Mick Malthouse: New AFL appointments Greg Swann & Tom Harley will benefit West Coast Eagles & Fremantle

West Australian

05-06-2025

The AFL has made massive moves this week by appointing Greg Swann to executive general manager of football performance and — in all probability — Tom Harley to chief operating officer.
These will be highly positive selections, particularly for West Coast and Fremantle.
Both men are admired in the football industry for what they have achieved in their previous roles, and the way they go about things. They each have experience with at least two AFL clubs, and they have both been involved in AFL premierships — one as a player and one as an administrator.
But perhaps their greatest asset as far as non-Victorian clubs go, is that they know how football clubs operate outside of the traditional football state.
They know, because at Brisbane and Sydney they have experienced the pitfalls, the angst, the travel and the non-sensical fixturing for interstate clubs.
Yes, NSW is just over an hour's flight away from Melbourne and Queensland is two-and-a-half hours away and during winter both states are in the same time zone as Victoria.
It's not the four-plus hours of travel and a two-hour time difference that the West Aussie clubs deal with, however, it's enough for Swann and Harley to have a sympathetic ear and a supportive voice for the non-Victorian clubs within the walls of the AFL and that's a positive for the Dockers and the Eagles.
Harley's potential move to basically become Andrew Dillon's second is not really a surprise. He was Geelong's premiership captain in 2007 and 2009 and CEO of Sydney for their recent grand final losses. Knowing what it's like to win and lose is important, because it's not all beer and skittles.
I have worked with Tom in the media and found him to be honest, knowledgeable, and a good listener. All great qualities for an AFL executive.
Swann and I started at Collingwood together. The club was virtually broke, had low membership numbers and hadn't played finals for a record number of years.
Greg came from a major accounting firm with high job security and an international bias. My initial thoughts were, why him? Until I quickly realised he was a football fanatic and not scared to get his hands dirty. He turned the club and its finances around very quickly.
Years later, Greg was the person who convinced me to go to Carlton, as he had started to do the same thing for the Blues.
Little did I realise that his tenure would end too quickly for me to establish myself at Carlton as he answered an S.O.S. call from the AFL to move North and take on a very challenging job as CEO of the Brisbane Lions.
No doubt his highlight there would be last year's premiership.
As surprised as I was to hear of his appointment at the AFL, I also wasn't surprised. It makes total sense, actually.
Greg, by his own admission, loves the football side of the job even more so than the administrative side. He would spend hours with me at Collingwood and Carlton talking about the game and where we stood. So his new role as football performance boss, is tailor made for him.
He is well regarded within the football community and would have no worries in walking through the front door of AFL House and being accepted immediately.
There is no doubt he will have strong views on the laws of the game and other such things and won't hesitate to make recommendations to club bosses to improve their lot.
For the non-Victorian clubs, he will be an ally. And it's about time too.