AFL CEO Andrew Dillon says Laura Kane was not set up to fail after her role as executive general manager of football was split in two as part of a major leadership restructure announced on Thursday.
Dillon also denied that unconscious gender bias had affected Kane’s relationship with officials at the League’s 18 clubs, saying “it’s not a gender thing”.
Kane, who was the first woman to serve as the League’s top football official, will remain on the AFL executive as EGM of football operations, with responsibility for delivering the AFL, AFLW, VFL and VFLW competitions, as well as overseeing the League’s mental health and welfare response.
A new EGM of football performance will lead key on-field functions including the Match Review Office, umpiring, the laws of the game, and football engagement with the 18 clubs.
“There’s just issues always in the AFL, and you’ve got, particularly with the 18 clubs, it’s a hyper-competitive competition,” Dillon told ABC radio on Friday morning.
“Just the smallest little things can make a difference, and so always, whether it was when it was me in the role, Steve Hocking, Mark Evans before that, Adrian Anderson before him, and then Andrew Demetriou, there’s always been tension with the clubs, but no, it’s not a gender thing.
“Laura’s broken down a lot of barriers and she’s an incredibly talented administrator and she will continue to be incredibly successful, and she’ll be a great help for me and a great help for the team going forward.”
AFL Executive General Manager of Football Laura Kane speaks to media ahead of the first ever AFL game at Barossa Park on April 10, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos
Dillon pointed to Kane’s history as a long-serving administrator at North Melbourne as evidence that she had strong relationships at club level, and understood the needs of the League’s 18 teams.
“She’s got incredible relationships with the football departments, and she will still be – every single day, as she’s putting on the logistics of the game and every weekend when she’s at the game – interacting with coaches, heads of football and the like,” Dillon said.
“What this structure and the change to the structure does, though, is provide the AFL with the best chance to succeed, and when I was talking to staff that were affected yesterday, they are decisions that affect people, but they’re not personal, because it’s actually for all of us.”
In other changes, a new chief operating officer will be appointed, long-serving EGM of social policy and inclusion Tanya Hosch will depart the AFL on June 6, and general counsel Stephen Meade will no longer be on the executive but will still report to Dillon.
Dillon said the changes to his leadership team were about putting “footy at the heart of everything we do.”
AFL Executive General Manager for Inclusion and Social Policy Tanya Hosch speaks to the media on October 22, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos
“I’ve been in the role now for 18 months and it’s a bit over two years since I got announced. And so having a look at how we’re going and just seeing the complexity now in the football operations department, in particular, I made the call that football is at the heart of everything that we do.
“When I’m, after 18 months, looking at my team and how are we best set up to succeed, having two roles on the executive with a focus on football’s really important to me. It’s to say, footy’s at the heart of everything that we do. We also do a lot of other stuff, but footy at the heart of it. ”
Dillon said he had been speaking with Tanya Hosch about her role at the AFL for “a couple of months” and said he was focused on establishing a leadership structure that best suited the AFL going forward.
“[Tanya’s] broken down a lot of barriers, made some incredible insights for the AFL, and she’s taught us a lot, but the time was right for a change there. Her contribution will be celebrated, and now we have to move forward,” Dillon said.
“What’s important for me, particularly this area, is that it’s not funnelling all of this through one person, but it’s actually about having more leaders and more voices, and that’s what we’ll continue to have.”
“We’ve got incredible leaders again all throughout our organisation. Denise Bowden has joined the Commission, first commissioner from the Northern Territory, so she adds great leadership there. Paul Briggs, who’s the co-chair of our Indigenous Advisory Council, so we’ll continue to take advice from them. And then within the organisation, incredible leaders like Chad Wingard, who’s just come on board, Pauly Vandenbergh, Jade Adams, and others.”
