CHAIR’S SUN RUN GOES ON
The AFL’s most outspoken chairman Tony Cochrane confirms that he’s ...
OUTSPOKEN Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane is set to spend another three years in the top job.
Cochrane, the man who helped build Australia’s Supercars series, has the backing of the AFL Commission and his Suns board members to extend his tenure at the helm of the Gold Coast AFL club.
“The board at the Suns have just re-endorsed me for a two to three-year-period at my discretion,” he said.
“I don’t plan on going anywhere. There are a lot of good things happening at the Suns.”
TONY Cochrane will extend his tenure as chairman of the Gold Coast Suns for up to three years. Cochrane, who became chairman of the club in 2016, has the backing of the AFL Commission and his fellow Suns board members to continue in the job.
It comes as the former Supercars boss was appointed chairman of the AUS-X motocross series late last week.
“If you want a job done, give it to a busy person,” Cochrane said.
“The board at the Suns have just re-endorsed me for a two to three-year-period at my discretion. I’m delighted with that and I’m looking forward to a really strong year for us next year both on and off the field. I don’t plan on going anywhere. There are a lot of good things happening at the Suns.”
Cochrane, the man who built the Supercars series into an Australian sporting powerhouse, has been a strong voice for the Suns.
His at times combative approach has rankled the sport’s Victorian establishment.
IF you want a job done, give it to a busy person.
That’s the motto of Suns chairman Tony Cochrane who says he has no plans on stepping back from his role at the AFL club after being appointed the chairman of the AUS-X Open.
In fact, Cochrane has declared he was poised to remain at the Gold Coast for the next two to three years after accepting an offer from the AFL Commission and Suns board to extend his tenure.
“If you want a job done, give it to a busy person,” Cochrane said.
“The board at the Suns have just re-endorsed me for a two to three-year-period at my discretion.
“I’m delighted with that and I’m looking forward to a really strong year for us next year both on and off the field.
“I don’t plan on going anywhere. There are a lot of good things happening at the Suns.”
Cochrane is also the director of promotions company International Events Consulting. The outspoken Gold Coast figure said he would have no problem managing his time between his various roles as the Suns and AUS-X positions are non-executive chairman jobs, meaning they are largely parttime.
“If you look at the Suns now we have a lot of very competent people in place, starting with (chief executive) Mark Evans,” Cochrane said.
“We have got Simon (Fitzgibbon) now as our head of commercial and recently had our major appointment with the new coach (Stuart Dew).
“We have made some other senior appointments in the football department and will announce a couple more in the next little while.
“There is a whole management team in place that deal with the day to day business.”
AUS-X Open are planning an expansion into places like New Zealand and Asia in the future but Cochrane said it was highly unlikely they would bring an event to the Suns’ home at Metricon Stadium.
“I don’t think there is any chance of bringing it to Metricon Stadium unfortunately,” Cochrane said. “We are always looking for new events at Metricon though, that’s ongoing all the time.”