TOP CAT PITCH
Could outgoing cricket boss replace Brian Cook at Geelong?
GEELONG is playing a straight bat to speculation that outgoing Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland could replace Brian Cook as Cats chief when his current contract expires in 2020.
The resignation of Sutherland — a devoted Cats fan — last week has prompted discussions he would be an ideal candidate.
But club president Colin Carter labelled speculation “far too premature”.
GEELONG is refusing to buy in to conjecture that outgoing Cricket Australia boss James Sutherland is in line to replace Brian Cook as Cats CEO when his current contract expires.
Club president Colin Carter said yesterday it was ‘far too premature’ to speculate on a replacement for Cook, who is tied to the club until the end of the 2020 season.
Cook re-signed with the Cats last year and will become the game’s longest-serving club CEO or secretary in 2019, but the resignation of Sutherland — a devoted Geelong supporter and friend of Cook’s — last week has already prompted discussions that he would be an ideal candidate.
Well-respected ABC program Offsiders raised the issue in its most recent episode, with host Paul Kennedy suggesting Sutherland would ‘slot in nicely’ at Kardinia Park.
In the past 12 months Geelong has lost two key members of its executive team who had been earmarked for the number-one job, with Steve Hocking taking up a plum job at AFL headquarters and Justin Reeves leaving after being poached by Hawthorn for its CEO position.
The Cats have always been fans of promoting from within but while Carter said it was too early to be thinking about potential candidates, he conceded the club may need to look beyond its four walls.
“The organisation’s responsibility is to develop internal candidates but the responsibil- ity at the same time is to look at who is best outside,” Carter said.
“No doubt the departure of Hock and Justin Reeves changed the equation as we had two strong internal candidates and it’s going to be a while before we develop the strong internal candidates.
But those people outside in two years’ time might be part of the mix.
I think we have a commitment to develop people internally, but there are probably half a dozen people outside who you would look at seriously.
“But it’s a while away though so it’s not actually on our agenda at the moment.
“In two-and-a-half years’ time, if James is around then, obviously he would be one of the candidates but it is far too premature for us to be talking about that at this stage.”
Sutherland, who graduated from Geelong Grammar, has strong relationships with several people in prominent positions within the Geelong sporting landscape, including Carter and Kardinia Park Stadium Trust chief executive Michael Brown.
In 2011 Cricket Australia appointed Carter and David Crawford to conduct a review into its governance, while Brown served as Sutherland’s deputy for 10 years.
Sutherland will join Cook and Brown at a gala fundraising event this evening as part the CEO sleep out campaign, a Vinnies initiative aimed at tackling the issue of homelessness.