Now that the bloodletting has begun, this is who Andrew Dillon must hire as his No.2

Sydney Morning Herald

7 days ago

Having started his long-overdue shake-up of the game's head office – but certainly not ended it – Andrew Dillon's next move must be to do everything in his power to convince Tom Harley to leave Sydney to serve as his wingman and unofficial successor.
Harley answers so many questions the clubs are asking of the AFL. They are bickering among themselves and behaving in some obvious cases like bad sports. But they are united in their call for some clear, decisive leadership and a better understanding of their woes from Dillon and his team.
Harley is the person to further unite them and, should he perform as well as he has in all his previous football challenges, he would immediately create for AFL CEO Dillon a leadership succession plan for which headquarters is crying out.
Dillon and his just-demoted football boss Laura Kane, along with the spin team, continue to point to how good the game is and how big the crowds are. But the AFLW is bleeding and needs a major overhaul, and the game's judiciary at every level, starting with umpiring, needs new and better leadership. And frankly it's just insulting for Dillon to point to big profits and a record surplus when coaches feel so disrespected and their football department staff are so overworked.
This may not have affected the quality of the on-field game, but the football cost cuts have come at the expense of high-maintenance and troubled players and Indigenous footballers struggling to acclimatise away from home. The angst around the northern academies says many things about the competition, but most specifically it shows that when the clubs throw their weight and expertise around on game development, they do a far better job of it than the AFL.
Two weeks ago this columnist stated that Dillon must not waste the crisis he and his executive were facing. He should be applauded for taking charge and finally reaching a relatively painless settlement with Tanya Hosch, and recognising that Kane – as the game's football boss – had taken on far too much responsibility.
Now he must move on to other departments, such as game development and human resources, that are crying out for an overhaul.
Removing key football responsibilities such as umpiring, player movement, the MRO and the game's laws from Kane was always going to be highly sensitive given how strongly Dillon backed her in the face of some unconscious bias from the clubs. But Kane had become too remote with some key staff and alienated too many experienced football bosses who claimed she was difficult to communicate with at times.