‘Best to move on': Melbourne Racing Club's shock call to remove CEO
Melbourne Racing Club has suddenly removed CEO Tom Reilly just months after the former newspaper editor was appointed to the role.
MRC Chairman John Kanga announced on Monday night that the club that runs Caulfield Racecourse had removed Reilly from the position because 'sometimes it just doesn't work out'.
'Tom was only CEO for three months and when things don't go as well as they should, it is best to pivot and move on,' Kanga said in a statement released by the MRC.
'Everyone can be assured that we have put a management structure in place to ensure a smooth transition.
'I will spend substantial time at the club as chairman, as I did before Tom Reilly was appointed and am pleased to announce that we have appointed Tanya Fullarton as Chief Operating Officer to work with me.'
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Fullarton is a board member with Geelong Racing Club and vice-chairman of the Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association (TROA), sitting alongside billionaire racehorse owner Jonathan Munz who is TROA chairman.
Reilly's sudden axing on the King's Birthday weekend follows a turbulent 12 months for the Melbourne Racing Club.
Kanga filed a motion in August last year for a special general meeting to remove board members Matt Cain, Nick Hassett, Mark Pratt, Brooke Dawson, Scott Davidson and Jill Monk.

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West Australian
2 days ago
- West Australian
Collingwood coach Craig McRae says umpires are watching Nick Daicos' attention as West Coast weigh up tag
Collingwood coach Craig McRae has revealed the umpires are looking closely at the extra attention being paid to his superstar Nick Daicos as West Coast weigh up tagging the Brownlow Medal fancy. Daicos has been heavily targeted for most of his 84-game career, but the tactics of opposition players on the Magpies' vice-captain have come into the spotlight in recent weeks. Melbourne wingman Ed Langdon restricted Daicos to only 19 disposals in the King's Birthday clash before the bye, while Marcus Winghager was fined for striking the 22-year-old, while vision showed the St Kilda stopper kneeing him in the hamstring off the ball at the weekend. McRae revealed at his weekly press conference that he'd spoken to the umpires and AFL coaching engagement manager Dan Richardson about the tactics used against Daicos. 'Without oversharing — I think there's a level of eyes on him (Daicos) and I was pleased to hear that,' he said. 'There are four umpires; they're looking for things particularly around stoppage. It's just nice to hear that. 'Everyone's just trying to support him. He's a high-end talent, Nick and this is a progression. Even chatting to Pendles (Scott Pendlebury), he went through this early in his career. You have to go through this … the best players have to cope with this. This is part of Nick's journey right now.' Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said the Eagles were yet to decide if they would tag Daicos, but if they did, it would likely be a job for Brady Hough. 'He (Daicos) is such an exceptional player. His brother (Josh) is pretty handy too, and they've also got a few others that are quite capable,' he said. 'It's definitely a challenge. There's no easy answer to it. Even when you tag Nick, he's pretty handy still. 'We think Houghy has got the skill set to do it, for sure. Playing (in) defence for the first four years of his career and then building his game that way ... if we do go that way, it probably would be Houghy.' Asked about the Eagles potentially tagging Daicos, McRae said: 'It's just the journey of Nick, isn't it? Every opposition wants to take something away from Nick, and for a couple of weeks, it seemed like they took a little bit away,' McRae said on Thursday. 'I said after the game that this isn't the first game that he's had 30 possessions and been tagged. He's been doing that for 70-odd games, getting tagged regularly and high performing. 'I just thought we supported him a bit better and he's a pretty hard player to tag, his running capability is huge.'

Herald Sun
3 days ago
- Herald Sun
Coates Talent League live stream: Calder Cannons v Sandringham Dragons
He's 'an AFL player' in waiting, according to coach Rob Harding. Sandringham Dragon Sacha Levine is catching the eye of recruiters this season, with the 188cm prospect drawing comparisons to existing top-level names. Taking his game to another level this year as a tall, inside midfielder, he's featured in his side's best in seven of his nine Coates Talent League matches. Levine will be in action when the Dragons take on the Calder Cannons in a double header on Saturday live streamed exclusively on KommunityTV. The clubs will clash at Highgate Recreation Reserve in the girls at 10am followed by the boys at 12.10pm. 'He's getting a bit of AFL interest now which is fantastic,' Harding said of Levine, who trialled for Vic Metro earlier this year. 'He had 25 touches and four shots at goal on the weekend (against Tasmania), so his game's progressing really well … I think he's a draftable talent.' Harding says the Ormond product's 'contest craft' had grown to bear all the tools needed at the top level. 'His ability to spread, transition and cover the ground is really good, and that was the bit of his game that he needed to build on,' he said. 'His endurance has improved a lot in the last 12 months – he's become a powerful, drive-legs-out-of-front stoppage player, and I think as a big midfielder at AFL level, that's what you need to be. 'He's an exciting prospect.' Levine was 'developing along the same trajectory' as a pair of recent Dragons graduates according to Harding. 'I compare him, in talking to clubs, a lot to (Carlton's) Cooper Lord and (Western Bulldogs') Luke Kennedy – they played very similar roles for us and got drafted,' he said. 'He's an AFL player, I believe, I think he's got the attributes to play at the level and he's building a really good, consistent body of work and showing clubs what he can do. 'He'll win that real tough inside ball, and be able to release to players a step outside so they can get out into space.' Meanwhile, fellow midfielder Bennett Martin was also garnering AFL interest amid a campaign yielding six nods in the best from eight appearances. 'He's playing a mix of half-back and midfield – he played midfield on the weekend and also had mid-20s touches,' Harding said. 'He's one of our leaders and heart-and-soul players – he's very vocal, energetic, gets around the boys, he's a competitor and he's a consistent player and that's why he's got a fair bit of interest as well.' With no school footy this weekend, the Dragons are set to roll out a full complement of talent in Saturday's bout with the Calder Cannons – including seven Vic Metro-listed players. Among them is Jack Dalton, who starred as Metro's under-16 MVP in 2023. Recovering from two broken forearms earlier this year, the Dragons' vice-captain is touted as a 'high-level player'. 'He played with us on the King's Birthday Friday night, that weekend was his first game of the year,' Harding said. 'He played really well as an inside midfielder, and he's building towards playing nationals in a couple of weeks. He'll play a mix of wing and mid with us this week.' Harding says there'll also be some 'pretty special talents for next year's draft' on show. 'Max Matthews, our under-16 metro captain last year, played his first game on the weekend - he's a rebounding defender and beautiful ball-user,' he said. 'Arki Butler, who's probably a top-10 talent for next year already, he'll play a bit more midfield for the first time. 'We'll put out a pretty strong team, which I'm excited to see.' Also look out for: Dragons girls forward Maya Duane, with the East Malvern talent this season representing Vic Metro under-16s as well as kicking 14 goals from six matches (five named in the best) at under-18 level; Taj Robinson (U18 Boys Calder Cannons) with the Keilor product booting 15 goals from eight games including four nods in the best; and medium forward Shauna McElligott (U18 Girls Calder Cannons), who's averaging 17.5 disposals this season among seven mentions in the best – including 13 disposals, three marks, nine tackles, three clearances and two goals against Northern Territory last round.


West Australian
3 days ago
- West Australian
West Coast coach Andrew McQualter ponders whether to tag Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos
West Coast coach Andrew McQualter says there is 'no easy answer' to arguably the toughest question in the AFL — how do you stop Collingwood megastar Nick Daicos? Debate rages in the AFL about whether clubs should even attempt to tag Daicos, who despite being only 84 games into his career is already en route to becoming a great of the game. It is a job that looks set to be put on the plate of emerging West Coast midfielder Brady Hough. The attention given to the 22-year-old has made headlines in recent weeks, but it reached a new level at the weekend after the tactics of St Kilda stopper Marcus Windhager were put in the spotlight. Windhager was charged by expert defensive coach Ross Lyon to run with Daicos and the Saint's tactics became the source of controversy after vision showed him kneeing the Magpies midfielder in the back of the hamstring off the ball. The 22-year-old Saint also copped a fine for hitting Daicos in the chest, with the Magpie earning one of his four free kicks for the game. Daicos has received a lot of attention from the opposition, with Melbourne wingman Ed Langdon restricting him to only 19 disposals and a goal in the King's Birthday clash, while Fremantle's Corey Wagner won the battle in round nine, holding him to only 18 touches and a goal. Should West Coast choose to tag Daicos when they take on the ladder leaders at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, McQualter is likely to turn to defender-turned-midfielder Hough. Hough was sent to Geelong star Bailey Smith after the Brownlow Medal favourite had 15 first-quarter disposals in their round 12 clash at Optus Stadium. Smith was restricted to only 21 more for the rest of the game as Hough kept close tabs on the former Western Bulldogs hard-runner. McQualter said they were yet to decide if they would try to tag Daicos and if they did it would be a job for Hough — who was one of the best small defenders until the early part of this season. 'He (Daicos) is such an exceptional player. His brother (Josh) is pretty handy too and they've also got a few others that are quite capable,' he said. 'It's definitely a challenge. There's no easy answer to it. Even when you tag Nick, he's pretty handy still. 'We think Houghy has got the skill set to do it, for sure. Playing (in) defence for the first four years of his career and then building his game that way ... if we do go that way it probably would be Houghy.' Daicos averaged an incredible 29 disposals for his career, but seems to save of his best games for taking on West Coast. In three appearances against the Eagles, the son-of-a-gun averages 33 disposals, one goal, five tackles, five inside 50s and four clearances. It includes a performance which earned him three Brownlow votes in their corresponding match in Docklands last year when he tore the Eagles apart with 36 disposals, seven clearances, seven tackles, six inside 50s and a goal in a 66-point thumping. Former Eagle Mark Hutchings — who was the tagger in the 2018 premiership — said his advice would be to try to ensure Daicos got the majority of his disposals in the back half where it would be less damaging. 'For some players its the contest, around the stoppages and the clearances. For others it's more the outside ball ... you have to sit down and find where these players are getting the majority of their touches,' he said. 'With a Daicos or anyone else, if they're getting their touches in the back half, it's not as damaging so your fine to let them have that a bit. 'If you know they're that outside, handball receive player or loose ball get type ... you would have to be close in general play.' Hutchings warned that Daicos' teammates would try to find ways to get the star involved in the game if the was being restricted because of the attention. 'It's difficult because Collingwood will look to give him the ball, so he's going to get those handball receives and his teammates look after him in terms of getting him the ball. 'It's difficult but my advice would be do the best you can to try to get his touches in the back half and know you're going to be running for 120 minutes.' McQualter said tagging had become popular again after it had gone out of vogue for a while. 'I was a battler tagger myself in the day, so I am supportive of the tagger,' he said. 'The games got rules and you can push the rules as far as you can but ultimately if you're breaking the rules, you should get free kicks against or the punishment against. 'There's an art to it and it's umpires to make the calls.' McQualter would no go into whether he thought Windhager went too far in his tactics. 'It's not for me to say. I thought that he was disciplined to his job,' he said. 'And there were times where he gave away free kicks and the umpires paid those free kicks. And so be it.'