It was an extended, exhaustive search that ended when Gillon McLachlan stepped into the workplace subsequent to his at AFL headquarters and requested Andrew Dillon if he would do him the honour of being the following AFL boss.
Greater than a yr after McLachlan introduced he was standing apart after arguably probably the most profitable stint a CEO has had sitting atop the purple leather-based throne at Docklands, the AFL has lastly settled on handing the job over to the league’s govt common supervisor soccer operations, or in non-corporate communicate, one of many different massive canines already on the chief govt committee.
Dillon represents a protected alternative.
He has wandered the halls of AFL Home for greater than 20 years and understands higher than anybody else the pitfalls and booby traps of working the largest sporting competitors within the nation.
However who’s Andrew Dillon? And was he the precise alternative for the job?
Regulation and order on the AFL
There are few paragraphs that sum up Dillon higher than the opening traces of his profile on the AFL web site.
“Has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Legal guidelines from the College of Melbourne and a post-graduate diploma in Utilized Finance and Funding from the Securities Institute of Australia.”
If these phrases make you consider a clean-cut bloke in a swimsuit with a non-public faculty background, you would be proper.
Dillon spent a while within the mid-90s at your normal “three-surname-titled legislation agency”, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, earlier than transferring to Village Roadshow in 1997 as their in-house authorized counsel, and becoming a member of the AFL in 2000 to do the identical gig.
From there, he rose by the ranks of the league in authorized and growth roles that noticed him achieve a variety of expertise as McLachlan’s right-hand man, turning into a veritable jack of all trades and grasp of some.
On the sphere, whereas Dillon by no means made it any larger than newbie leagues, he did play 290 video games for the Outdated Xaverians within the VAFA, and was one among 4 gamers to play in six consecutive premierships from 1995 to 2000.
A rebounding defender that all the time wore lengthy sleeves, he was mentioned to be stable somewhat than spectacular. Dependable somewhat than a sport changer. Somebody who was adequate to get the job executed and be constantly named in the perfect gamers, however would not kick aim of the yr or take a screamer.
And people are precisely the traits the AFL will need to see in Dillon as its new CEO.
Faith, connections and the world of sport
Dillon is not the primary in his household to sit down atop a sporting organisation tree. His wider family is intrinsically linked with Australian sport.
His father, John, a fellow lawyer, grew to become the eighth president of the VAFA in 1984, and was the chairman of the Melbourne Racing Membership.
His father-in-law is ex-Melbourne Cricket Membership president and former Take a look at opener Paul Sheahan.
His uncle is Father Kevin Dillon, an outspoken member of the Catholic Church who was vocally in opposition to the best way the church dealt with baby intercourse abuse instances, and was extremely revered within the Geelong area after serving the realm for 17 years from 2000, turning into an in depth pal with former Cats president Frank Costa amongst different soccer membership high-flyers.
And his different uncle, Brendan, has served as chaplain to the Melbourne racing fraternity for years, blessing tracks and jockeys earlier than massive races within the title of the church.
In some ways, Dillon’s appointment is the oldest of previous faculties.
Must you wipe the particular names from the information and deal with the above as solely characters in a play, it is an appointment that might make simply as a lot sense at a rural footy membership someplace within the backwoods of Victoria because it does within the glittering halls of AFL Home.
Sport. Faith. Household. Connections.
It doesn’t suggest Dillon is not the precise particular person for the job. However the journey he has taken to get there was performed out again and again in historical past, and it has actually been a smoother path than many different hopefuls have needed to tread of their bids for the gig.
Threat aversion and trying to the long run
Many pundits noticed this because the AFL’s alternative to lastly see one among a number of proficient and modern ladies step as much as the plate.
Kylie Watson-Wheeler and Kylie Rogers each got here to the interview room with sturdy CVs and the backing of essential Aussie Guidelines figures.
In membership land, Watson-Wheeler has been a superb addition to the Western Bulldogs, having thrived within the reduce and thrust boardrooms of the likes of Coca-Cola and Disney.
In the meantime, Rogers has impressed as an innovator on the AFL, a threat taker with massive concepts and large ambitions — and probably an ideal foil for the straight-down-the-line, letters-and-numbers method that Dillon is certain to offer.
Whereas the AFL finally determined to stay with a male CEO, its determination to present former North Melbourne high-flyer and Melbourne College participant Laura Kane a shot at backfilling Dillon’s function reveals a tentative however promising funding sooner or later.
When McLachlan stood down final yr, he mentioned that the following particular person in line could be “utterly totally different” from him.
“What I do really feel completely sure about [is] that whoever replaces me might be utterly totally different,” he mentioned.
“They must deliver their very own type and be their very own particular person, man or girl.”
Andrew Dillon might be totally different in that each particular person on the planet operates in their very own distinctive manner.
He most likely will not have the identical charisma as McLachlan, or the advertising and marketing prowess.
However total, you possibly can count on issues to remain very a lot the identical within the brief time period.
With some stormy seas nonetheless forward within the AFL journey, Dillon will present a gentle set of palms on the wheel, taking few dangers as he units his gaze firmly on the security of the horizon.
It may not have been a call a lot of the Aussie Guidelines world wished. However it’s certainly one which the AFL wanted proper now.
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