The chair of the AFL Commission has to be perfect. A pristine pillar of trust and integrity.
It's just the way it has to be. You must be held to a high account as a figurehead that is effectively footy's Governor General.
Craig Drummond is no longer a cleanskin. His copybook will forever be tarnished.
He will be remembered as the guy down at Geelong who ticked off on a concussion waiver and then, along with others, kept it secret.
The cover-up, as president of the Cats, was as bad as the crime back in 2024. Drummond called it a "complex" and "complicated" call, but it was reprehensible.
The Cats struck a secret agreement with Jake Kolodjashnij to exonerate the club from all legal responsibility for future brain trauma after the defender faced a concussion panel.
Geelong has copped a "please explain" from the AFL and is headed for a fine of as much as $100,000. Drummond, of course, has had to step aside from any deliberations.
Effectively, as head of the AFL, he has asked for a "please explain" on himself.
Drummond has only spent a few months in the role as chair, and has been widely praised by clubs as a breath of fresh air.
The often militant St Kilda president Andrew Bassat went out of his way at a recent club function to give Drummond a turbo-charged pump-up, praising him for being so accessible and attending so many games.
Drummond has, from the moment he took on the role, looked the perfect man to lead the game.
Trouble is, something he did before he sat in the chair has left him well short of perfect.
And you can't be less than perfect and lead the biggest game in the land.
