AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan will remain in the top job until round five next season as the league continues its search for his replacement.
League presidents were informed on Wednesday that he had delayed his departure until after the new ‘magic round’ occurs in the middle of April with AFL staff told in the afternoon.
McLachlan had indicated he would remain in the role until after the investigation into allegations against Hawthorn officials had been completed while the collective bargaining agreement and approval of a licence for a Tasmanian team are yet to be completed.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan.Credit:Getty
Goyder, who was in Melbourne for AFL executive Travis Auld’s wedding on the weekend, also told presidents that the league’s search for McLachlan’s replacement had interviewed candidates from inside and outside the AFL industry and was in a position to move to the next stage with a shortened list of candidates.
Presidents were informed that the AFL Commission would sign off on McLachlan’s successor early in the new year with AFL executives Auld, Andrew Dillon and Kylie Rogers as well as club CEOs Brendon Gale (Richmond), Dave Matthews (the Giants) and Tom Harley (Sydney) among the candidates who have been interviewed for the top job.
With the AFL making the granting of a 19th licence to Tasmania contingent on a new stadium being built at Macquarie Point in Hobart, the inclusion of a team remains dependent on federal government funding to complement the Tasmanian government’s pledge. There is no certainty as to when that funding will be secured with detail around how much revenue a new stadium would attract still to be addressed.
Negotiations around the CBA, which is expected to be a joint CBA involving AFL and AFLW players, are ongoing while the AFL investigation that followed the Hawthorn safety review is expected to end in December.
McLachlan announced he was standing down at the end of the year in April, but his tenure has stretched beyond 2022 as the job to identify a replacement, which is being run by an extensive search firm, has taken longer than expected.
The chief executive won plaudits for the way he navigated the competition through the pandemic over two years making tough financial decisions and negotiating with governments, so the competition could continue to operate.
McLachlan is overseas next week as he takes a trip that had been delayed because of the pandemic.
