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The AFL rotting from the Top

Sir Why You Little
in Melbourne Demons

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Opinion | Andrew Dillon’s leader...
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Opinion | Andrew Dillon’s leadership is crumbling around...

At the end of a disastrous week for the AFL, and in the Sir Doug Nicholls rounds, a crisis is brewing around the league’s most senior Indigenous employee.
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    You couldn't have two least qualified people for the job. Andrew Dillon, i am sure is a very smart man and lawyer, but he clearly isn't a football fan and has no passion for the game. I love quiet people in leadership who aren't overbearing and arrogant, but he just gives nothing and doesn't seem to offer any leadership at all.

    Laura Kane is 34, a failed lawyer who ran North Melbourne's football program when they were a bottom 2 side. Now all of a sudden, she is qualified to run football operations for the whole leave ffs. Has nothing to do with gender either. Her and Dillon are just the wrong people for the job.

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    8 minutes ago, FearTheBeard said:

    You couldn't have two least qualified people for the job. Andrew Dillon, i am sure is a very smart man and lawyer, but he clearly isn't a football fan and has no passion for the game. I love quiet people in leadership who aren't overbearing and arrogant, but he just gives nothing and doesn't seem to offer any leadership at all.

    Laura Kane is 34, a failed lawyer who ran North Melbourne's football program when they were a bottom 2 side. Now all of a sudden, she is qualified to run football operations for the whole leave ffs. Has nothing to do with gender either. Her and Dillon are just the wrong people for the job.

    Agree 100%

    How did TWO Positions at the Top get given to 2 People who have no experience or feel for the game, at the same time.

    The Clubs need to have a No Confidence vote

    First time i heard Dillon speak, i just went

    “No, he is right off in this position” He has never said anything concrete, it’s always “We are looking into it…”

    Between the 2 of them, they have the charisma of a Cardboard Box

    Edited by Sir Why You Little

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    12 minutes ago, FearTheBeard said:

    Laura Kane is 34, a failed lawyer who ran North Melbourne's football program when they were a bottom 2 side. Now all of a sudden, she is qualified to run football operations for the whole leave ffs. Has nothing to do with gender either. Her and Dillon are just the wrong people for the job.

    coincidence that north aflw are the best team in the league now after she left....

    anyways the fans and clubs need to come together to put an end to these two if not they arent going anywhere. they are too arrogant and selfish to walk away themselves

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    Caro has really let loose...but her scattergun approach weakens the story. The stuff about Tanya Hosch is all over the shop, but Caro is on stronger ground when she moves on to writing about the apparent inadequacies of the three most senior people at the AFL (Goyder, Dillon and Kane).

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    They certainly haven’t covered themselves in glory that is for sure, bland, bland and superficial, glad that someone is holding them to account.

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    They lack any “feel” for the game, what’s ok and what’s not, the supporters or the players. Time for change. I reckon the umpires just got shafted.

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    5 hours ago, FearTheBeard said:

    Andrew Dillon, i am sure is a very smart man and lawyer, but he clearly isn't a football fan and has no passion for the game

    4 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    2 People who have no experience or feel for the game

    But unfair on Dillon, played about 300 games for Old Xavs in their prime

    I think he simply lacks some of the presence and the support around him that Gill had (Dillon, Scott/Hocking, etc). Shows how Gill really ran a tight ship

    Kane is a different story, a few years as a junior lawyer, and less than 10 years working in footy..... Experience seems to be showing

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    1 hour ago, Graeme Yeats' Mullet said:

    But unfair on Dillon, played about 300 games for Old Xavs in their prime

    I think he simply lacks some of the presence and the support around him that Gill had (Dillon, Scott/Hocking, etc). Shows how Gill really ran a tight ship

    Kane is a different story, a few years as a junior lawyer, and less than 10 years working in footy..... Experience seems to be showing

    I’ve met Dillon. He’s very smart and loves the game. Where I think he falls down is his lack of leadership. Gil and Andy D were strong, almost bully types, whereas Dillon is a softer more collaborative type. Maybe that’s not how the AFL exec’s are used to working? Less democratic and more autocratic?

    In any case, the hiring of Kane seems to be a very bad choice at this stage.

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    15 minutes ago, Sir Why You Little said:

    Agree 100%

    How did TWO Positions at the Top get given to 2 People who have no experience or feel for the game, at the same time.

    The Clubs need to have a No Confidence vote

    First time i heard Dillon speak, i just went “No, he is right off in this position” He has never said anything concrete, it’s always “We are looking into it…”

    Between the 2 of them, the have the charisma of a Cardboard Box

    3 hours ago, Graeme Yeats' Mullet said:

    But unfair on Dillon, played about 300 games for Old Xavs in their prime

    I think he simply lacks some of the presence and the support around him that Gill had (Dillon, Scott/Hocking, etc). Shows how Gill really ran a tight ship

    Kane is a different story, a few years as a junior lawyer, and less than 10 years working in footy..... Experience seems to be showing

    He is probably more than capable of running the Ammo’s Competition. But i think he is way out of his comfort zone running the AFL.

    They can’t even get decent Cameras for the score reviews, the Clubs need to go hard on this

    We have Leadership at the Top Level that needs guidance

    and then I could mention Umpires and whether they should be Full Time….

    The Fixture…..

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    1 hour ago, JJJ said:

    Gil and Andy D were strong, almost bully types, whereas Dillon is a softer more collaborative type.

    A camel is a horse designed by committee.

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    From what I heard, the word being used is implosion.

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    I work for a large company within Ethics, Compliance and Human Rights. We recently merged with legal. Before our teams merged, we were a well oiled machine, heads down and did the work; implemented ‘gold standard’ frameworks and policies. Queue the merger with legal; we’re now slow, have review after review, everything is challenged, everyone has their opinion. A report that was reviewed twice is now reviewed up to five times; everyone wants to have their input, a single person cannot make a decision. Sounds familiar.

    Edited by Ethan Tremblay

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    The AFL has had a LOT of strong, "get the job done" kind of leaders, going back into the early 70's. Dillon is not this type, and that's OK, but I regard him as a manager, not a leader. He doesn't inspire, he doesn't encourage you to follow him, doesn't take a project or issue by the horns and fiercely demand excellence. At least that it what it looks like from the outside. I reckon as 2IC or team leader he would excel. But not as a person who has to execute board decisions. Bland, often not articulate when he has to go off message.

    Laura Kane looks out of her depth. She actually come across as very strong which I like, but her knowledge and decision making look patchy, weak and ill-informed.

    How they got appointed is beyond me.

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    1 hour ago, Maldonboy38 said:

    How they got appointed is beyond me.

    melbourne uni law school + uni blacks + kpmg / bcg / etc. consultancy agency + advising clubs + parachuted into head office

    from gil to dil to laura

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