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AFL NEWS: Emotional Gil reveals why he's leaving, pundits 'shaking heads' over Brown-Ryder comparison, Elliott's Magpies exit?

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12th April, 2022
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AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has announced he is stepping down from the job at the end of the season.

McLachlan, 49, took the job in April 2014, replacing Andrew Demetriou.

McLachlan paused, seemingly close to tears, as he address a media conference.

“It’s clearly an emotional day because I spent 20 years of my life here,” McLachlan said.

“Yes, there is relief, there is regret, there is everything. But I feel very good about where the league is and I feel good about the fact that that’s the right time.

“I would like to reiterate what I said when I accepted this had role – that it is an honour and privilege to serve this game.

“Best game in the world. That’s why I have loved it so much. The responsibility has never been lost on me. I feel good that the game is in better shape now than when I took over but the scoreboard will be for the others to judge.

“I’m leaving now because it feels right. Right for the AFL, right for me, right for my family. It is clearly more complicated than that but actually in simple terms it is not. “

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AFL Commission Chair Richard Goyder praised McLachlan’s almost nine years in charge.

“From my point of view and from the Commission’s point of view, it would be correct to say that we are not happy with that decision but completely supportive of it,” said Goyder.

“Gill has always said to me that he wanted to go at the top of his game at a time of his choosing and when the AFL was in as good a shape as it can be and I think that’s fair play. And the Commission thinks that is pair play.

“He has done an outstanding job.”

Goyder said there was still much for McLachlan to achieve this year.

“What Gill has done, and it is typical of Gill, is he has committed to a significant plan for 2022 and he has committed that he and his team will do a new broadcast deal.

“We will do CBA for men and women. We will put a position to the 18 clubs on Tasmania and we will get the men’s and women’s seasons away as best we can through 2022. So it is a big agenda that he will lead.”

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He thanked McLachlan directly.

“Thank you for your leadership, your personal strength in terms of values, integrity, openness, your drive, your passion, your empathy, your decision-making and your intuition has been fantastic.

“You are one of the best people I have ever worked with and you will leave the game in much better shape on and off the field.”

There had been speculation that McLachlan would stand down during the past couple of years but he resolved to stay on as the sport negotiated the huge challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the most significant achievements during McLachlan’s time at the helm was the introduction of the AFLW competition, which will expand again to 18 teams for the upcoming season.

The South Australian joined the AFL in May 2000.

Being being promoted to CEO, his roles at the sport’s governing body included general manager commercial operations, chief operating officer and deputy CEO.

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Richmond CEO Brendon Gale — who has has overseen the Tigers’ recent period of dominance including premierships in 2017, 2019 and 2020 — and highly-rated AFL executive member Travis Auld are likely to be among the early favourites to replace McLachlan.

SEN broadcaster Gerard Whateley said McLachlan’s legacy was “two-fold.

“Clearly it’s guiding the game through the pandemic, which was unforeseen and then the most dramatic phase the game has faced in many a year,” he said.

“It was depicted as a grave threat. The set of press conferences that McLachlan did, first shortening the season, then starting that 2020 season, then halting it in the middle of the first round, the declaration to return to play, the stitching up on the finances behind the scenes, to borrow against Marvel Stadium which his administration had very cleverly purchased ahead of time and was a financial lifeline, getting the game back on, two Grand Finals outside of Victoria … and then game made it.

“Against any expectation, McLachlan’s legacy will live in guiding the game through the pandemic and doing it exceptionally well.

“And then I think the second fold will be fast-tracking AFLW. Which was a project that I’m not sure the AFL knew how to attack and McLachlan just went headlong into it to get it started. He got that competition started and got it to the full set of teams before he leaves office.

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“So much of the work he had done prior as the (second in command), he had done all the grunt work on the expansion teams, Gold Coast and GWS, and all the stadium work around that. But his time as CEO I think will be defined as leading the game through the pandemic incredibly well and with tremendous strength and building AFLW to the point where all 18 teams are on the field.”

Ryder ban decided

St Kilda ruckman Paddy Ryder has been offered a two-match AFL suspension over the bump that concussed Hawthorn youngster Will Day.

Day kicked the ball through the middle during Sunday’s match at the MCG and was crashed into late by Ryder.

The 20-year-old was helped from the field and substituted out of the match at half-time.

Ryder was on Monday charged with rough conduct, with his actions assessed by the match review officer as careless conduct, high impact and high contact.

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St Kilda coach Brett Ratten said post-match the bump looked “pretty fair” after watching replays of the incident.

But captain Jack Steele said the incident was a reminder to all players that opting to bump an opponent can lead to trouble.

“At the end of the day, I suppose, it’s a player’s choice whether they bump or not,” Steele said.

“You just can’t get them high, can’t get them in the head.

“Paddy went for the bump and it was a bit unlucky.”

St Kilda will decide on Tuesday whether they challenge the ruling.

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If suspended, Ryder will miss games against Gold Coast and GWS, with mature-age recruit Jack Hayes in line to return as his replacement.

“What we love from Paddy is obviously his tap work but his follow-up as a ruckman as well is so crucial,” Steele said.

“Being a physical player in the contest is something that he’s really good at and he makes us all walk taller when he does it.”

Day will miss Hawthorn’s Easter Monday clash with Geelong under concussion protocols.

Hawks players remonstrated with Ryder after the collision, which coach Sam Mitchell said left Day “a bit battered … a bit sore and sorry for himself”.

Melbourne forward Ben Brown will spend more time out of AFL action after he was hit with a suspension for striking Williamstown’s Max Philpot in the VFL.

Brown missed round three through COVID-19 protocols and returned via the Demons’ state league affiliate Casey.

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He kicked two goals but was found guilty of striking Philpot in an incident assessed as intentional conduct with low impact and high contact.

The two-match suspension can be reduced to one match with an early guilty plea.

Sam Weideman is likely to retain his AFL spot in Brown’s absence.

Adelaide young gun Josh Rachele was hit with a $2000 fine for striking Essendon’s Devon Smith in the same match that he earned a Rising Star nomination.

Gold Coast’s Ben Ainsworth and Carlton’s Nic Newman copped $1000 fines for wrestling each other, while Blues forward Harry McKay received a $1000 fine for staging.

Essendon midfielder Darcy Parish was fined $2000 for tripping Adelaide’s Braydon Cook.

Essendon great Tim Watson defended Ryder’s character on SEN radio.

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“I wasn’t surprised that he got cited and I wasn’t surprised that he got penalised because my understanding… is if you make contact with somebody in the head in the act of bumping then you will pay the price, which is exactly what he did,” Watson said.

“He didn’t do anything untoward, there was nothing malicious, it wasn’t vicious, I think he actually tried – at that last second – to avoid the contact.

“Day’s momentum kept coming forward, and he collected him, but the game is asking him to make a decision before that and approach it in a different way.”

Garry Lyon agreed, stating: “He had alternatives.”

“He didn’t need to do it, (but) I thought a week (suspension) would have been fine.”

The pair were upset with comparisons between punishment meted out to Ben Brown in the VFL compared to Ryder.

The Melbourne forward was suspended for two weeks for an elbow.

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With Brown able to enter a guilty plea and accept a one-match ban, Lyon believes the AFL would be angered.

“But then you see Ben Brown in the VFL, he whacks the elbow up, which is a deliberate and dangerous act, and he gets two weeks, down to one (with an early plea),” Lyon continued.

“That came in late last night, and I looked at the other two (on Fox Footy’s program) On The Couch (Jonathan Brown and Nick Riewoldt) and they just started shaking their head and that would be the reaction from most people.

“That would be the reaction from most people, Paddy Ryder got two, Ben Brown hangs out an elbow and gets one.”

Hands in back rule ’embarrassing’

Gerard Healy has called the interpretation of the hands in the back rule a “major embarrassment”.

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The rule is in the spotlight again after a contentious decision in Friday night’s game between Geelong and Brisbane, where in the dying stages of the game defender Harris Andrews wasn’t paid a free kick despite a clear push from Tom Hawkins.

Former AFL football boss Steve Hocking tightened the interpretation several years ago in an attempt to provide clarity on the rule, banning any form of hand being placed on the back of an opponent.

Healy it has now become a “major blight” on the sport.

“The ugly (from Round 4) is the continuing support I’ve heard over the weekend for the hands in the back rule,” he said on Sportsday.

“Ever since Steve Hocking changed it, it has become a major blight on the game and a major embarrassment, umpires can’t decipher what is and isn’t a push in the back and it’s the very reason the rules were changed some years ago banning any hands in the back.

“It’s more than ugly, it’s embarrassing and the rule should again be changed back to ban hands in the back.”

Elliott’s future questioned over salary cap issues

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Matthew Lloyd has questioned the future of out-of-contract Magpie gun Jamie Elliott after his latest injury.

Elliott requires surgery to repair his AC joint, injured in the Magpies’ loss to West Coast and ruling him out for the next few months at least.

He has played 64 of a possible 114 games from 2017 to 2022 and Lloyd suggested Collingwood might look to let him leave to ease salary cap pressure and help them retain Jordan De Goey.

“I wonder if he’s the one (who gets tipped out), I know Collingwood has had salary cap issues. He’s missed a lot of footy,” Lloyd said on Footy Classified.

“They need Jordan De Goey’s signature. I wasn’t so sure, but I think if it’s Elliott or De Goey, I’d now go De Goey’s way with the football he’s started with.

“I think Jamie’s age demographic, the injuries. I wouldn’t be paying overs for De Goey, I’d pay him at the right price, but they can’t afford to keep paying players too much.”

Lloyd said the Magpies should be targeting a key forward.

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“Do you prioritise and say, ‘sorry Jamie, you’re going to have to wait until the end of the year and stay on our terms because we’ve got to scour the competition for a key forward,’” Lloyd said.

Kane Cornes said a fresh start at a new club might be best for Elliott.

“It might not be a bad thing for him. I liken him to Lincoln McCarthy, who couldn’t get on the park at Geelong, and then goes to Brisbane,” Cornes said.

Other Magpies coming out of contract include Callum Brown, Darcy Cameron, Finlay Macrae, Jack Madgen, Jordan Roughead, Josh Daicos, Mason Cox, Ollie Henry, Steele Sidebottom and Will Hoskin-Elliott.

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