Gillon McLachlan has seen it all during his time as AFL CEO, so what’s next for him when he departs the AFL’s top job? The man himself says it will still be in footy, just a different role entirely.
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The man who has led the game for the past nine years on Wednesday night at an MCC function reflected on his journey through football; slotting goals through rose bushes in the front yard of his family home, rucking for Uni Blues and the weekly Sunday 6am kick-to-kick sessions at the park with his son, Sid.
There was also a lighthearted sledge for his brother, Hamish, who in the backyard battles was “massively soft” and as Bruce McAvaney would describe “a very good outside player”.
Gillon was Steve Waugh, the hard-as-nails competitor, and Hamish was Mark Waugh, the elegant one. Or so he said.
But as much as Gillon has steered the game through some of its most testing times, including the Hawthorn saga in recent months, he said his passion for the game had not waned.
McLachlan has been front and centre of some of the AFL’s greatest challenges. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
When McLachlan is not at an AFL game on Friday nights, he is back at his local club where his children can run through the rooms, take shots at goal from the boundary line, and experience footy club life.
And next year, McLachlan is going to try his hand at coaching.
“I want to coach a football team,” McLachlan said.
“Not just be runner or a fill-in coach but be a proper coach of a junior team and actually spend more time at the club with my kids.
“To see if my passion and privilege to have been able to influence the game translates to being able to influence team of 25 boys or girls from the tough surrounds of Prahran, Toorak and Armidale.
“I hope it does ….im less worried about the kids than the parents to be honest.
“Either way, football and I will still be on close terms with each other, just in a different form, watching my kids experience the same joy that I first knew kicking the heads off the rose bush years ago.”
Could McLachlan be the AFL’s tallest goal umpire? Pic: Michael Klein
The AFL CEO says he wants to coach a junior football side. Photo by Michael Klein
McLachlan made the touching presentation alongside Melbourne premiership captain Daisy Pearce, who also spoke at the Norm Smith Oration, an annual function run by the Melbourne Cricket Club.
McLachlan joked that his negotiation skills might have weighed in his favour as he made friends in his playing days with the VAFA umpires, post game.
Perhaps a friendly chat and a cold stubbie went a long way when it came to the votes.
“I also loved showering with the umpires …. And making sure they had enough hot water before it ran out,” he said.
“I was runner-up three times in the competition best and fairest.
“Some people might put that down to my ruck work, elite ability to pick up a ball at ground level and my heroic Joel Selwood-type leadership.
“The secret wasn’t skill. It was hot water, and a beer for each ump.”