Coming quickly on the back of the Victorian born Ewen McKenzie appointment as the new coach of the Queensland Reds, the QRU appointed another Victorian to a key position.
Jim Carmichael, 49, will start as the new CEO early next month and comes to the organisation from the AFL in Melbourne. Not much can be garnered about Carmichael from the internet, but plenty can about the AFL. They are the most proactive and forward thinking sporting organisation in the nation by a country mile. All the stakeholders seem to read from the same song sheet and the sport is moving forward in leaps and bounds across Australia, particularly in the non-traditional areas of Queensland and New South Wales.
This Ballymore Jim. A fantastic brand & a shithouse asset!
Carmichael’s role at the AFL was Head of New Business and Enterprise. I can’t tell you what that means except to say I don’t believe the AFL, given the importance they place in the area, would promote people to senior strategic positions if they didn’t ‘get it’. Interestingly prior to this role, Carmichael was responsible for the AFL’s 150 Years Anniversary Celebrations leading up to, and during, 2008. Now part of me thinks that makes him a glorrified event manager. The other part of me suggests that he was responsible for bringing together a national campaign of the highest importance to that organisation. Very successfully.
In the end Carmichael is a highly experienced sports administrator. He’s not the glorrified publican that Ken Freer was. He’s not the accountant that Theo Psaras was. He’s not even a former player/coach that Jeff Miller was. In fact he is quite the opposite. He has a very limited rugby knowledge. But I get the sense that that is EXACTLY what the Reds need right now. A completely different, yet experienced, perspective on the organisation and in deed the sport in this state.
Good luck Jim. You’ll need it. But I get a feeling things are starting to fall into place.
What….you’ve heard me say that before?? Well, I’m a Reds fan. If I don’t have unjustified, baseless, blind hope everynow and again, what do I have?
Share on Facebook
Tags: Ballymore, ewen mckenzie, New CEO, queensland reds, rugby, rugby union
The artist formerly known as "Noddy" grew up in a golden age of Queensland Rugby and wakes up every morning hoping that THAT day will be the start of a new one. I like to reminisce. Follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/RugbyReg. 
I think this will be good.
In my job I do a bit of work with the AFL (and the ARU & NRL), they definitely come across as a professional organisation, more for the cause than the individual (in a good way), some of that culture can only be good for the Reds, and aussie rugby as a whole.
Lets just hope he doesn’t get lynched by the politics.
Seems like a case of last man standing
Ken Freer was actually a pharmacist by profession.
by profession or by education? His time at XXXX and Indy car (a few months) was more bout his schmoozing.
It’s very rare to go from High school or uni to CEO of XXXX. He probably spent 20 years in the pharmacy game. Makes even odder for sports admin.
Sounds ok with me. At least he won’t be caught up with the ‘old boys’.
Great news, the reds could have done a lot worse. Things are starting to look a lot better.
Thanks Noddy
Great appointment, Ben Buckley has done good things with the FFA after O’Neill and I am sure the AFL experience will have taught him something about development and ‘hearts and minds’ which is exactly what the Reds need. Build the development and retention and they’ll be a powerhouse in three years and Australian Rugby will benefit as a whole. Add a sound Rugby base through Horan, Herbert, Link, the Mailman (McCall) and its starting to look good already….as a tahs man, I never thought I’d say it, but carn the Reds….
Also as a Tahs fan I agree, Go Reds! Although I’m an outsider, I’m pretty sure nothing would push the Waratahs as much as a good Reds team. Strong Super 14 (or 15 or 211) Australian teams only means good things.
How long is his contract?
Is a new Super rugby team going to be pilfering the Reds for more than just players in the near future?
I think this is a great step and we need more of this. QRU especially needs more outsiders full stop, and there is nowhere better to get Australian sports administrators than the AFL.
Lets put this into a littel balance. YEs all of the commercial stuff is great, if he was running the Reds only! but he’s not and thats a fact seemed lost on QLD Rugby. They think the be all and end all is the Reds and the development of a semi professional club comp has once more fallen on deaf ears. Its all well and good to have all of the commercial expereince in the world, but without stemming the flow of talent out of a amatuer club setting to the golden paths of europe so that the Reds will have talent to select, the lack of experience in running a membership based community organisation is in conflict with that of the Reds, and that the point QLD Rugby doesnt get! The QRU needs to split the two up with the Reds being a stond alone commercial entity and go and get a cheif who can grow the game on a grass roots level!