynard getting off at the tribunal for his clash with Angus Brayshaw and has acted swiftly to close that loophole.
2. PAUL MARSH
AFL Players Association chief executive
Last year: 2
The $2.2 billion collective bargaining agreement reached between the AFL and the players last year was an incredibly complex piece of work and to get there, Marsh had to go on a journey to better understand the women’s game and overcome some of the mistrust that had emerged. That he was able to do so speaks volumes for the type of sports labour executive he has become – one of the best in the world. He has now guided the players through a pandemic as well as two CBA negotiations, and he is already thinking about the third.
1. ANDREW DILLON
AFL Chief Executive Officer
Last year: 3
Yet again, the AFL announced a “global search” for its new chief executive, only to choose the person sitting in the next office. There isn’t much Dillon hasn’t been across at the AFL since he joined in 2000, but it was especially as legal counsel, game development and football operations where he shone and charted the path to the big chair at AFL House. He will be a different CEO to McLachlan. He is not as gregarious and it is hard to see him trading barbs with Mick Molloy and Sam Pang on The Front Bar, but he is one of us, a rusted-on football person and an amateur footy champion who also coached women’s footy at grassroots level for years.
