Swann a contender to stop Lions dive

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 08 Mei 2014 | 18.48

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GREG Swann has emerged as the leading contender to be charged with the task of halting Brisbane's slide into financial oblivion and overseeing the restoration of a once mighty football team.

The Blues CEO has support right to the top of the AFL and has a track record of success with Carlton and Collingwood.

However the hunt for a replacement for jettisoned CEO Malcolm Holmes has the potential to be just as dramatic as all recent affairs at Brisbane after defiant chairman Bob Sharpless last night attempted to reassert his authority by declaring he and his board ran the club, not the AFL.

LIONS CEO HOLMES STOOD DOWN

"I'm sure the AFL will help us with that process,'' Sharpless said.

"They will have some ideas about people they have respect for in the market place.

"But I think Brisbane is a challenging market and I think we want to canvass all available talent to find a suitable replacement.''

Leigh Matthews, Lions Football manager Dean Warren and Jonathan Brown leave the Brisbane Lions office. Pic Darren England. Source: News Corp Australia

Sharpless has the AFL's support but there is also an understanding ongoing financial backing from AFL House, without which the Lions will be unable to pay their bills, hinges on headquarters approving all the board's decisions.

Brisbane have accumulated debts of about $10 million and have lost $12 million since their last profit in 2007 and are hurtling towards another multi-million dollar loss this year.

Sources placed Swann in meetings in AFL house on Wednesday, the day before Holmes' departure was announced.

Swann told the The Courier-Mail he was still employed at Carlton and speculation linking him to Brisbane was premature.

Swann ticks all the boxes outlined by Sharpless last night. He is considered to be a great front man and comes from a football background.

"Well I think it is a help, if you look at where we are at the moment, our challenges are around football and what's happening on the football field,'' he said.

Brisbane Lions AFL Chairman Bob Sharpless announces to the media that Malcolm Holmes will stand down as CEO. Photo by Chris Hyde Source: Getty Images

"And our challenges are also around what you would call marketing, its crowd attendance, growing membership and really presenting our product in an innovative way against some pretty significant competition.''

Chief operating officer Kevin Samson will fill the role on an interim basis and Sharpless will take a more hands-on role in the day-to-day running of the organisation.

Sharpless yesterday said Holmes had been employed to rebuild the club's culture and had achieved that goal.

"I think Malcolm appreciated that where the club was at, at the moment, he had achieved a lot of things and it was time to move on,'' he said.

He insisted the AFL were not behind Holmes departure.

"They didn't have any influence on the decision, the board runs the Brisbane Lions football club and the board was in dialogue with Malcolm,'' he said.

"The AFL fully supports the actions of the board.''

PROFILES OF CANDIDATES FOR LIONS CEO POSITION

GREG SWANN.

The Blues' CEO has been sounded out by the AFL and is understood to have spent time in the league's Docklands headquarters on Wednesday. Is strong on relationships with wide contacts and is considered a great frontman for an organisation.

Swann has runs on the board from successful stints at Collingwood and Carlton. He is credited with the development of the Blues' Visy Park precinct, considered among the best facilities in football.

He is a proven recruiter, having brought the Blues' last Brownlow Medal winner Chris Judd and coach Mick Malthouse to the club.

Swann has admitted his time at the Blues may have run its course and with the board set to undergo a facelift with the departure of president Stephen Kernahan there is a period of change expected. Carlton powerbroker Bruce Mathieson has already gone on the record calling for a clean-out of the front office.

Should Swann get the job it would probably be as an AFL appointee with a charter to get the club back on track while grooming the next long term CEO.

MICK CONLAN

Brisbane's failure to interview Conlan during the recruitment drive that selected Holmes raised eyebrows. He was a former AFL employee with a close relationship to both CEO Andrew Demetriou and his successor Gillon McLachlan and had just returned from a stint working for Reebok in Korea.

Conlan is seen as a conciliatory figure whose relationship building would be a huge asset in bringing the club together.

He is Fitzroy royalty, having played 210 games for the Lions and also wore the Big V four times. Conlan is wildly popular among the club's Victorian supporters and also has a high profile in Queensland where he has won plenty of admirers in his role as CEO of AFLQ which he has filled for three years.

RICHARD GRIFFITHS.

May be difficult to tempt out of GWS where he is thriving as Chief Operating Officer.

Griffiths was insulted by Brisbane during the last round of interviews when he was initially left off the shortlist only to be called in for a late appointment — apparently in response to a strong push for him from key industry people.

Like Conlan, has the support of several influential Lions insiders and has a profile in Queensland.

He cut his teeth in football administration at the Demons where he was development manager, head of recruiting and eventually football manager in a seven-year career at Melbourne. He then spent 14 years at AFLQ where, as CEO, he was a driving force behind the establishment of the NEAFL. Joined GWS in 2011.

MICHAEL NETTLEFOLD.

Nettlefold has filled multiple roles in football clubs having served on St Kilda's board for five years before stepping down in 2009 to take on the role as CEO. He ran the club for a little over four years before resigning at the end of last season.

He is believed to have strong connections within AFL House.

Nettlefold was in Wellington two weeks ago to watch the Lions defeat St Kilda at Westpac Stadium.

Also has Fitzroy links having played 31 games for the Lions between 1983 and 85.


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