Jeff Kennett, the newly minted Hawthorn president and long-time scourge of AFL bosses, has already begun jousting with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan in a relationship that is sure to have its flashpoints.
Kennett was nominated as Richard Garvey's replacement at the Hawks two weeks ago, on a Wednesday. The following evening, he was sharing a glass of red -- perhaps two -- with Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson as they put their occasional differences behind them and talked about the club's future plans. Midway through that discussion, Kennett's phone rang. He couldn't answer it but, scrolling through his messages later, realised that the AFL boss had left him a voice message.
"Welcome back, Lazarus," said McLachlan, referring to Kennett's earlier stint as president.
Kennett returned serve with a message of his own that went something along the lines of: 'I gather you had a turn when you heard I was back in town, so I'm glad you're back on your feet and feeling better!'
The former Victorian Premier, who led the Hawks from 2005 to 2011, told ESPN that he appreciated McLachlan's call and hoped it presaged a constructive relationship with head office -- something that was not always the case with McLachlan's predecessor, Andrew Demetriou.
But Kennett said he would be as candid and outspoken as ever on issues that affected Hawthorn, and the football community more broadly.
He told ESPN that he already had a list of concerns about the league's burgeoning staff numbers, its remuneration for executives, and its desire to be a voice for social issues in the community when it was an organisation formed by the clubs in 1985 to be a 'keeper of the code', and whose only remit was governance of the game.
"I'm looking forward to examining the annual report closely because I want to see where the money is spent, and how many people are employed and so on," Kennett told ESPN.
"There's a perception it's a bit of a gravy train down there. I'm not saying that's right but I'd like to see the figures and form my own opinion.
"The AFL has something like 700 employees, which seems a lot; that's almost one for every player. It's like having one teacher for every student, or one nurse for every patient, so I'd like to explore why those staff numbers are so high.
"Also, it concerns me that the AFL Commission, which was formed by the clubs to look after the governance of the game, is now the first port of call for comment about all manner of social issues that have nothing to do with football."
Kennett, who recently resigned as head of beyondblue and handed over the reins to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, said his six years away from the AFL had given him a fresh perspective on the game and how it is played.
He said he found this year's grand final between Richmond and Adelaide to be "terribly uninteresting" and "not a good game to watch", in spite of the emotion surrounding the Tigers' win, and he hoped the code would regain its spectacular features without any need for rule changes.
Kennett's appointment will be ratified at the club's annual general meeting in December.
New chief executive, Justin Reeves, begins with the Hawks at the end of the month.