Collingwood’s loss is Carlton’s gain: The power moves behind Wright’s appointment

Collingwood’s loss is Carlton’s gain: The power moves behind Wright’s appointment

Loading

Wright was highly sought after once it became clear he was unlikely to return to Collingwood.

Sayers learnt of the possible availability of Wright almost two months ago and called him when Wright was in the south of France with his wife.

He said the club had been looking at candidates for 12 months, and at what the Blues needed to go from “being a good club today moving towards a great club”. Wright fit that skill set, he said, and it was ideal to have Wright come in and be mentored by Cook for up to 12 months.

Collingwood president Jeff Browne will not seek re-election.

Collingwood president Jeff Browne will not seek re-election.Credit: Getty Images

“We are always wanting to win premierships, I am not going to shy away from that. We start out each year wanting to win games of footy, get into the finals, ideally get into the top four then win premierships. We are very focused on trying to achieve that next year but also sustainably setting us up so it is not just a boom-bust like oftentimes football clubs are,” Sayers said.

Loading

Wright said he was attracted to the role of CEO and described himself as a values-driven leader.

“I felt I had more to give than just football. But I know how big football is and it is such an important part of any football club, so when that opportunity was there and particularly to work with Brian [Cook] I was really excited by that,” Wright said.

“I actually resigned from Collingwood [last year], they wouldn’t accept my resignation – but there was always a chance I would do something else or look to do something else and that became clearer for me towards the back end of July.

“I wish everyone at Collingwood well, except when they play Carlton.”

Loading

Collingwood have not only failed to entice Wright back to his old job; they are unable, as yet, to find a suitable replacement for him.

Wright was previously not only the head of football but combined the role as list manager, so the club is currently going through this trade period with a new list manager in Justin Leppitsch, who has never done the job before, without a head of football to assist him.

Collingwood confirmed on Tuesday that not only was Browne, who is in remission from last year’s cancer diagnosis after extensive treatment, not going to seek re-election for another three-year term but that long-term board member and former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate would not seek re-election.

Current board member Barry Carp is seeking re-election and will almost certainly be chosen to replace Browne as president. The club has nominated Gaye Morris and Dan Rosen to fill the Browne and Holgate vacancies on the board.

Rosen is the president of Warner Music Australia while Morris is a human resources professional, currently the strategic client partner at Mercer.

Get daily updates on all the AFL trade period action. Sign up for our Real Footy newsletter.

OR

Scroll to Top