No homecoming for Serong, he’s a Docker for life; Essendon appoints chief from within; Viney to go under knife

Reigning club best-and-fairest Serong follows Dockers co-vice-captain and midfielder Andrew Brayshaw (2031), Hayden Young (2033), Luke Jackson (2029) and Murphy Reid (2029) among the mainstays to have re-signed with the club.

The Dockers will now turn their focus on landing captain Alex Pearce’s signature.

Set to go off-contract next season, the Tasmanian is likely to attract overtures from the Devils – who will enter the competition in 2028, when he is 32.

Longmuir has guided the Dockers to two finals appearances since taking the helm in 2020, with the club crashing out last September following a one-point elimination final loss to Gold Coast.

Bombers appoint board member as CEO

Andrew Wu

Essendon have appointed vice president Tim Roberts as their chief executive, ending the club’s two-month search to find Craig Vozzo’s successor.

The Bombers said they “canvassed a wide cross-section of candidates” before taking the unorthodox step of giving the top job to a board member, a move they believe will make for a smooth transition.

Roberts’ appointment means the Dons will head into the season with a new president and CEO after the departures late last year of Vozzo and David Barham.

Vozzo will stay at the Bombers as a list and recruitment consultant, focusing on list management strategy, recruiting, and salary cap management, the club said.

Roberts will remain on the Bombers’ board in his new role as CEO but will give up the vice presidency, a post he has held only briefly since last September.

Roberts comes from the construction industry, where he has worked for over 30 years with construction consulting firm WT Partnership.

A club director since 2022, Roberts was involved in Essendon’s VFL program and establishing their AFLW team at the Bombers’ spiritual home at Windy Hill, as well as being across their commercial operations, community programs and football department strategy.

Sporting organisations do not usually hire a CEO from their board, though Cricket Australia took this step in 2018 when they appointed then-director Kevin Roberts to replace the long-serving James Sutherland.

Essendon said Tim Roberts’ understanding of the club, coupled with his business acumen, led to him being identified as a candidate during the process, and he was encouraged to apply.

“Tim has successfully built global businesses across a range of industries, and we are excited he can bring that experience and commercial acumen to his new role as CEO,” president Andrew Welsh said.

“Tim has been an outstanding contributor to the club since joining in 2022, and his elevation to vice president last year was a reflection of the value he was already adding to the Bombers.

“We have seen Tim’s impact firsthand in his time on the board, and he was clearly the best candidate for what Essendon needs, someone who can strengthen our culture, provide continuity and allow us to execute our club strategy.

Roberts, who starts on Monday, is the Bombers’ fourth CEO in three years, following on from Vozzo, Andrew Thorburn and Xavier Campbell. Thorburn resigned after one day in the job.

“The platform for success has been created by those who have gone before me, and I am proud to take on this challenge and continue Craig Vozzo’s incredible contribution,” Roberts said.

“The Essendon I grew up barracking for were league leaders on and off the field, proud of the red and black and seen as a fierce, courageous, confident and bold club.

“That’s my vision for this club, and along with Welshy, our board and leadership, we are determined to reclaim that space.

“Essendon is a club that should be consistently competing for finals and premierships, be embracing and impactful in our community and commercially sustainable.

“During my business career I learned that people are the cornerstone of your success, and footy clubs are no different. We have terrific talent across our club through the executive, coaches, staff and playing groups, and our focus is to get the best out of everyone, being galvanised and executing our club strategy.”

Viney succumbs to Achilles

Michael Gleeson

Jack Viney will have surgery on his Achilles injury on Tuesday and is set to miss at least three months, costing him most of the first half of the AFL season if his recovery goes well.

As recently as late last week, Melbourne fitness staff were hopeful that Viney would avoid surgery and be available for the early rounds of the season.

That decision changed on Monday, with the 31-year-old leader booked for surgery.

The Demons’ conservative rest and recovery plan to manage the Achilles issue and avoid surgery meant that, coupled with a back injury, Viney barely trained over the summer.

When in January the midfielder attempted to lift his training to the next level, his Achilles flared again while his back also caused problems.

His lengthy absence means the Demons’ midfield, which was already to be re-cast after the trading out of Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver in the off-season, and the trading in of former Saints captain Jack Steele, will now be almost unrecognisable from the midfield set-up that has carried the club for most of the last decade.

Only captain Max Gawn will remain of the regular midfield quartet that will take on the Saints at the MCG in round one on March 15. Gawn is playing for Victoria in the State of Origin match against WA on Saturday night.

New Melbourne coach Steven King knew he was taking on the job with a different list to manage, but that is even more apparent now, without four players from the top 10 in the club’s best and fairest last year – Petracca was second, Oliver seventh and Viney 10th.

Jake Bowey, who finished fourth, had surgery to repair a lisfranc injury in his foot in December, a procedure that was expected to sideline him for at least six months.

The importance of the trading in of Steele from St Kilda has grown in significance to help keep experience around the ball for the Demons. The absences are expected to deliver more opportunities for promising young players Harvey Langford, Caleb Windsor and Xavier Lindsay.

Trent Rivers and Kysaiah Pickett are also likely to spend more time in the midfield this season.

Meanwhile, key defender Steven May’s future is under a cloud because of personal issues that meant he missed training last week, while Jai Culley fractured his arm on Friday after an impressive pre-season on the wing.

The club had already established a new look across its off-field with a new president in Steven Smith at the helm taking over in a planned succession from Brad Green, who remains on the board. They have a new chief executive in Paul Guerra, a new executive football head in Ned Guy (a newly crafted role for the club) and King as their new coach.

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