Richard Goyder is leaving the AFL. He’s foiled a plot on his way out

In electing Craig Drummond, the former Geelong president, as the designated next AFL chairman, the AFL Commission has opted for modest change and evolution rather than revolution or a dramatic shake-up.

Implicitly, the AFL Commission has chosen to combat the competition of the NRL’s deal-making chairman Peter V’landys by installing someone who shapes as his opposite – a genuine hands-off chairman.

Drummond was Richard Goyder’s preferred candidate, and it was clear that while Goyder and his allies could live with Peter Gordon, the forceful ex-Bulldogs president and prominent lawyer, they did not want to see the undeclared yet serious campaign to put ex-Collingwood president Jeff Browne in the chair succeed.

Goyder and company manoeuvred accordingly to foil that outcome. Goyder could not buy himself time to stick around – the clubs wouldn’t abide that – but he got his man as successor.

Though the club revolt may have lacked conviction, it has won them a victory of sorts, tilting the balance of power slightly in their favour.

While it is still theoretically possible for the clubs to band together and vote down Drummond - and for Browne or someone else to take that spot – in March (at the AFL AGM), that prospect appears remote today.

The club insurrection was against Goyder, not Drummond, and few clubs were genuinely committed to defying the AFL board; as usual, they talked bigger than they acted.

As the designated next chairman, Drummond will have more support than Goyder in his twilight and the ex-Geelong boss has the advantages of a) being from a (successful) club, b) having a reputation for letting executives have their heads, and c) of being no one’s particular enemy – so far.

Browne had influential supporters among clubs, headed by Sydney’ Andrew Pridham, as did Gordon (Peter Allen, the ex-Essendon board member and the notional other candidate, had Buckley’s hope).

“Like Richard Goyder, Craig Drummond is a denizen of corporate Australia (chairman of Transurban and ex-CEO of Medibank) – a background that confirms the code’s drift towards the Business Council class.”

But the push for Browne lost impetus once Goyder formally announced he was leaving in March, and the ex-Channel Nine boss and Collingwood president pulled out of the process before he could present to the full AFL Commission; effectively, he vacated the field.

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So, given the odds of overturning Drummond now are closer to Essendon’s flag chances than Brisbane’s, the relevant questions for the football public is this: What kind of leadership does Craig Drummond represent, and how does his ascension change footy, if at all?

Like Goyder, he is a denizen of corporate Australia (chairman of Transurban and ex-CEO of Medibank) – a background that confirms the code’s drift towards the Business Council class. Like Goyder, he doesn’t take a high public profile and lets his CEO or executives take centre stage.

Like Goyder, he is not given to intemperate or provocative public statements. You can’t expect vaudeville from a guy who ran a health insurance company.

But, whereas Goyder floundered on the rocks of the AFL’s shoddy governance – especially on the (lack of) succession planning for his position and the prolonged handover from Gillon McLachlan to Andrew Dillon – Drummond will not fail on the governance front, judged by his record at public companies and Geelong.

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Gordon’s stints as Bulldogs president and achievements in law suggested he would be more forceful in pushing change, and more apt to take up the cudgels, if necessary, against the AFL’s foes and in fighting them on the benches. He is still one of the league’s most influential figures, as a legal adviser.

The case for Gordon rested on two underlying realities – one that Dillon is understated, consultative and less forceful/charismatic than McLachlan and that Drummond is not dissimilar in style; and, second that under V’landys, the NRL has gained ground against the AFL commercially and in market share (broadcast mainly).

We can also count on Drummond to give the clubs a greater say in the running of the game, without allowing the presidents and club CEOs to turn into NRL warlords. He comes from clubland, and will understand and empathise with clubs in a visceral way that his predecessor could not.

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His most pressing problems are the health of the players (concussion and injury) and the grassroots of the code – two issues that overlap – the AFLW’s struggles for audience (especially compared with NRLW), the Tasmanian project and ensuring that the next broadcast deal remains the code’s version of Norway’s oil reserves – a cash cow that funds the game and the ecosystem underneath.

Barring March mischief from clubs, a health insurance executive has been entrusted with the health of the code. As with many leaders who present as conservative and measured - and unlikely to embark on adventures - Drummond’s success will hinge on how he responds to the crises that inevitably confront the AFL.

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