Richmond president Peggy O’Neal’s term is coming to an end.

Richmond president Peggy O’Neal’s term is coming to an end.Credit:Simon Schluter

Fast-forward almost a decade and O’Neal’s incredibly successful time at the helm of the club — an era that has produced three premierships and more than 100,000 members five years in a row —comes to an end this season. Sunday’s match against Hawthorn is her final time hosting an AFL president’s function,and she spoke withGood Weekend Talks in advance,about sexism and racism and mind games,but also her origin story,including getting her professional start as the first female lawyer at a top firm in Charleston.

“You feel a keen sense of responsibility because how you act may kill the opportunity for someone else,or open it up,” she says. “I’ve said before that when you’re only the only woman in the room,you’re all the women in the world.”

That was especially true later in football. O’Neal expected her role as president to be chairing the board and dealing with stakeholders,but was quickly taken aback by the ambassadorial part of the job — all that time spent glad-handing and schmoozing.

She was fearful,too,of finishing her time at Richmond without other women coming through,yet five of nine directors there now are women,while the league also boasts three other female presidents inKate Roffey (Melbourne),Kylie Watson-Wheeler (Western Bulldogs) andSonja Hood (North Melbourne).

In a wide-ranging podcast episode hosted byGood Weekend senior writer Konrad Marshall,the pioneering O’Neal spoke of the platform of financial stability Richmond pledged to establish before their rise up the ladder,as well as the famous 2016 gap analysis and football review that led the club to explore a new leadership model,eschewing “command and control” in favour of personal connection.

“Right away,early in 2017,I started hearing people talk differently,about how ‘It’s great to come back to work’ and ‘I really want to be there’,and I’m sure in 2016 people were going,‘How soon can I get out of here?’”

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The entire experience of helping run a footy club in Melbourne has been an eye-opener for O’Neal,who also chats about everything from the importance of relocating the Richmond Cricket Club away from Punt Road Oval (one of her proudest achievements at Tigerland) to her early education,reading books and learning about the wider world from inside a two-room school house in a coal-mining town in West Virginia.

“I’d never seen an ocean at that point. But I became very,very curious about the big world outside. Where I grew up,there was a very narrow worldview,” she says. “But at the same time,as with country people — or people who don’t live in big cities all over the world — you learn how to make do,you learn how to be pretty self-sufficient. You learn that there’s a community that helps you achieve things,and that at times,you’re called on to help,and at other times,you need to ask for help.”

Peggy O’Neal,the lone woman president among club leaders in 2016.

Peggy O’Neal,the lone woman president among club leaders in 2016.Credit:Pat Scala

She drew on the lessons of that past,in a way,during those early public attacks over her leadership gig,and kept right on going — thinking about fighting back but also remembering the advice of a friend:“They’ve invented a play,and they’re finding a part in that play for you. Some days you’ll be the villain,and some days you’ll be the hero. And it has nothing to do with who you are as a person.”

Good Weekend Talks offers readers the chance to dive deep into the definitive stories of the day,exploring the events and individuals capturing the interest of Australians,through weekly conversations,with an array of special guests. Listen to more episodes by subscribing to Good Weekend Talks wherever you get your podcasts.

To read more from Good Weekendmagazine,visit our page atThe Sydney Morning Herald,The Age andBrisbane Times.

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