Goodbye Gill

[Hotpotato]

Why isnt Roosey on the short list ?

[goswannies]

Andrew Pridham has declared today “that the AFL has big shoes to fill”.

I think the negative Red and White voices on Gill will now go to ground as nobody on this forum will contradict the Swans President.

I’m not entirely sure what you expected Pridham to say, especially when Gill the Dill’s tenure isn’t up and he can still impact on our club’s fortunes.

And Pridham is a class act and a professional. It’s beneath him to fire cheap shots at a departing thorn in the Swans side.

Or perhaps Pridham is just very clever offering a compliment veiling indifference. Gill the Dill was a ruckman and as such was tall and consequently had large feet. Big shoes to fill without meaning that Gill did anything worthwhile at all.

[stevoswan]

Andrew Pridham has declared today “that the AFL has big shoes to fill”.

I think the negative Red and White voices on Gill will now go to ground as nobody on this forum will contradict the Swans President.

I'll admit I didn't see the full context of Pridham's 'big shoes' comment but maybe it's more a reference to the importance of the position and getting it right.....rather than an endorsement of Gil's performance.

In fact, I would bet my money on it. A warning disguised as a compliment.

[KSAS]

I agreed with AFL360's assessment on Gill last night, with getting the AFL competition though the challenging pandemic will be viewed as his greatest legacy balanced against the Goodes saga where poor leadership was displayed. Robbo emphasising Gill/AFL didn't know what to do & hoped problem went away before they decided to do something, which was then far too late.

They also viewed the AFLW competition as another of Gill's legacy, particularly with all 18 teams being represented later this year.

I was hoping Robbo would've also raised the Trade Ban, which he'd vehemently critized it being unfair at the time as I recall.

Interesting to see who will end up succeeding Gill, with consensus that it will be most certainly be from within, either from club land (i.e. Brendan Gale) or AFL HQ (i.e. Trevor Auld).

[Nico]

The Brad Scott appointment bemused me.

[dejavoodoo44]

The Brad Scott appointment bemused me.

The appointment of former Collingwood list manager, Ned Guy, as his list managing offsider, was also head scratching.

[MattW]

I agreed with AFL360's assessment on Gill last night, with getting the AFL competition though the challenging pandemic will be viewed as his greatest legacy balanced against the Goodes saga where poor leadership was displayed. Robbo emphasising Gill/AFL didn't know what to do & hoped problem went away before they decided to do something, which was then far too late.

They also viewed the AFLW competition as another of Gill's legacy, particularly with all 18 teams being represented later this year.

I was hoping Robbo would've also raised the Trade Ban, which he'd vehemently critized it being unfair at the time as I recall.

Interesting to see who will end up succeeding Gill, with consensus that it will be most certainly be from within, either from club land (i.e. Brendan Gale) or AFL HQ (i.e. Trevor Auld).

I haven't noticed anyone in the media mentioning the absurd and illogical trade ban and 'you can't have everyone' explanation, which is a bit annoying.

[barry]

I can't imagine Gill as a good negotiator, so I think the 'big deals' he got for TV rights were based on the real negotiator s before him who flipped the deal from 7 to 9 and 10. That put a rocket up the TV networks that AFL won't be pisswd around. From then on, it was easy.

[Bangalore Swans]

One of the hallmarks of Gill’s tenure was his ability to keep the Qld AFL hub going in 2020. I think he developed a very good partnership with the Qld Premier and that helped the game greatly.

The entitled Qld hub behaviour that Gill had to deal with from some Richmond families, the disgraceful scenes of AFL wags living it up in the resort hub pool whilst supposed to be 14 days isolating, and Cotchins wife going for a pamper would have been enough to overwhelm a lesser executive. Not Gill. He smothed things over with the Qld Premier and then like a good principal was able to put the rest of the entitled Qld AFL hub community on notice and thus correcting their behaviour.

We should be grateful to Gill as an AFL community that he was able to keep the Qld premier on side through these difficult moments. If the CHO had thrown out the AFL then the game could have collapsed.

[Aprilbr]

One of the hallmarks of Gill’s tenure was his ability to keep the Qld AFL hub going in 2020. I think he developed a very good partnership with the Qld Premier and that helped the game greatly.

The entitled Qld hub behaviour that Gill had to deal with from some Richmond families, the disgraceful scenes of AFL wags living it up in the resort hub pool whilst supposed to be 14 days isolating, and Cotchins wife going for a pamper would have been enough to overwhelm a lesser executive. Not Gill. He smothed things over with the Qld Premier and then like a good principal was able to put the rest of the entitled Qld AFL hub community on notice and thus correcting their behaviour.

We should be grateful to Gill as an AFL community that he was able to keep the Qld premier on side through these difficult moments. If the CHO had thrown out the AFL then the game could have collapsed.

Agreed, BS. It was an amazing achievement to navigate the covid lockdown period. I read he was working 19 hour days for weeks on end and had to negotiate difficult situations like sudden changes in govt policy, venue shut-downs, crowd restrictions, player reluctance to be in hubs, and secure a very large bank line of credit within days, to name a few. Some competitions overseas are still feeling the financial impact of Covid much more than us. For example, famous soccer clubs in Italy and Spain like AC Milan and Barcelona had to have a fire sale of stars to stay afloat. We never had to do anything like that. In fact, the competition seems to have emerged from it relatively unscathed.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Agreed, BS. It was an amazing achievement to navigate the covid lockdown period. I read he was working 19 hour days for weeks on end and had to negotiate difficult situations like sudden changes in govt policy, venue shut-downs, crowd restrictions, player reluctance to be in hubs, and secure a very large bank line of credit within days, to name a few. Some competitions overseas are still feeling the financial impact of Covid much more than us. For example, famous soccer clubs in Italy and Spain like AC Milan and Barcelona had to have a fire sale of stars to stay afloat. We never had to do anything like that. In fact, the competition seems to have emerged from it relatively unscathed.

Gilligan (or Scomo for that matter) being giving credit for navigating Covid is a fabrication of the sycophantic media. Australia, unlike Italy/Spain (and despite the malignant efforts of the neo con's) has barely been touched by Covid. Just a thought btw.

I'm going to hold back from celebrating 'til we find out who his replacement is...

And that is the big issue Liz.
Apparently Gil wants to oversee the choice of a replacement in the same way as Andy before him. Heaven help us, do we realy need another decade of kleptocratic incompetence?
The AFL commission hasn't had or wanted an actual leader since Oakley, which is why they turned down both Cook and Gale. They want business as usual, the last thing the commission wants is someone that might bring about change.

[0918330512]

One of the hallmarks of Gill’s tenure was his ability to keep the Qld AFL hub going in 2020. I think he developed a very good partnership with the Qld Premier and that helped the game greatly.

The entitled Qld hub behaviour that Gill had to deal with from some Richmond families, the disgraceful scenes of AFL wags living it up in the resort hub pool whilst supposed to be 14 days isolating, and Cotchins wife going for a pamper would have been enough to overwhelm a lesser executive. Not Gill. He smothed things over with the Qld Premier and then like a good principal was able to put the rest of the entitled Qld AFL hub community on notice and thus correcting their behaviour.

We should be grateful to Gill as an AFL community that he was able to keep the Qld premier on side through these difficult moments. If the CHO had thrown out the AFL then the game could have collapsed.

All very civil so I suppose we should be quite grateful.

But then I remember that we finished the 2020 season 16th, in a season marked with an asterisk, so I couldn’t care a rat’s fat clacker whether it went ahead or not.

It was during the early part of Gill’s reign that the Swans were slapped with an inexplicable trade ban after landing Tippett and then Buddy.

And the only thing that makes the AFLs emphasis that, “no matter happens to Bud or the rest of the competition, you’ll be suffering the consequences of his 9 year deal” even remotely palatable to me is that he might yet extend a little longer.

Soon after that, Adam Goodes was mercilessly booed from the game with little support from Gill.

The 2016 Grand Final free kick farce was under the watchful eye of Gill.

And most of the while failing any meaningful sanctions against Eddie McGuire for his multiple and repeated verbal gaffs. Spineless pandering to a Broady Bully

We should be grateful to Gill as an AFL community

You certainly can. Overall, it’s a no from me.

Seeya’ Gill. Don’t mind if the door hits you on the ass on the way out.

[Bay View]

Tom Harley would be a good replacement.

[Ludwig]

I think Adam Goodes should replace Gil. He would address the AFL's integrity issues and provide some real leadership.

[barry]

I think Adam Goodes should replace Gil. He would address the AFL's integrity issues and provide some real leadership.

He's the obvious choice.