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Sport Nation
The key changes in Dillon's AFL executive team
SEN • May 29th, 2025 4:42 pm
The AFL has undergone a restructure at the helm, with a number of major shifts set to take place within the head office.
CEO Andrew Dillon announced today that the league’s football department will be dividing into multiple different sectors, with a new role introduced to cover a selection of current AFL issues.
The new ‘Football Performance’ role has been announced, set to take responsibility for MRO, umpiring, game analysis, player movement, laws of the game, innovation and club engagement within football.
According to SEN’s Tom Morris, this means Laura Kane’s responsibilities have been divided, with the current Football Operations boss to oversee concussion management, mental health response, AFL, AFLW, VFL, VFLW and the Coates League.
The changes will also see Tanya Hosch departing from her role as the Executive General Manager of Inclusion and Social Policy.
Dillon said: "The game is the reason we exist; it is as big and as good as it has ever been, and the AFL football department must continue to evolve. It must be structured, resourced and led in a way that can ensure everyone - the clubs, players, coaches, umpires and officials can continue to perform at the highest possible level.
"Laura will continue to play a major leadership role within the AFL, but the overall responsibility has grown so much that the traditional leadership role for an individual executive in footy is no longer the best model.
"Her leadership, expertise and ongoing relationships within our industry is an important part of our next phase, including driving the growth of the AFLW competition, and leading the newly formed healthcare and medical team, in which so much work is undertaken behind the scenes with clubs and players.
"Footy is at the heart of everything we do, it has to be front and centre. It's the reason people care, the reason they're passionate, the reason they show up every week. My focus is making sure we keep working closely with our clubs, coaches and players to keep our game strong, and to ensure footy remains the number one sport in the country — by every measure.
"The games are competitive, anyone on any given day can win, and more people than ever are playing, participating and watching right across the country. That's a credit to the many people who've come before us, and my priority is to build on this into the future.
"In order to get to 10 million fans, two million members and one million participants, I need to set us up in the right way, and these changes announced today reflect that commitment.
"The game must always continue to be at the forefront."
