Incoming AFL operations boss Greg Swann foreshadows more transparency in major change to MRO
Outgoing Brisbane CEO Swann oversaw the last win of his Lions tenure on Friday night, copping a celebratory Gatorade shower from the players during the team song after his side beat the Western Bulldogs in a 10-point thriller at the Gabba.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Michael Christian set to provide more transparency under Greg Swann.
From Monday, after almost three decades of administration at club level which has spanned stints at Carlton, Collingwood and Brisbane, Swann will begin life as an AFL executive.
The 63-year-old was headhunted by AFL CEO Andrew Dillon to lead football operations, a portfolio which is already bursting with a long list of pressing to-do items.
Chief among them is arguably the match review officer's role and directives, which are certain to change under Swann, who says there should be more public clarity around decisions made in the AFL judicial system.
In an expansive and insightful chat with Channel 7 inside the Brisbane rooms after his final game at the Lions, Swann said he thinks the game is in good order generally speaking, but flagged a number of small changes coming, including with the MRO.
'I think the game's in fantastic health, I just think there are a few tweaks that we need, and hopefully we can get that done and we'll go from there,' he said.
'I want to go around and talk to the clubs and just see what people think.
'One of the things I think we also should do is actually explain why we get to a decision that we get to — I don't see any reason why we shouldn't do that.
'Michael Christian might have a bit more of a role in the media to explain how he's got to certain decisions. That's something that I think we should do and just be more transparent and put it out there.'
Match lengths in 2025 have consistently been ballooning out towards, and even beyond, 130 minutes due to the number of stoppages throughout the game.
Swann said he wants to tighten that back up.
'We wait too long for people to set up,' he said, as an example of why games are going so long.
'Even from a ruckman point of view, if there are enough people around the stoppage, just ball it up and get on with it. I think that's a thing we need to look at.
'And that might be able to be changed relatively quickly, so we'll see.'
Also somewhere on his agenda will be the functioning of academies and father-son draft rules.
Coming from a northern club like Brisbane, Swann knows the importance of having the academies, he said, so their role in the talent pathways system going forward is without question — despite the frustrations of some Victorian clubs.
But Swann admitted the incoming changes to the drafting and points system — changes that pre-date his start date — are necessary.
'If the whole competition decided that that wasn't a good idea then you'd have a look at that, but I think most of the clubs want to keep that,' Swann said of the father-son rule, on the same day that potential 2026 No.1 draft pick Cody Walker, son of Carlton great Andrew, nominated the Blues as a father-son.
'As far as the academies go, there's a new system in place this year from a points perspective, so it's going to be harder for the clubs to get their players, so I think that needs to play out for the next year or two and see what that does.
'Having lived through it, the academies are really important to get guys and girls to play up here. We're in a big battle with the NRL and rugby union.
'But it is fair to say that the price that clubs have paid in the last few years hasn't been high enough, but this new system will make it so.'
Across a chat that went for almost 10 minutes in all, Swann also said he wants to survey every club about the sub rule, and confirmed he is not a fan of umpires bouncing the ball at centre square restarts.
And while change is doubtless under Swann, he said given he is coming into the role at this late stage of the season, it won't all come straight away, and won't necessarily be wholesale when it does.
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