Essendon great Michael Long wants to be AFL commissioner. Source: News Corp Australia
ESSENDON champion Michael Long has declared he wants to be the next AFL commissioner.
"We need an indigenous commissioner,'' Long told the Herald Sun. "We have women on the commission, we have let different nationalities run our great game, and I've got a passion for football, and I've had a plan for 10 years and I think I have given back what the game has given me.
"This is something I feel very strongly about and the timing is right. "I'll be one person putting my hand up and it's not my decision to say I'm the one. I'll let the powers that be decide that. But my passion is to see an indigenous person in that role.''
There is a vacancy on the Commission.
The AFL is currently searching for a replacement for Linda Dessau who is scheduled to stand down as a commissioner in May/June to start her role as Victoria's governor-general.
Jake Long hopes to follow in his father Michael Long's footsteps at Essendon. Picture: Colleen Petch Source: News Corp Australia
Former Channel Nine boss Jeff Browne has been linked to the role. It's been reported Browne has the support of Collingwood president Eddie McGuire and West Coast chairman Alan Cransberg, two people who are on the nominations sub-committee.
McGuire also has a strong relationship Long.
Australia's most senior female army officer Major General Simone Wilkie and former Sydney and West Coast ruckman Jason Ball joined the AFL Commission in December, replacing Chris Langford and Bill Kelty.
If successful in joining the nine-person Commission, Long, 45, would be the first indigenous commissioner.
He said long-term planning was required from the highest level in the sport. ''I don't think the advisory boards (reporting to the AFL) work, decisions need to be made from the top and strategic decisions, not just on a day-to-day basis but a 10-year plan or even further as part of the AFL's commitment,'' Long said.
Michael Long has long been involved in the Long Walk. Picture: Michael Klein Source: News Corp Australia
''There are some significant outcomes we have achieved in the north, women's footy has grown enormously, it's the No.1 growing sport in the Territory.
''And we've only just touched the surface with that.''
The Norm Smith Medallist has been for indigenous Australians before he even quit football and remains an AFL ambassador.
In 2004, he famously set out to walk to Canberra to gain a meeting with then Prime Minister John Howard to raise awareness about the plight of indigenous people.
The resulting Long Walk, which takes part on Indigenous Round and which leads thousands of fans on to the MCG, has also been a huge success. It's unprecedented for a person to offer himself as a commissioner, but Long stressed the urgency of having an indigenous influence on the top table.
''Not that I'm pushing myself, but I deliberately came home to Darwin a decade ago to develop myself, put things together,'' he said. "I don't know if I've done that, but we've developed the Thunder team which plays in the NEAFL competition. We raised just $10 million to get that up and going, and it is a pathway for us in the Territory to play in the Queensland.
''To complement that we raised a further $15 million for the Michael Long Leadership Centre here in Darwin, which will be opened on March 13. ''We're using the power of football to develop our kids and we see what football can do at all levels.
''Part of the leadership centre is influencing change.
''The leadership centre has been my baby, the Thunder has been my baby. ''The Long Walk is about bringing people together and I hope I appeal to all people, not just indigenous people.''
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