Great AFL talk by Mick Warner
Mick, author of The Boys’ Club expose of AFL mismanagement, held us engrossed on Zoom at our meeting of November 9. We had 38 tuned in on 34 screens including six guests.
He began with the statistic that there are 800 AFL players and 800 AFL staff – a weird ratio. Premier John Cain, he said, had remarked that he’d never known an entity as powerful politically as the AFL.
Typical points by Mick:
# AFL has a 29-member “Integrity Department” notwithstanding that the AFL invariably puts its commercial interests first – especially the vast TV rights money
# There’s been no independent review of the AFL governance for 28 years, indicating how unaccountable the AFL is
# AFL has always sought to undermine his reputation and influence, but by obtaining documentary evidence he has always retained the trust of his editors and readers
# AFL board members are reluctant to call out wrong-doing by the executive, having been ‘captured’ by the footy ethos and enjoying what Mick calls ‘liniment sniffing’.
# AFL chiefs on sums like $3.8m a year are paid four times the rate of AFL stars like Dustin Martin.
Jill de R says a copy of The Boys' Club would probably make a great Christmas gift for someone you know.
You can get one here: