Melbourne chief seeks 'natural justice'

Updated November 02, 2012 12:49:05

Melbourne president Don McLardy said the club has been assured by the AFL it will be receive "natural justice" over the tanking scandal, which attracted fresh headlines on Friday morning.

An ongoing AFL investigation is looking into the events of the 2009 season where the Demons won just four games allowing them to take Tom Scully with a priority pick.

It has been alleged that football manager Chris Connolly told the coaching staff they would lose their jobs if they reached the five-win threshold.

McLardy said the club will fully co-operate with the AFL and insisted his priority is to ensure there is minimal impact on the current players on the club.

"The Board of the MFC is concerned to ensure that the MFC is treated fairly and properly," McLardy said.

"The Board will fully co-operate with an independent, lawful and transparent process.

"The Board has sought an assurance from the AFL that natural justice will be afforded to the MFC, its players, employees and staff through the investigation.

"The Board is also concerned to ensure there is minimal impact on our current football department and playing group.

"Since the significant restructure by the Board of our football department in 2011, we have had a clear plan and settled staff, and every effort will be made to ensure they can continue to focus on the upcoming season."

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, melbourne-3000

First posted November 02, 2012 12:48:01

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AFL offers to help Kangaroos find new chief

Updated June 06, 2012 15:06:15

AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has offered to help North Melbourne find a new chief executive following the surprise resignation of Eugene Arocca.

Arocca handed in his resignation on Tuesday saying his position had become untenable.

Demetriou and AFL chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan met Kangaroos president James Brayshaw on Tuesday to offer their help.

"We made the offer to James Brayshaw if he wanted to avail himself of any help with the CEO appointment - we're available," Demetriou said on Melbourne radio.

"We obviously helped with the Gold Coast when we sourced Travis Auld.

"We sort of know who the next up and comers are but it's entirely up to the club if they want to avail themselves of that."

Demetriou defended the club's position and said it was tracking well.

He said being Kangaroos' chief executive was an attractive role.

"The North Melbourne football club is a very attractive job for someone because the club's heading in the right direction," Demetriou said.

"North Melbourne are on track and doing every everything required of them this year as part of their disequalised funding.

"Their membership is up, they've employed the people they said they would, they're on budget, they're going well and that's a tick to the board and to the CEO."

Demetriou rubbished claims the AFL approached Geelong's chief executive Brian Cook about taking over at North Melbourne.

He said the story stemmed from a dinner at a Sydney restaurant the night before the national draft last year when Cook was asked about his plans after he finished his tenure at Geelong.

"That was the context of the conversation," Demetriou said.

"Then we moved in to the next topic of discussion, which was another joke, whatever it was. There was nothing secret about it."

AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, north-melbourne-3051, vic, australia

First posted June 06, 2012 15:06:15

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Optus loses court row with AFL chief

Updated February 28, 2012 16:31:12

Optus has lost a Federal Court case in which it tried to stop AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou criticising its new mobile television recording service.

The telecommunications company applied to the Federal Court in Sydney for an urgent injunction to stop Demetriou from repeating his criticisms of Optus' TV Now service, which lets users record matches to watch on their computers and smartphones on a short delay.

Justice Richard Edmonds dismissed the application and ordered Optus to pay the AFL's legal costs.

The judge said Demetriou's recent comments that the behaviour of Optus was akin to stealing were not misleading or deceptive, because they were his opinions and did not purport to be a statement of fact.

Demetriou told ABC Local Radio it was a victory for free speech and argued that the league should be able to protect its commercial agreement with Telstra.

"They are not paying for our content and purporting to be the champion of consumers when they're really charging them," he said.

"And they've got a clearly inferior product to Telstra and it's a disgrace, and now that this court case has been put to bed it's a victory for free speech."

Tags: business-economics-and-finance, telecommunications, sport, australian-football-league, australia, vic

First posted February 28, 2012 13:49:24

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Giants lose chief executive

Updated October 27, 2011 19:47:32

Greater Western Sydney have been rocked by the sudden departure of chief executive Dale Holmes following board-room discussions over his future with the AFL club.

Media reports on Thursday afternoon said Holmes had been sacked after falling out with other board members.

But the Giants released a statement a few hours later claiming he had decided to resign.

The announcement is a massive blow to the credibility of the Giants, who are set to make their debut in the AFL next year.

The official draw will be announced on Friday for the 2012 season.

AFL national and international development general manager David Matthews has been appointed acting chief executive of GWS.

Thursday's dramatic departure of Holmes comes just a day after revelations the Giants had employed the father of star recruit and ex-Demon Tom Scully in a recruiting role.

The AFL has insisted Phil Scully's salary should be counted towards the club's salary cap.

It is not known if the Scully scandal played any role in the departure of Holmes.

Giants chairman Tony Shepherd said the board had been in discussions with Holmes "about the development of the club and Dale's future role with it".

"Dale has come to the conclusion that it is in his best interests and that of the club for him to move on and the board has accepted his resignation," Shepherd said.

"I would like to thank Dale most sincerely for the work he has done to establish the club since joining us in April, 2010."

Shepherd said Holmes had achieved many things at the club, including signing Scully, Callan Ward and Phil Davis and securing 11 of the first 14 selections in next month's National Draft.

Matthews will start his new role within the next few days.

"David is based in Sydney and in the early stages of the club's development, played a leading role in the signing of Kevin Sheedy as senior coach, the recruitment of Queensland and Australian rugby league representative Israel Folau and the appointment of Graeme Allan as general manager of football operations," Shepherd said.

"He has excellent credentials and the club greatly appreciates the AFL making David available as acting CEO while we begin to identify a new chief executive to continue the momentum into our first season."

The AFL is already facing a massive assignment sending a new team into the rugby league heartland of western Sydney and this week's dramas have heaped pressure on the Giants.

"Establishing a new AFL club to represent Greater Western Sydney is a big challenge and the players we will select at next month's draft in Sydney along with those we have already signed will form what we believe will develop into a very competitive team in the AFL competition over the next three to five years," Shepherd said.

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, blacktown-2148, nsw, australia

First posted October 27, 2011 19:36:50

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AFL chief at National Press Club

Published:Wednesday, May 25, 2011 7:28 AEST

AFL chief Andrew Demetriou speaks at the National Press Club in Canberra on May 25, 2011. Demetriou says he wants a million people playing Australian Rules football by 2016, as well as one million paid-up AFL club members.

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, canberra-2600

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