“We have plenty of members like me. Charlie,a friend of mine,is a high country cattleman his family have been Melbourne supporters for 100 years – he does know the snow,but he rides his horse through it,not a Range Rover.”
What is as remarkable about Roffey’s leadership of Melbourne is that she took over as president when the board moved against her predecessor Glenn Bartlett a month into the season – when the team was undefeated. That is not ordinarily the time for leadership change at a club.
“You never actually think you are going to be president until the day they say ‘we need a person to step up’ ... we always had a succession plan,I talk about a succession plan for me now,” Roffey said.
“I am of the opinion,do you do it at the end of the season just because that is the time and place? I would say no,you do it because that is the right time and place. I am sure you saw Glenn’s farewell message;he was,in his own words,‘cooked’.
“I know it seems unusual,it is what it is. I am the president now ... Could I have ever dreamed I would be president of the Melbourne Football Club? Absolutely not,but stranger things have happened,I guess.”
Bulldogs president Kylie Watson-Wheeler.Credit:Darrian Traynor
By comparison,Watson-Wheeler’s rise to the presidency of the Bulldogs was part of a long-planned succession from Peter Gordon. The elevation of the Disney executive and lifelong Bulldogs fan to the leadership of the club was notable in that she is the first woman to lead the club. But she said other than that it was unremarkable that a board that is 50 per cent female should have a female president.
“I think it speaks a lot to the progress and where we are heading[to have female presidents of both grand finalists] and I think it reinforces the perspective you don’t have to be male to be a strong,collaborative,decisive leader and in the selection of the president,gender really has nothing to do with it,” Watson-Wheeler said.
“Our board is 50 per cent female and that is organic,they have all achieved their positions on the board based on their merit and their expertise,it’s never been about filling[female] quotas. When your mind is open to just finding the best people for the role,that naturally happens.”
O’Neal is the trailblazer for female AFL presidents inasmuch as she was the first woman to do so,but in the Bulldogs’ case it was a trail they were already blazing and would likely have arrived with Watson-Wheeler as president even if O’Neal had not blazed a trail first.
Loading
“My road to being president of this club was also organic,and I think that would have happened within our club with or without Peggy leading the way,” Watson-Wheeler said.
“Peggy is an enormous inspiration not only because she was the first female president,but she has weathered success and challenges with enormous grace.”
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country.Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.