The 2019 Movers and Shapers Survey has moved to SEN.com.au.
Crocmedia/AFL Record senior writer Ashley Browne has surveyed the footy industry – administrators, players, managers and media – to establish the definitive list of the most influential people in the game.
It’s the list those on it claim to pay no attention to, but are secretly thrilled to get a guernsey.
Today we countdown from 30 to 21 and the latest premiership coach, the leading president/CEO combination in the AFL and most head-turning player in the game.
CLICK HERE FOR 2019 MOVERS AND SHAPERS: 50-41
30. Paul Bassat
AFL Commissioner
Last year: 26
Before that: –
It is a reflection of the AFL’s desire to keep the Commission relatively young and nimble that Bassat is the second-longest serving member behind chairman Richard Goyder, having come on board in 2012.
The whip-smart SEEK co-founder, who has his own global venture capital firm, is the League’s sounding board when it comes to high-tech and the digital start-up scene and is a confidant of Gill McLachlan and Goyder.
His older brother and fellow SEEK co-founder Andrew is the president of St Kilda, having won a power battle with former Saints chief executive Jim Watts to take over the position when Peter Summers stepped down at the end of last season.
29. Adam Simpson
West Coast coach
Last year: –
Before that: –
West Coast is a giant club, laden with “structures and hierarchies” according to a close observer. Yet what Simpson has brought to the club – apart from the 2018 flag – is the homespun common touch he learned from his 306-game playing career at North Melbourne, the humblest club of all.
Simpson cares deeply about the players, which is why they are so clearly invested and enjoy playing under him. He finished playing recently enough (2009) to have an appreciation of what the modern game entails and his communication with his players is very much a two-way thing.
28. Scott Pendlebury
Collingwood captain
Last year: –
Before that: –
Collingwood’s barnstorming run that ended just two minutes shy of winning the 2018 flag has added to the Magpie content in this list and it includes the skipper, who played a quiet, but key role in last season’s transformation.
Pendlebury is very much a product of the ‘do as I do’ school of captaincy, but his meticulous preparation and single-minded determination to get the best out of himself has rubbed off on his team and his club.
Collingwood’s abundance of midfield talent means he could play more across half-back this year.
Scott Pendlebury has played a key role in Collingwood's transformation
27. Michael Christian
AFL Match Review Officer
Last year: –
Before that: –
One of Steve Hocking’s sweeping changes before the start of last season was axing the three-person Match Review Panel and leaving Christian as the sole arbiter of the AFL’s judicial processes.
It’s a big workload for one person, but the streamlined process means a quick turnaround after Thursday and Friday night games, followed by Monday afternoons when the football world grinds to a seeming halt awaiting his verdicts.
There were questions over consistency at times last season, particularly with regards to the bump and umpire contact.
26. Brendon Gale
Richmond chief executive
Last year: 21
Before that: 17 (2016)
Here are a couple of indicators about how well Gale is regarded. The first is that his own club CEO tree has taken root, with Cain Liddle now in charge at Carlton.
The second is that if you were framing a market for Gill McLachlan’s eventual replacement at the AFL, Gale would sit at the top of the betting market.
With the 2017 flag (and the chance of more premierships to come), 100,000 members, loads of cash in the bank and plans afoot for the expansion of the club’s footprint at Punt Rd, Gale has achieved so much in almost 10 years in charge.
Not many club bosses are adored by their fans, but add his 244 games as a Richmond player to the huge strides made off the field and that makes him a genuine exception.
25. Peggy O’Neal
Richmond president
Last year: 22
Before that: 17 (2016), 49 (2017)
Richmond presidents are supposed to serve a maximum of only two three-year terms. But the Tigers know they’re on to a good thing with O’Neal who, in her usual quiet and no-fuss manner, recently agreed to a third term as the board chair at Punt Rd.
Given the incredible achievements and growth at the club, it was a wise move to get her to agree to stay and she is on track to becoming just the second woman to receive life membership of the AFL. The Punt Rd redevelopment is her next big project and, with four Richmond teams but still only one oval, her renowned process management will come to the fore.
“A place where everyone feels at home, a place to thrive and win,” is her operating philosophy at the club, and one she has been able to follow through with. Her partnership with CEO Brendon Gale is the best of any in the game.
Richmond are on to a good thing with Peggy O'Neal
24. Brian Cook
Geelong chief executive
Last year: 20
Before that: 16 (2016), 23 (2017)
Footy’s longest-serving club chief executive, he recently celebrated 20 years with the Cats, having been at West Coast in the same role for 10 years before that. The Cats are a commercial juggernaut and a football powerhouse and it was the systems and structures implemented by Cook that helped get the club back on its feet and on its way.
Just about every club in the competition has had a nibble at him at some stage and it is instructive that several of his key offsiders, Stuart Fox (Hawthorn then the Melbourne Cricket Club), Justin Reeves (Hawthorn), Steve Hocking (AFL) and Rosie King (Netball Victoria), have gone on to senior sports industry positions.
While his role at Geelong has always been over-arching, he conducted a ‘health check’ of the football department after last season’s disappointing eighth-place finish that will lead to several tweaks to how the Cats go about things this year. He is committed to the club for at least two more years.
23. Lance Franklin
Sydney superstar
Last year: 23
Before that: 33 (2017)
Entering his sixth season with the Swans, Franklin is still in the meaty, middle stages of a staggering $10 million, nine-year deal to cross from Hawthorn.
The support cast around him is starting to fade, but Franklin’s magic more than anything helps the Swans remain super competitive. And as the most watchable and dynamic player in the game, he makes sure the Swans are the No. 1 winter box office attraction in what is both the media capital and the most competitive sporting market in Australia.
Franklin will play his 300th game this year and the accompanying highlight reel might be the best to mark the occasion. But the Swans appear further away from a premiership than at any period in his time, so cue the discussions about whether he is truly worth the money. It says here that he is.
Lance Franklin is the most watchable player in the game
22. Andrew Ireland
Former Sydney chief executive, now Sports Australia director
Last year: 43
Before that: 25 (2017)
It is unlikely there has been a better administrator north of the Murray than Ireland, who stepped down as chief executive of the Swans at the end of last year.
He took the Brisbane Bears from a laughing stock through the merger with Fitzroy to their first flag as the Brisbane Lions. He then moved to Sydney and was involved in two more flags there, while establishing the Swans as an AFL power. His last act was the deal to establish a new club base at the Hordern Pavilion and the old Hall of Industries alongside the SCG, labelled by one AFL insider as “the best club project I have ever seen”.
Despite moving back to Queensland, he will remain a director of the Swans, having been courted by several clubs, but of more consequence is his board position with Sports Australia. His counsel will be invaluable for the entire sporting industry.
21. Ray Gunston
AFL general manager infrastructure, major projects and investment
Last year: 19
Before that: 19 (2017)
The $250 million makeover of Marvel Stadium – funded jointly by the AFL and the Victorian Government – will start at the end of the season and will be presided over by Gunston.
He is also chairman of the stadium and, in the short term, needs to make sure the new and improved revenue arrangements for tenant clubs Essendon, Carlton, St Kilda, North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs work better than they have in the past.
The AFL has infrastructure projects in play all over the place – Ikon Park is the latest to be announced – as well as one of its own, with a move to new digs down the road in Melbourne’s Docklands precinct planned for the next few years.
With years of commercial and sports management experience under his belt, Gunston is one of the most respected people in the game. And he is highly regarded inside the AFL.
