AFL boss Gillon McLachlan backs Andrew Thorburn’s Dons resignation

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan says Andrew Thorburn had no choice but to resign as Essendon CEO following a bungled appointment process that has raised the ire of prominent club figures.

The Bombers have been plunged back into crisis after Thorburn stood down a day after he was appointed, due to his role as chairman of a church with divisive views around abortion and homosexuality.

McLachlan regards former NAB boss Thorburn as a “first-class person” and friend, and said everyone is entitled to their religious beliefs.

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But the outgoing AFL CEO conceded the views of the City on a Hill church do not align with Essendon’s aim to be an inclusive club, forcing Thorburn’s hand.

“The organisation that he led and their position on some issues was seemingly at odds with the position of the Essendon Football Club,” McLachlan told reporters on Wednesday. “I don’t think it’s the same in every situation.

“I think in this situation it seemed to be a conflict and Andrew had to make a choice.

“That’s my read on it, I understand it and I understand the decision Andrew made.”

Former Essendon chairman Paul Little slammed the club’s current leadership for a lack of professionalism around the process that led to Thorburn’s appointment.

Little said the club’s due diligence should have uncovered Thorburn’s links to City on a Hill before he was appointed to the Bombers role.

“That information was out there and was easily accessible, so for it to have been missed as part of their (due diligence) I find that unusual,” Little told ABC radio. “He wasn’t new to the club, he was well known to the club.

“He had a number of roles there that is my understanding, so I don’t think it should’ve come as a surprise.”

At a press conference on Tuesday evening, Essendon president Dave Barham said he “reference checked (Thorburn) thoroughly” and “had no reason to think anything other than he was a suitable candidate”.

Gillon McLachlan speaks at an AFL media opportunity. Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Little cast doubt over those claims.

“I’m assuming (Thorburn’s church link) was considered and felt not to be of that great a concern that it should impact his role, but I stress that I don’t really know because I wasn’t there,” he said.

Former Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd also weighed into the debate.

“Wouldn’t the club have known earlier that this was going to come back to bite them?” Lloyd said on Trade Radio “That’s the part of it that’s gobsmacked me to be honest and we sit here and it’s embarrassing.

“Another hit on the club that’s had a poor decade.”

Thorburn was originally part of the panel put in place to select Essendon’s new CEO, before being invited to apply for the role himself.

Little said there was a “conflict” in the way the appointment was handled and described the saga as “one of a number of issues that are negatively affecting the club at the moment”.

He cited the “bumpy road” to appointing Brad Scott as coach, which followed Ben Rutten’s sacking in August, and “key people” departing the board as further areas of concern.

“I just feel at the present time we are not giving our members, our sponsors, our supporters and of course our playing group a reasonable return for the trust they’ve put in those individuals,” Little said.