The AFL are reportedly down to three candidates to replace outgoing CEO Gillon McLachlan, per The Age's Peter Ryan, months after McLachlan announced his intention to leave the position.

McLachlan is expected to step down in April, following the conclusion of the AFL's inaugural Gather Round, but the league is yet to confirm this replacement.

Speaking on SEN Sportsday, Ryan revealed that he believed the race was down to three, Andrew Dillon, Travis Auld and Brendon Gale.

“It's as far as I could actually ascertain there's definitely three,” Ryan said.

“Those three are Andrew Dillon, Travis Auld and Richmond CEO Brendon Gale.

“They'll be interviewed next week as part of the process to find a replacement for Gill.

“There could be a left-field candidate that I haven't heard or been made aware of, but at the moment that's a good boxed trifecta to have.”

Both Dillon and Auld already work at league headquarters, while Gale is the current CEO at Richmond. The trio are reportedly set to be interviewed in the coming week.

Despite the search seemingly being narrowed to three, clubs are reportedly frustrated at the length of time taken to find a replacement for McLachlan, with his initial announcement coming in April of 2022.

“A lot of clubs and club Presidents are really frustrated that it's taken so long to get to this point,” Ryan said.

“Gill made the announcement in April that he was departing and then he extended in December to around Round 5, but at that stage, the Presidents thought, ‘Maybe the AFL have someone up their sleeve who is a really strong candidate that they're waiting for that person to be available'.

“They accepted that on good faith, but now it's gotten to this stage of the year, nearly Round 1 and basically the same names that were in the race when Gill made the announcement still remain candidates and we're not necessarily fixed on having that replacement.

“That's causing dramas for clubs in terms of planning and progressing some of these issues and they're just frustrated with the governance and the amount of time it's taken for the AFL to find a replacement for Gill.”

The AFL season begins on Thursday, March 16 when traditional rivals Richmond and Carlton meet at the MCG.