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Gillon McLachlan: Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown

Expert
23rd October, 2014
30

Being top dog is never easy. The climb to the top is steep and protracted, so when you finally arrive, there is a tendency to relax, become complacent, and forget that tenacity, hard work and dedication got you there in the first place.

Gillon McLachlan played second fiddle to Andrew Demetriou for many years, having joined the AFL in 2000.

Like Prince Charles waiting on his mother to abdicate the thrown (or die!), McLachlan sat patiently in the wings.

His patience was tested. He was offered the position of CEO at the NRL, but declined the position after Demetriou reminded him of his love and commitment to AFL and amateur football. It was a shrewd ploy by Demetriou, who was aware of McLachlan’s talents.

After all, McLachlan was key in the latest AFL’s expansion on the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney. If McLachlan had accepted the job, his vision to view leagues through a national lens would have boosted the profile of NRL around the country, to the detriment of AFL, particularly in expansion areas.

It’s unclear whether Demetriou hinted that he would be leaving the position of CEO in that same conversation. But, unlike John Howard who promised Peter Costello the Liberal leadership and reneged on his word, Demetriou did step down, promised or not.

McLachlan was announced as CEO in April this year and pledged to use common sense to solve all issues that came before him.

On some fronts, he has done just that.

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The match review panel points system is being reworked over the off-season so that low-end incidents result in a fine instead of a suspension. This is sure to please players, coaches and fans alike, as transparency and common sense were two ingredients lacking far too often at the MRP in 2014.

The scheduling for the 2015 season is also sure to please fans, especially families, whose pleas for earlier night games have been heard. Saturday night games will now start at 7:20, 20 minutes earlier than in the past.

Sunday night games will be abandoned, which will please fans, as well as Eddie McGuire who cried poor several times this year. The Magpies miserly home-game attendances on Sunday evenings led Eddie to demand that the AFL cover the Pies’ losses.

It’s little wonder that the 2015 fixture is free of Sunday night games then. Eddie has a way of getting what he wants. But in fairness to the man who seems to have his finger in every (mag)pie, Sunday games just don’t work – people want to be at home, preparing for the week ahead, not at a cold MCG with little to no atmosphere.

At a time where football fans are feeling more alienated from the game than ever, McLachlan is prudent in choosing to listen and respond to the supporters.

But his prudence falls short elsewhere.

The AFL’s decision to ban the Sydney Swans from trading players unless they immediately relinquish their COLA is brash, unfair and, in a legal sense, unjust.

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In one fell swoop, the AFL have made a rule – a rule that they created and were happy to enforce – retrospective.

Imagine this as a comparison: today, it is legal to own and drive blue cars. Tomorrow, the government passes a law that says it is illegal to own and drive blue cars, and subsequently arrests every person that owns and drives a blue car.

What the government has done is punish people retrospectively, which is in complete incongruity with the foundations of the rule of law. The AFL is also guilty of this, and the Swans are wise to challenge the validity of the bans placed on them.

McLachlan has been relatively quiet regarding the Swans’ trading ban. Perhaps he knows that the AFL has overstepped the line? After all, McLachlan studied law at Melbourne University. Heck, he even graduated with Honours! He knows that retrospective laws are prima facie ultra vires (that’s legal speak for “beyond the legal power of”, but Gill knows that!).

McLachlan spent years waiting in the wings for the position of AFL CEO. Now he has ascended the throne and, perhaps, is realising that uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

I’m not suggesting that he has become recalcitrant – far from it.

McLachlan has assumed the highest position in the AFL with gusto. His willingness to listen to fans and respond accordingly should be praised. But his handling of the Sydney Swans trading ban has put a black mark on his first season at the helm.

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