Wesfarmers chairman Michael Chaney is confident Richard Goyder can straddle two demanding roles as his chief executive prepares to assume the helm of the AFL.
Perth-based Mr Goyder will become AFL chairman on April 4, succeeding Mike Fitzpatrick after a decade in the job. Mr Goyder will be both AFL chairman and Wesfarmers chief executive for eight months, before stepping down from the Perth-based conglomerate in November.
Mr Goyder will confront a series of issues including the ongoing cost of expansion teams in Queensland and NSW while in his home state the two WA teams have threatened not to move to the new $1.3 billion Perth Stadium in 2018 due to a dispute over contractual terms.
"The board talked about that [two roles]," Mr Chaney said.
"You want to make sure he has time to do the job. We are confident he can do both of those things."
If an issue required much more of Mr Goyder's time than expected – such as an Essendon supplements saga for instance – Mr Chaney said deputy chief executive Rob Scott would take on a bigger role.
Mr Scott will step down from managing the company's industrial division in July and replace Mr Goyder in November.
Understanding Wesfarmers
Antares Equities portfolio manager John Guadagnuolo did not have a problem with Mr Goyder taking the AFL job.
"People who say it is an issue don't fully understand Wesfarmers," Mr Guadagnuolo said.
"It's not an operational role. It's a capital allocation role. The business has autonomous business units. It's not to say it's an undemanding role. He does have to make decisions at a very high level."
He said leading Wesfarmers had different demands to managing a single focused, operationally demanding job such as overseeing one of the big four banks.
Mr Chaney said Mr Goyder was well suited for the AFL position, a job that meant "three million people will have an opinion on what he should do".
"One of his strengths is that he is very calm under pressure," Mr Chaney said.
"He has strength of character and it's about self confidence; but not in an arrogant way," he said.
"He has been an AFL Commissioner for some time and he seems to treat it in a sobering, calm way. It is hard to rattle him."
Ausbil Dexia chief executive Paul Xiradis said it was not ideal but doubted Mr Goyder would take on the duties if he didn't feel more than capable of executing both.
