Collingwood president Jeff Browne has told the club board of his intention to step down from his position at an unspecified time, as the Magpies begin the task of identifying a successor.
But Browne does not intend to give up the Collingwood presidency until he is satisfied the club is in good shape for his successor, which could be within the next 12 months or earlier, depending on how he views the club’s position, according to three Collingwood sources familiar with the board manoeuvres, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Browne has indicated he will step down if and when he feels the Magpies are in good shape “with things in order,” according to a club source.
Current board member and wealthy funds manager Barry Carp is viewed by the board as the most likely successor internally, if he decides to pursue the presidency once Browne, the former Nine boss and AFL head lawyer, departs.
The timing of Browne’s exit is unclear, the sources confirmed, but the internal expectation is that he will leave within 12 months. He is up for re-election at the end of this year, when his election would be assured given Collingwood’s storied 2023 premiership and the club’s rise under senior coach Craig McRae.
The succession of the presidency was discussed at a recent board meeting. While former 1980s and ’90s player Paul Tuddenham signalled an interest in taking the presidency, sources say Tuddenham – the son of former Collingwood great Des Tuddenham – is now unlikely to be candidate. Collingwood’s members elect the board for three-year terms, with the board electing the president.
Carp and finance industry executive Renee Roberts are due for re-election this December, alongside Browne, the trio having joined the board at the end of 2021 in a board shake-up.
Browne is also one of the most influential of the 18 club presidents, who have asserted more say in the competition in the past few years and sought to shift the power balance from a dominant AFL administration towards the clubs. He is a close ally of Sydney president Andrew Pridham and has been a driver, with Essendon president David Barham, of the AFL’s concussion indemnity plan.
Browne has become more heavily involved in the workings of Collingwood’s football department recently, having stepped in an attempt to smooth over significant tensions between now-departed football boss Graham Wright and chief executive Craig Kelly. Wright opted to leave the club – for which he played in a premiership alongside Kelly – following a club-paid sabbatical that lasted the duration of the 2024 season.
Browne and the board’s football director, Paul Licuria, will also have a say in the appointment of Wright’s replacement as general manager of football operations.
Browne and Kelly opted to let Wright take leave and re-organised the football department during the season in Wright’s absence, with senior assistant coaches Justin Leppitsch (list management) and Brendon Bolton (football operations) taking over Wrights’ duties, backed up by Kelly, the influential former player agent and events management company boss who took over as CEO early in 2023.
The absence of an experienced football general manager – which saw the coaches re-organised, as Leppitsch and Bolton changed roles – caused some unease and friction within Collingwood’s football department this season, as the Magpies failed to make the finals, finishing ninth. Leppitsch has since been appointed as head of list management and strategy. Bolton will not be a candidate for the football GM role.
Browne, 72, was diagnosed with myeloma, a form of blood cancer, during 2023 but has told staff and other AFL people that he is in remission after responding well to treatment.
In addition to Browne, Carp, Roberts and Tuddenham, the seven-member club board comprises Licuria, vice president Jodie Sizer and ex-Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate – the latter trio all having served on the board of Eddie McGuire and in the brief presidency of Mark Korda.