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From Snoop to Goyder: all the AFL grand final gossip · The Front

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  Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
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  Speaker 1: It's Friday, September twenty six, twenty twenty five. Anthony Albanese's
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  Speaker 1: push for a seat on the United Nations Security Council
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  Speaker 1: will likely involve Australian taxpayers spending hundreds of millions of
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  Speaker 1: dollars in new aid to Africa. It'll also put the
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  Speaker 1: PM at odds with Donald Trump, who's still sieving about
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  Speaker 1: a broken elevator and a dodgy teleprompter that marred the
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  Speaker 1: US president's speech to the UN General Assembly this week.
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  Speaker 1: Australia last held a temporary Security Council seat in twenty
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  Speaker 1: thirteen and twenty fourteen, and now Albanzi wants the gig
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  Speaker 1: back in twenty twenty nine point thirty. The future of
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  Speaker 1: one of our biggest natural gas projects is in doubt
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  Speaker 1: thanks to environmental conditions imposed by Environment Minister Murray Watt.
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  Speaker 1: Northwest Shelf project operator Woodside has already shut down one
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  Speaker 1: of the nation's oldest liquefied natural gas plants, and analysts
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  Speaker 1: say the government's bigger missions reductions targets mean a new
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  Speaker 1: gas field off Wa may never get going. Those stories
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  Speaker 1: alive right now at the Australian dot com dot au.
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  Speaker 1: Saturday's AFL Grand Final has everything. A homophobia crisis, an
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  Speaker 1: aging rapper, bored backstabbing and even some footy. High above
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  Speaker 1: the MCG on Saturday, Australia's most powerful people will gather
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  Speaker 1: to eat party pies and do some deals. Our business
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  Speaker 1: reporter John Stenzolt will be there and today he's here
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  Speaker 1: to take us inside the party of the year. John
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  Speaker 1: Stenzhelt is the Australian Senior business reporter and he'll be
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  Speaker 1: heading to the AFL Grand Final this year. But John,
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  Speaker 1: You're going to have to work, aren't you.
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  Speaker 2: Unfortunately, despite having one of the hottest tickets in town,
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  Speaker 2: there's a price to pay and I do have to
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  Speaker 2: chronicle who's who in one of the best rooms I
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  Speaker 2: think in corporate, sporting and political Australia for the year.
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  Speaker 1: Really Yeah, the Olympic Room at the MCG. Take me inside.
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  Speaker 1: What is that and who's in there?
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  Speaker 2: Well, usually six to seven hundred people and they're crammed in.
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  Speaker 2: There's tables everywhere. There's billionaires, there's CEOs, there's media industry people,
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  Speaker 2: there's all the AFL heavy hitters. Obviously there's a smattering
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  Speaker 2: of X players and legendary coaches as well. Look, I
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  Speaker 2: think it's the best room in town, so forget about
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  Speaker 2: the horse racing. Tennis Australian Open does really well too
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  Speaker 2: every January, but that's usually people are in their shorts
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  Speaker 2: and shirts. This one is a suit and tie. Best
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  Speaker 2: seats in the town from the Prime Mister usually down
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  Speaker 2: and I'm not sure if our we will be back
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  Speaker 2: for this one this time. It's usually Primeister down, billionaires
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  Speaker 2: like Kerry Stokes. It really is the krem Dela creme
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  Speaker 2: of how most powerful people in Australia.
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  Speaker 1: I often wonder in these corporate suites whether they're paid
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  Speaker 1: attention to the sport or not. In that room, do
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  Speaker 1: they actually focus once the footy starts?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think if you take someone like Richard Marles,
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  Speaker 2: who's our deputy Prime Minister, he is a geelong tragic,
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  Speaker 2: he will be focusing on the game definitely. The rest
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  Speaker 2: of them, well, it really depends on how close it is.
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  Speaker 2: So I've been to Grand Finals before where you know
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  Speaker 2: there's been floggings at halftime and all of a sudden
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  Speaker 2: you'll see that the seats outside the room, So you
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  Speaker 2: walk out a door and then you actually have a
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  Speaker 2: seat on the middle level, which is one of the
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  Speaker 2: best seats ever. Right, so you know, if the game's
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  Speaker 2: not closed, they'll be back inside the room having a
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  Speaker 2: drink and doing a lot of networking. So that's a
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  Speaker 2: good judge. If you can see it on the TV
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  Speaker 2: and this is smattering of empty seats, it means all
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  Speaker 2: the powers that be are back inside, probably having some
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  Speaker 2: party pies. Well, you know, doing some networking and are
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  Speaker 2: you talking deals and so on?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say our deals being done?
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  Speaker 1: Or is it a bit ghost to actually talk about
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  Speaker 1: business and money at this social event.
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  Speaker 2: Look, I think once you see the people with their
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  Speaker 2: scarves in for the team, which are usually you can
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  Speaker 2: tell because if they're brand new scarves, that's the first
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  Speaker 2: time these politicians or business people have been to a game, probably,
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, it's it's a place to be seen at
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  Speaker 2: the start of the game perhaps, and after that you're
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  Speaker 2: talking a lot of business.
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  Speaker 1: What's the most telling conversation or encounter you've seen happening
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  Speaker 1: in the Olympic room.
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  Speaker 2: Look, I always remember the people, you know, like Dan
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  Speaker 2: Andrews when he was a Victorian premier, you know, huddling
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  Speaker 2: with the Prime Minister of the day or someone like
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  Speaker 2: a Kerry Stokes, you know, was maybe talking a bit
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  Speaker 2: of new TV deals. In fact, that a carry out.
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  Speaker 2: I spoke to you last year and asked him. You know,
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  Speaker 2: Channel seven telecasts the game nationally and exclusively. I said,
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  Speaker 2: who's going to win today? And he smiled and said
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  Speaker 2: me so. It gives you an indication of how powerful
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  Speaker 2: these people think they are as well. But yeah, you'll
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  Speaker 2: always see politicians huddling the prime ministers there or a premier. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: there'll be people attracted them to them. Pretty quickly. Two
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  Speaker 2: of the best teams we've seen in a long time,
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  Speaker 2: and we are underway. He's feeling a desert. That's the
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  Speaker 2: first time, the big time.
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  Speaker 1: Now you're a Melbournian and I know you are actually
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  Speaker 1: one of the people who's going to be watching the football.
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  Speaker 1: It's Geelong versus Brisbane. For those who of us who
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  Speaker 1: don't follow AFL as closely, tell me what to expect
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  Speaker 1: from this game and what's at stake for these two teams.
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  Speaker 2: Look, Brisbane are the defending premiers, but Geelong, I think
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  Speaker 2: are the hot favorites. Geelong. We've had a fantastic year there.
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  Speaker 2: They're a powerhouse. They just keep on keeping on. You know,
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  Speaker 2: they're extremely good at recruiting players to you know, maybe
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  Speaker 2: leave Melbourne or leave other capital cities and maybe enjoy
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  Speaker 2: the quiet life down the surf coast of Victoria, you know,
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  Speaker 2: a bit of a serf bit of footy. They beat
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  Speaker 2: Brisbane a couple of weeks ago in the first week
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  Speaker 2: of the finals. They've beat them really well. They've had
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  Speaker 2: an excellent year. You know, the Patrick Dangerfields and the
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  Speaker 2: Bailey Smiths of the world are superstars. So look, the
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  Speaker 2: lines I think will be valiant, but you would expect
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  Speaker 2: your long win. But I'm always wrong on these.
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  Speaker 1: Oh I hope you're not going to be putting any
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  Speaker 1: money on it, then definitely not coming up. Meanwhile, the
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  Speaker 1: AFL itself is in leadership turmoil and it's chosen a
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  Speaker 1: very controversial act for the halftime entertainment. What's going wrong
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  Speaker 1: in this beloved code? Okay, now, just stepping back inside
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  Speaker 1: that Olympic room for a moment. The AFL itself has
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  Speaker 1: become one of the most dramatic organizations. It's tipped over
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  Speaker 1: from the sports pages to the business pages of our newspaper,
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  Speaker 1: The Australian. What is going on right at the top
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  Speaker 1: of the AFL and why is there a big drama
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  Speaker 1: unfolding there?
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  Speaker 2: The AFL is the biggest code in the country on
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  Speaker 2: the field, off the field, definitely money wise, but otherwise
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  Speaker 2: the boardroom's in a bit of disarray. Actually, Claire so
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  Speaker 2: the chairman, Richard Gordo, who was such a huge name
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  Speaker 2: stra business for so many years. Now perhaps that reputation
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  Speaker 2: was tarnished because he was the Quanas chairman. Quantus had
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  Speaker 2: big issues when he was there. He's hung on and
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  Speaker 2: hung on as the AFL chair role and now the
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  Speaker 2: club's want him out and he's actually said he's going
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  Speaker 2: to leave. But now becomes this big game of who
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  Speaker 2: takes over from him? And there's all these machinations and
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  Speaker 2: maneuvering going on in the background and literally behind closed
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  Speaker 2: doors and involving a lot of big Melbourne names as
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  Speaker 2: to who he is next in line for the best
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  Speaker 2: role in the Australian boardroom sport. I think so Gorda
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  Speaker 2: wants certain people in charge after him, some sort of
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  Speaker 2: a legacy play. He's put up Peter Gordon, who's a
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  Speaker 2: famous lawyer and also an ex AFL club chairman. He's
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  Speaker 2: put up Craig Drummond as well, the Transurban chairman used
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  Speaker 2: to run Medibank Private. He's opposed Jeff Brown, former Channel
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  Speaker 2: nine and AFL lawyer John nine boss and a fore
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  Speaker 2: lawyer for so many years. There's a couple of other
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  Speaker 2: names in there as well, Eddie mcwise welled around Will McLaughlin.
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  Speaker 2: All these names be around. Who's like The Coles chairman's
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  Speaker 2: also involved too. It's the very Melbourne thing, the nexus
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  Speaker 2: with you when business, politics and sport is so close
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  Speaker 2: here in this town and no one knows what's going
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  Speaker 2: to happen next.
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  Speaker 1: What's going wrong? Why is their dissatisfaction with Richard Gorder.
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  Speaker 2: Look, I mean it's a case of probably staying too long.
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  Speaker 2: He's been on the commission for more than fifteen years.
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  Speaker 2: It's about seventeen years and by the time his term
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  Speaker 2: would be up he'd stay the whole way. There's a
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  Speaker 2: bit of a thought that the AFLs that have lost
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  Speaker 2: its way a bit in terms of leadership. Andrew Dillon,
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  Speaker 2: the CEO, is very well regarded, but he's a quiet character.
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  Speaker 2: He's not the big gregarious guy that his predecessors Andrew
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  Speaker 2: Demetrio and Gilan McLaughlin were. So there's a thought that
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  Speaker 2: perhaps the AFL has been a bit weak on things,
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  Speaker 2: whether it's been on field issues with some racism or
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  Speaker 2: sexism stuff, there's been perhaps the clubs have been given
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  Speaker 2: too much leeway or they haven't cracked down on things
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  Speaker 2: soon enough. There's been a whole bunch of socialist shues
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  Speaker 2: that have cost that, you know, taken a bit of
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  Speaker 2: bark off the code. I think so they think that
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  Speaker 2: there's a bit of a leadership buck him. They've had
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  Speaker 2: enough of Richard and you know, they want someone else
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  Speaker 2: in there, but no one knows who's going to come
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  Speaker 2: in next.
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  Speaker 1: The AFL does have a CEO whose job is supposed
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  Speaker 1: to be running the code day to day. It's always
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  Speaker 1: interesting in organizations who really has the power. Is it
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  Speaker 1: the CEO or is it the chair. What's the case
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  Speaker 1: in the AFL.
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  Speaker 2: It's certainly been very much with the CEO. Previously, with
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  Speaker 2: Gilan and Andrew, you know, the last couple of CEOs,
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  Speaker 2: because they were such big names. Andrew Dillon, who's there
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  Speaker 2: now is probably a bit more of a quiet character,
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  Speaker 2: is more sort of you know, PowerShare or a bit
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  Speaker 2: more sort of conciliatory with people. Look, I think he's certainly,
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  Speaker 2: you know, decent at his job, but he's just not
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  Speaker 2: seen that way publicly. So I think Richard Gordon has
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  Speaker 2: much more of an influence behind the scenes than he
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  Speaker 2: might have had previously. It really depends on what style
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  Speaker 2: of chairman comes in next as to what happens from there.
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  Speaker 2: Someone like a Peter Gordon we suspect to be pretty
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  Speaker 2: hands on. Someone like at Jeff Brown will probably be
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  Speaker 2: pretty strong in the leadership sort of way, but not
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  Speaker 2: for very long. He's withdrawn from the process anyway. Craig
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  Speaker 2: Drummond probably more of the same, and the juries out
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  Speaker 2: on any other names that we talk about.
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  Speaker 1: Notwithstanding the occasional drama about racism, the AFL has pretty
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  Speaker 1: strong credentials as a progressive organization. It has pushed that hard.
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  Speaker 1: It's had a pride round for many years. It talks
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  Speaker 1: a lot about reconciliation. But it got itself into a
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  Speaker 1: bit of hot water with the choice of Snoop Dogg,
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  Speaker 1: the American rapper for the entertainment at the Grand Final.
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  Speaker 3: Well, the homophobic saga in broiling the AFL is deepening
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  Speaker 3: this morning with fresh calls to cancel Snoop Dogg from
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  Speaker 3: performing at next month's Grand Final. The outrage follows comments
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  Speaker 3: made by the controversial rapper criticizing the portrayal of a
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  Speaker 3: same sex couple in a children's.
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  Speaker 2: Movie, The rapper explaining his shock at seeing lesbian parents
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  Speaker 2: depicted on screen.
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  Speaker 1: The scene from the twenty twenty.
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  Speaker 2: Two film marked Disney's first same sex kiss. Oh my gwdness.
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  Speaker 2: In the middle of the movie, late Papa Snoop, how
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  Speaker 2: does she have a baby with a woman? Sheer woman? Ash?
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  Speaker 2: I didn't come in for this year. I just came
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  Speaker 2: up once and goddamn movie.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if you're a Snoop Dogg super fan, John,
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  Speaker 1: but what do you think about that choice?
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  Speaker 2: Oh? Look, though I'm certainly not really familiar with Snoops
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  Speaker 2: songs over the years, but I will say this look
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  Speaker 2: Snoops probably more mainstream than you think these days. He's
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  Speaker 2: but you know, he was on the Olympics coverage on
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  Speaker 2: US television. He's on shows over there. Look, maybe it's
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  Speaker 2: a bit sort of, you know, not quite right for
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  Speaker 2: Australian tastes. The AFL has always been very conservative in
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  Speaker 2: terms of who are chooses for its AFL Grand Final
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  Speaker 2: entertainment and maybe they're just trying to be a little
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  Speaker 2: bit edgier here. That was not actually sure, it's as
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  Speaker 2: edgy as people think.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well he is fifty.
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  Speaker 2: Three, Yeah exactly, so look that probably chimes in with
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  Speaker 2: the usual age category of people at the AFL are
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  Speaker 2: trying to appeal to.
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  Speaker 1: John Stenzold is the editor of The List, Australia's Riches
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  Speaker 1: to Fifty and a senior business reporter. You can check
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: out all our coverage of the footy, plus John's goss
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  Speaker 1: from inside the Olympic Room, along with Margin Call editor
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: Jonni Bishan at The Australian dot com dot au