AFL Victoria Board
Born in the regional Victorian town of Orbost, Tanner is highly accomplished in business and government and has a strong connection to Australian Rules Football at both elite and grassroots levels, including having been president of the Essendon Football Club from 2015-2020. In 2020 he was named chair of the governance committee set up to administer funds raised through the AFL’s Community Relief Fund for bushfire-affected communities and families.
During his distinguished career that has extended more than four decades, Tanner was Federal Finance Minister from 2007-2010 and in recent times has held numerous corporate directorships, including his current board position with Suncorp.
Grant O'Riley is a financial services professional and Managing Director of Capstone Financial Planning. He has had extensive involvement in Australian Rules Football from grassroots through to the elite game. Grant played in the VFL for Fitzroy during the 1980s, and later played at Port Melbourne and represented the VFA representative team in the 1988 Adelaide Bicentennial Carnival. He was Chair of Football Victoria when the new AFL Victoria entity was established in 2010 and has a long association with community football as a player, volunteer and administrator.
Jenny is a Principle Solicitor at KHQ Lawyers, with previous experience at Vanguard and the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC). Her football experience includes her position as Director at AFL Victoria as well as Chair of the Western Bulldogs Football Club Community Foundation. Jenny was named in the Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence 2018 in the board and management category, and in 2020, she received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the financial and investment sectors, and to the community.
Born in Shepparton and raised on a dairy farm in Congupna in regional Victoria, Damian has been involved in the game extensively. He played 63 games for Geelong in the VFL (now AFL) from 1982-89, before embarking on a long coaching career, which included stints with Werribee and Port Melbourne in the VFA, assistant coach for the Sydney Swans and senior coach of Fremantle in the AFL from 1999-2001. Damian was Chair of the Bendigo Football Netball League for six years.
In 2002, Damian transitioned to politics, where he served until 2016, including a term as Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Veterans Affairs. In 2016, he contested and won the federal seat of Murray (later renamed Nicholls in 2019). Through his football and political history, Damian’s connections to the game and communities across the state are deep.
Clare is an accomplished leader in sports administration with a strong focus on grassroots participation. She was recently appointed General Manager of Game Development at Softball Australia after serving in general management and interim CEO roles for Badminton Australia.
Clare's academic achievements include an MBA from Melbourne Business School and degrees in Psychology and Human Movement from Deakin University. Her background is particularly relevant to assisting metro areas while she is passionate about the game's impact on communities and the potential for growth in the women and girls space.
Rob was appointed to the role of Executive General Manager of Game Development in 2021. As the General Manager of AFL Competitions prior to his most recent appointment, Rob has driven the AFL’s Return to Play group, the team responsible for navigating the Covid-19 outbreaks and ensuring the AFL and AFLW seasons were able to continue. As well as overseeing the Covid-19 protocols, compliance and competition management, Rob was also responsible for umpiring, game analysis, list management, the operation of the ARC and football operations projects and research.
Rob has a proven track record in game development, previously serving as the AFL Head of Game Development and before that, for two years as CEO of AFL Tasmania. He joined the AFL in 2016 after a 15-year career with Lion Nathan in which he held a number of senior leadership roles.
Greg was appointed to the role of Head of AFL Victoria in 2023 and has a long association with Australian football. He played 66 games in a nine-season career at the elite level with Hawthorn and Fremantle, including the Hawks’ 1989 premiership and has since gone on to be involved in community football as a participant, volunteer and parent.
Greg brings extensive commercial leadership experience to his role, having worked in a range of senior positions across the consumer product, education and technology sectors. He joined AFL Victoria from property management digital platform provider, Sorted Services.
Jo has worked at AFL Victoria since 2023 in the role of Compliance and Project Lead in our Community Football team. Jo brings significant governance and compliance experience having held roles with Racing Victoria and Sport and Recreation Victoria.
Jo is currently completing a Graduate Certificate of Sports Management at Deakin University as well as several modules from the Certificate in Governance Practice from the Governance Institute of Australia.
Kayla has worked at the AFL/AFL Victoria since 2012, previously in the Consumer and Commercial space servicing the elite game across Membership and Ticketing. In 2021, Kayla moved over to AFL Victoria to provide leadership across the participation space.
In her current role, Kayla oversees AFL Victoria’s Programs portfolio, leading a team that provides the framework and operations for the delivery of participation programs in Victoria. In addition to this, Kayla oversees the Diversity Inclusion, Indigenous and Cultural Diversity portfolios for Victoria. Kayla brings significant industry experience having worked in the AFL industry across Hawthorn FC, AFL and AFL Victoria for over 12 years.
Leadership Team
Head of AFL Victoria - Greg Madigan
Community Football Manager - John O’Donohue
Community Growth Manager - Jack Henty
Participation & Programs Manager - Andrew Ainger
Club Development & Experience Manager - Paul Milo
Venue & Government Partnerships Manager - Jessie Doull
Partnerships Account Manager (Commercial) - Riley Brettell