AFLPA chairman Ian Prendergast, right, pictured here with chief executive Matt Finnis, is one of the most powerful men in football.Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: Herald Sun
EVERYONE knows the role Stevie Johnson played in Geelong's premierships.
But how many know the name or the face of the man who brought him to the club?
We know the ins and outs of Chris Judd's and Kurt Tippett's contract dramas, but virtually nothing about the man who polices them.
Bruce McAvaney is the one we associate with Channel 7's Friday night football, never the bloke on the other side of the camera who controls the footage beamed into our living rooms.
People like Stephen Wells, Ken Wood and Gary O'Keeffe heavily influence Australian football as we know it, and represent a cross-section of the invisible men and women of AFL football.
Geelong, with its three premierships, is the most successful AFL club of the past decade, however the Cats have tended to epitomise better than anyone the no-fuss low-key approach.
Two men who typify those understated methods are Wells, widely regarded as one of the best recruiters in the business, and team performance manager Steve Hocking.
Geelong's general manager of football, Neil Balme, suggested that the pair's low media profiles could be attributed to the fact that they felt secure in their own capabilities and standing within the club, and therefore "they don't feel the need to blow their own trumpets".
"It's not that they are happy being in the background - and they're very much not in the background from club's perspective - it's just that they're consumed by doing what they do, and that doesn't require them being in the public spotlight," Balme said.
Wells succinctly explained what motivated him when receiving Geelong's R.J. Hickey award in 2009 for outstanding service to Australian football.
"I'm so lucky," Wells said.
"It's a joy to come to work ... I think I might have the best job in the world."
THE LIST
1. KEN WOOD
AFL club compliance officer
WOOD is a somewhat mysterious figure loosely known as the AFL's salary-cap watchdog. He makes a conscious decision to keep out of the spotlight (no photograph of him exists in the Herald Sun data base) and the AFL prefers it that way, too. But make no mistake, he carries considerable clout. Wood, who is part of the AFL's football operations sub-committee, heads a team of five that constantly monitors and investigates clubs and players regarding their salary cap, marketing allowance and third-party payments. He is the AFL's go-to man for issues such as Kurt Tippett's contract or Chris Judd's Visy deal.
2. DEAN MOORE
Sydney Swans general manager of football
MOORE was the South Melbourne team manager in the late 1970s before moving to AFL headquarters, where he spent more than two decades, eventually settling into the role of projects manager. His intimate knowledge of the league's inner workings made Moore a great pick-up for the Swans he when returned to club land at the end of 2009. Insiders praise his professionalism, diligence and no-nonsense efficiency. He actively avoids being the focus of media attention and, as a result, most of the population would struggle to identify Moore even if he stood up in their porridge.
3. STEVE HOCKING
Geelong team performance manager
TEN years after his under-rated 199-game career ended with the Cats' 1994 Grand Final loss, Hocking returned to Geelong as chairman of the match committee. After a couple of seasons in that role he sold his picture-framing business and took on the full-time position as Geelong's training services manager. At the end of 2006, a review of the club by chief executive Brian Cook recommended that the straight-shooting Hocking should take on a greater role and relieve the administrative pressures on coach Mark Thompson, freeing him up to concentrate on improving the players and team. Now the quintessential back-room boy, the respected Hocking even fills in as chief executive when Cook takes annual leave.
4. CHRIS LYNCH
AFL commissioner
MOST of the other commissioners would be more recognisable publicly than Lynch, who played five games in the No.31 jumper for Geelong in the early 1970s. A former BHP chief financial officer and Transurban CEO, he has been on the AFL commission since 2008. He is part of the league's audit committee and has a big say in its financial affairs. Has also taken a close interest in the progress of the Suns and the club's administrators on the Gold Coast, where he has property interests. The AFL thinks so highly of Lynch's business acumen that it is attempting to keep him involved, even though he has accepted a London-based job as Rio Tinto's CFO.
5. PHIL WALSH
West Coast's strategy and innovations coach
WALSH, who played 122 games for Collingwood, Richmond and Brisbane in the 1980s, has been an AFL assistant coach for almost two decades, but his stocks have never been higher. His degree in physical education gave him a start as a strength and conditioning coach at Geelong, before a decade spent as Port Adelaide assistant coach, taking in the 2004 premiership. Walsh earned a reputation as one of the game's sharpest football minds, and at the end of 2008 he was poached by West Coast. The Power looked to return the favour a few years later, with Walsh earmarked for the senior coaching job at Alberton in 2012, but the Eagles offered him a new deal.
6. TONY PEEK
Assistant to the AFL chief executive officer
YOU might recognise the face from the days when he was the AFL's media manager and used to tap the freshly announced Brownlow medallist on the shoulder and let him know it was time to come up on stage. Peek, 63, started as a sports journalist and went into sports marketing before joining the then-VFL in 1989. He is now Andrew Demetriou's right-hand man and one of nine on the AFL executive, doing everything from organising Demetriou's diary to scheduling and mapping out AFL commission meetings.
7. IAN PRENDERGAST
AFLPA general manager of player relations
PRENDERGAST, who played 65 games for Carlton from 1999 to 2006, has a hands-on role supporting the AFL players. Has spent time with the Essendon players over recent weeks, as well as supporting and advising players such as Chris Judd and Joel Selwood over third-party deals and their "legitimate right to earn income through these commercial arrangements". Pendergast, who completed a law degree at Monash University, joined the AFLPA in 2009. Apart from acting as an advocate for players, he also oversees the accreditation and regulation of player agents.
8. STEPHEN WELLS
Geelong recruiting manager
WHILE some AFL recruiters strut around with their chests pumped out come draft time, Wells is a more self-effacing type. Yet his record tells you he is the best recruiter in the business. The Cats' under-19s assistant coach in 1986, he was appointed their recruiting manager in 1994. Not only has Wells since recruited the footballers who took the club to three premierships, he has done so with limited access to early draft picks. Players such as Paul Chapman (pick 31), Cameron Ling (38), Corey Enright (47), Steve Johnson (24), James Kelly and Harry Taylor (both 17) help prove why Wells is rated such an astute judge.
9. PAUL ARMSTRONG
AFL Coaches' Association operations manager
WHILE former St Kilda skipper Danny Frawley is the face of the AFLCA, it is Armstrong - who played a dozen games for the Saints in 1982 - who does the grunt work. "Arma" has held a variety of roles in football, ranging from country football and U18s to being football manager at three AFL clubs, most recently during Frawley's coaching stint at Richmond. He now works closely with dozens of AFL coaches and assistant coaches, primarily helping them develop personally and professionally and supporting them in difficult times.
10. GARY O'KEEFFE
Channel 7's co-ordinating producer of AFL
YOU'LL know all of the talking heads, you've probably even heard of a few of the big bosses. But O'Keeffe is the bloke who is largely responsible for how you watch your footy matches on Channel 7. He started out as a Channel 7 cameraman in Perth in 1986 before moving to producing and directing all manner of sports, including AFL Grand Finals, Melbourne Cups and Australian Open tennis finals. It involved plenty of hours sitting in the broadcast truck calling the shots. He now oversees Seven's coverage of AFL matches as well as production of Game Day on a Sunday morning.
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