The winds of change have swept through the Hawthorn Football Club with 1991 premiership player Andy Gowers elected as the new president at Tuesday night’s annual general meeting.
While the numbers have not yet been released by the club, it is understood he comfortably beat vice-president Peter Nankivell, who had the strong endorsement of outgoing president Jeff Kennett.
And former Victorian deputy premier James Merlino joins the board alongside incumbents Katie Hudson and Anne-Marie Pellizzer who were re-elected. Ed Sill and Maria Lui missed out.
Gowers’ decisive victory has not marked the end of the board machinations at the Hawks. Former club captain and now football director Richie Vandenberg, who was outspoken in his support for Nankivell, stepped down on Wednesday morning.
Gowers made an immediate call for unity when he addressed members after the election result was announced and said one of his first acts will be to convene a summit to help chart a path forward for the club in terms of governance, transparency and communication, which were the key battlegrounds on which the election was fought.
How the club deals with the forthcoming cultural review findings will also be an early test for the new president.
The elevation of Gowers to the Hawthorn presidency together with the election of James Merlino to the board (and Ian Silk 12 months ago) is a reminder that there is still a place for grassroots advocacy in the high-stakes world of AFL football.
The supporter-led Hawks 4 Change movement was formed in 2021 and as the name suggested, it tapped into a mood for change at the club. In the space of two election cycles, the shape of the board has been significantly altered and the club is out of the pokies business.
Kennett was at his feisty best in his last night on the job. He said he expected the $15 million the Victorian government had committed to the club’s Dingley project to be immediately forthcoming now that he was no longer president (his regular criticism of Victorian premier Dan Andrews was a reason why it has not been released) and he challenged Gowers to also find the additional $10 million that he claimed potential donors were withholding for as long as Kennett remained president.
And he launched into a passionate defence of the vanquished Nankivell and said that the club now had no lawyers on the board. He forecast that Gowers might need to co-opt a lawyer to the board or have to pay for outside counsel.
Kennett departed the stage to a few heckles and even some jeers. But the mood of the 300 or so members in attendance was one of embracing change. The club is in the midst of major regeneration on the field and indeed, coach Sam Mitchell told the meeting that he believed the nucleus of the next Hawthorn premiership team is now in place.
The off-field regeneration is now in full swing as well.