Matthew Pavlich: Dockers legend says he will be a ‘Fremantle person forever' amid move to Swans for top role
The 353-gamer was revealed on Wednesday as the new chief executive for the Sydney Swans in a shock move that will see the greatest Docker of all time trade in purple for red.
Despite building an established reputation in the media after retirement, Pavlich said he belonged back in the league.
'I've said it on the record a couple of times, while I've loved the last 10 years or thereabouts in media and in business, the pullback to a football club or the pullback to AFL was really, really strong,' he said on Nova.
'I have had some opportunities that I've pursued or at least explored, or been approached about over that period, but not one of them was the right timing, or none of them were an opportunity of this magnitude.'
It wasn't until the prospect of Sydney's top job coming up for the sixth time All-Australian that he seriously considered a move.
'When I got that random text message on a Saturday morning saying 'hey I'm in town... can we have a chat', I said to Lauren (Pavlich), 'we might want to think about this one a bit more seriously',' Pavlich said.
'It moved really quickly over the last three or four weeks to a point where it's an emotional time for us because it's exciting, it's an adventure.'
Now Pavlich will take over the position from outgoing CEO Tom Harley, who at the end of this season will join the AFL executive as the new league chief operating officer.
The 43-year-old said that his allegiance still lies with the club that he played for his entire AFL career.
'I'll always be a Fremantle person,' he said.
'I certainly still have strong feelings for Fremantle and always will, so that'll never leave me, and I am a Fremantle person forever.'
Coming in to the role with little experience in the field, Pavlich has big shoes to fill as he takes charge of one of the most storied clubs in the league.
The Hall of Famer plans to use his nine-years of experience as the Freo captain as a guide for the new role.
'The way that I'll lead (is) through strong integrity, strong influence on the people, I'll do what I'll say I want to do,' he said.
'I think my style is to be collaborative, but then really quickly, action oriented and decisive.
'I'll use all the experiences I've had, no only in the football life but more recently in the commercial world, to understand that strong stability and strength off the field often drives really high success on the field, and the club's been great at that.'
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