The Collingwood Football Club wishes to advise an update to the structure of the Club’s men’s football department.
As communicated last December, Executive General Manager of Football Graham Wright will take a well-deserved break for a period of six months after spending three decades in the elite AFL system as a player and administrator.
Graham’s leave will commence in late February and he will return to the Club in early September.
In Graham’s absence, General Manager of Football, Coaching, and Leadership Brendon Bolton will step up and oversee the men’s football program and be the point of call on key AFL matters.
Head of Football Strategy, Innovation and List Management Justin Leppitsch will take on additional responsibilities relating to list strategy which will see him work closely with the Club’s Head Recruiter Derek Hine on recruiting and list management.
General Manager Football Operations and AFLW Clare Pettyfor will continue to oversee the operations for both football programs.
Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly will continue to support the leaders in the running of the football department.
“We support Graham’s period of leave and as a Club we want to ensure there is opportunity for senior leaders at Collingwood to have a work-life balance and normalise this type of leave for our key people,” Kelly said.
“Graham’s absence creates opportunities for others inside our Club to gain experience and develop further and we are pleased to be able to provide further and continuing opportunities for Brendon Bolton, Justin Leppitsch and Clare Pettyfor.
