2026 AFL Movers and Shapers: 40-31

Moves have been made at AFL House, and they are reflected in the AFL Record’s annual Movers and Shapers list.

The natives were getting restless last year after a series of missteps out of AFL House that raised serious questions about the lack of direction and perhaps even the capabilities of those charged with running it.

Then came AFL CEO Andrew Dillon’s stunning raid on the game’s northern stronghold, appointing Sydney’s Tom Harley and Brisbane’s Greg Swann to key roles.

With a new chairman in the house and a beefed-up executive team, the League seems better placed to tackle some of the big issues ahead – player health and welfare, how the game is played, Tasmania and the rapidly changing media and fan landscape.

Here is this year's Movers and Shapers list, starting with 50 to 41.

50. SCOTT FITZGERALD

Marvel Stadium General Manager
Last year: -

The romantics would like to see the AFL’s own stadium kept vacant after the men’s season for a few AFLW finals. But there is not a hope in hell that the AFL will forfeit the chance to make millions as the likes of Oasis, Metallica and Lady Gaga swing through and sell out Marvel Stadium night after night. Under Fitzgerald’s watch, Marvel has now become one of the world’s premier concert venues, and Billboard recently named him in its 2025 Touring Powers List.

49. RHETT BARTLETT

Online footy historian
Last year: 44

Bartlett remains the poster boy for preserving footy’s visual history via his Rhettrospective YouTube Channel. Through dogged determination and countless hours invested, he has broken new ground over the last 12 months unearthing football moments thought forever lost, headlined by rescuing the entire second half of the Demons triumph over Collingwood in the 1964 Grand Final.

48. ZIPPORAH ‘ZIPPY’ FISH

Sydney AFLW Rising Star
Last year: -

Her debut season as an 18-year-old was the equal to any teen draftee in the League’s history. 21 disposals per game for an improving Swans team stamps her as a future superstar, and she was duly rewarded with the League’s Rising Star award. The combination of talent and, of course, that instantly unforgettable name, makes Fish the probable face of AFLW in Sydney for the next decade.

47. DANIEL GORRINGE

Podcaster, influencer
Last year: -

26 games for Gold Coast and Carlton doesn’t scream box office, but in this era of content, Gorringe is. Ask organisers of the Legends Game that revelled in him single-handedly selling out bays of Marvel Stadium. Continuing his Dan Does Footy podcast, Gorringe will also be on the AFL’s books in 2026. There’s even supposed bad blood between his ex-boss and fellow podder Dylan Buckley. Could we see an Oasis-Blur style feud between footy podcasters during 2026?

46. CAL TWOMEY

AFL Media journalist
Last year: 43

A decade of being the draft specialist at AFL.com.au is paying off in various ways for Twomey. As hunger for draft and trade stories intensifies, Twomey’s accurate predictions have become gospel. While the years of investment in developing relationships with draftees before they were famous give him the best phone list of player contacts in the business, making him a central media conduit on player movement. Breaking the Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera decision was evidence of that.

45. MATTHEW CHUN

AFL Executive General Manager, Finance, Clubs and Infrastructure
Last year: -

Having overseen the $225 million refurbishment of Marvel Stadium, he is now the League’s point man as it seeks partners for the redevelopment of AFL House and the neighbouring building that was formerly the home of Channel Seven, as well as the League’s move to its new Collins Street abode. All major building and infrastructure projects involving the League (Tasmania and its various stadia in particular) all come across his desk.

44. SAM MITCHELL

Hawthorn Coach
Last year: 18

Went 0-2 in his quest to lure more big names to Hawthorn - Harley Reid and Zach Merrett - but not through lack of trying. Continues to put his own stamp on the Hawks with both a flair for innovation and the rat cunning that marked his playing days, but it was consecutive knockout finals wins away against the GWS Giants and then Adelaide that underlined his coaching prowess.

43. MARCUS BONTEMPELLI

Western Bulldogs Captain
Last year: 45

Missed the first five games last year yet it was another season of brilliance from the Bont, the best player in footy over the last 10 years. Like Nick Daicos, a marketer’s dream and not surprisingly the first player named to play for Victoria in the revived state of origin format.

42. DANIEL HOYNE

Champion Data Analyst
Last year: -

As the public face and voice of Champion Data, Hoyne delivers one of footy’s must-listen weekly segments with his Full-on Footy Analysis on SEN Sportsday. Behind the scenes, Hoyne’s influence is greater. The trends he finds in the game not only shape the way the game is broadcast and analysed by the media, but it’s also the data coaches and players use to keep track of how the game is evolving.

41. DAMIEN HARDWICK

Gold Coast coach
Last year: -

Poised to create a winning legacy at Gold Coast with just as much impact as his glorious Tigers success. A team chock-full of talent has added an established premiership superstar in Christian Petracca to push further up the ladder. Add the rich vein of cheap topline academy prospects and there is no coaching position with as much chance of success over the next five years as Hardwick’s.

40. PAUL GUERRA

Melbourne chief executive
Last year: -

Consider what the new boss of the Demons had to deal with when he finally assumed the job last September. New coach. Exiting Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver. Getting negotiations for the Caulfield racecourse move back on track. Guerra boasted a brilliant business CV when he joined the Dees but is rapidly learning that football is a different beast entirely.

39. CAROLINE WILSON

Broadcaster, journalist
Last year: 35

2026 will be the ninth season since Wilson stepped down from the chief football reporter role at The Age, supposedly then fading away into retirement. It’s been anything but. Her move to Seven last season reinvigorated her television presence, while her Saturday column remains mandatory reading. All these years on, nobody has a line on the machinations of AFL House and its clubs like Caro.

38. LAURA KANE

AFL Executive General Manager, Football Operations
Last year: 2

Her role at AFL HQ was effectively halved last year once Greg Swann came on board to oversee football performance, but Kane remains in charge of what is effectively the League’s raison d’être, the AFL and AFLW competitions, as well as a beefed-up health and medical team.

37. AMEET BAINS

Western Bulldogs chief executive
Last year: -

Narrowly beaten by Tom Harley to become COO of the AFL, he is now the third longest-serving club chief executive, but significantly the longest of any club in Victoria. The Dogs have grown enormously under his watch and his calm and measured approach to recontracting Luke Beveridge as coach was masterful and which other clubs should consider emulating.

36. TOM MORRIS

Seven/SEN journalist
Last year: 47

Expect Morris’ move from Nine to Seven to place him in Seven’s match broadcasts, assume news and hosting roles across multiple nights of its Agenda Setters program, and be the marauding chief newshound across all Seven’s footy and news offerings. With an expanded role at SEN and the freedom to chase the biggest stories without being chained to the daily grind of the newsroom, it has some echoes of Eddie McGuire’s seismic move to Nine in the 1990s.

35. STUART FOX

Melbourne Cricket Club chief executive
Last year: 31

As the chief of the game’s cathedral, Stuart Fox’s decisions shape the way Victorians, and visitors, experience the game at the MCG. His decisions in 2026 may be the most crucial of his career. With a state election looming and the clock ticking on the lifespan of the Warne Stand, if and what he can negotiate with the Victorian government for a rebuild will determine how we watch, and perhaps how many can watch big games, for a generation.

34. GRAHAM WRIGHT

Carlton chief executive. Last year: 23

Running the football departments successfully at the Hawks and Pies (where he was a premiership wingman) prepared him well for his new role at the Blues where it was the core product - footy - that needed his immediate attention. Made two big calls at the start, retaining Michael Voss as coach and trading disgruntled superstar forward Charlie Curnow. It’s a new era at the Baggers.

33. ANTHONY HUDSON

Commentator
Last year: 28

Remains the clear best TV football commentator in the business and he completed a sterling year of work as the voice of Friday night games as for the first time, Fox Footy produced its own broadcast of the showpiece game. Was also on the mic for the first FOX Grand Final telecast, albeit called from a TV studio.

32. SHARON McCROHAN

AFL Executive General Manager Corporate Affairs
Last year: -

The AFL hit a home run when looking to replace longtime corporate affairs boss Brian Walsh last year by luring McCrohan, a major force in government, business, sporting and media circles for many years. She’s still finding her way, but there isn’t much that will cross her desk at AFL House that she’s not seen nor dealt with before.

31. MICHAEL WARNER

Herald Sun journalist
Last year: -

You could just about fill the MCG with accredited members of the AFL media, but not many can set the hearts of footy’s bigwigs racing like Warner when his name appears on their iPhones. Old-school reporter who operates without fear or favour.