North Melbourne champion David King believes Richmond chief executive officer Brendon Gale should be next in line to replace Simon Lethlean as the AFL football operations manager.
Lethlean resigned on Friday along with general manager of commercial operations Richard Simkiss after the pair had seperate inappropriate relations with younger women within AFL circles.
Gale has been Richmond's CEO since 2009, and King suggested it would be a step in the right direction for one of the best at his job in the country.
“He strikes me as the perfect person,” King told SEN’s Crunch Time on Saturday.
“It’s almost like he has done his role at Richmond. That box is ticked, they are financially flying.
“Maybe it’s a step that is a couple of years earlier than he would have thought, but he would be the perfect person wouldn’t he?
“That’s the first name that has come to me because he has a warmth about him. You still need to be approachable in that position and he has really done a fantastic job.
“I think he is a fantastic choice.”
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan joined SEN radio on Saturday to weight in on the resignations of two of his executives, and told the radio station they could be given a chance to return to the AFL in the years to come.
“Clearly every culture is a work in progress. We’ve got two guys who have made mistakes and I think they have taken complete accountability. Culturally I think that is significant,” McLachlan said.
“I’m very close friends with both these men and there’s an element of clear disappointment, but I accept that people make mistakes and they have owned them in a very full sense in the last few days.
“I know the industry is forgiving. They are high quality people and unbelievable executives.
“I feel confident they’ll get another chance.”
