Gillon McLachlan.Credit:AFL Photos
“I think it is very admirable of him to stay around and do that. It won’t be easy,but I am glad he is doing it because the competition,the industry and the clubs need him to do it.
“It will be a challenge,it won’t be easy,but if anyone can do it,it’s Gill. He has just got such an incredible mind for those sorts of things. He loves deals,he loves problem-solving. He wants to leave the game in better shape than he found it and leave a legacy.”
Loading
McLachlan has committed to stay on as CEO until the end of the year,leading the executive in negotiating a new broadcast rights deal,new men’s and women’s collective bargaining agreements,a new funding deal with clubs and a decision on a possible new 19th licence for a team in Tasmania.
Each of these issues in isolation is significant for the game but all five to be completed in months is a monumental amount of work.
Some club chiefs consider the CBA would be the most difficult piece of work,warning that the AFL Players’ Association would not be compelled to work to McLachlan’s resignation timeline and would seek to drag talks out as a tactic.
Other clubs argue that while the broadcast deal was important because it financially underpinned the economic model of the game,the most challenging deal to negotiate would be the funding arrangement with the clubs,which seeks to balance equalisation and expansion,and will confront the increased hostility of the powerful clubs,who have been spoiling for a fight with the AFL over funding imbalance.