Our Chief Pot Stirrer | Tony Cochrane (28.05.26)
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Who is Tony Cochrane and why was he invited to stir the pot?
We love to stir the odd pot. In fact, we love to stir every pot from time to time. And that's where we rely on Tony Cochran, who served as the chairman of the Gold Coast Suns for the long term. We don't talk as fondly about bets to make the top four this year as we did last year. And he's in Melbourne. Tony, welcome to the studio.
Thanks, Gerard. Yes, I guess that's a fair cheap shot from the cheap seats, but devastated, devastated. But, you know, success is brutal.
You've got to keep swinging. We'll come to the Suns in a minute. You've come to town. Is your instrumental in the September night where we're going to pay tribute to John Farnham?
Yeah, no, it's an enormous privilege to put together an incredible night's entertainment to recognise and honour, which we don't really do in Australia well enough. We do in sport, we don't in entertainment. But, you know, John Farnham has given so much to this great country over such a long period of time. You know, it's honestly, it's a privilege. I know Paul Dainty and my producing partner, Thea Jeans-Cochran, both share the same sentiment. It's just, it's going to be an amazing night. It's sold out in a heartbeat and it's, I can promise everybody, 22 artists. It's a huge show. It's a huge show. What's the vision for the night? Spectacular. Spectacular. No, it's going to be a night. Honestly, I'm trying to...
Cheer up one guy and make him proud because he so deserves Australia's acknowledgement of his extraordinary career. What a great project. Good on you. Cheers. All right.
What’s the vision and scale of the John Farnham tribute event Tony is producing?
What has gone wrong at the Suns? Look, I don't know. Firstly, I'm just a mud supporter these days, so I'm not inside the walls or any of that, so I can't sit here and give – Tremendous backstory. It's a bit of a Shakespearean tragedy, really. It's diabolical. Because it's a good thing that we fixed competitive balance, isn't it? In the 27 issues the powerhouse of the AFL Commission fixed, they neutered effectively the Northern States academies. Because let's face it, people like the Suns were just being too successful. So we had to fix that. You know, they've had two finals appearances in 15 years. So... God, we got onto competitive balance and we fixed that with shutting down the commission. But look, as I said, you've got to keep swinging.
It's tough. But my great hope is that I have a lot of time and respect for Mark Evans as a football administrator. And you've got to have a lot of time and respect for Dimmer. You know, love him or hate him. You know, the guy has won three premierships. He's played in another two as a player. So at some stage, I'm just hoping those two very, very, very smart football heads get together and find a way forward to keep swinging. I don't know what it is. It's got me bluffed. If you had have said to me back in early May, sorry, mid-May, you're not going to win another game. I would have had that picture and I would have been prepared to give you pretty good odds, but, um, look, you know, you, you don't, you don't walk away from a fight and, uh, I suggest we've got to find a way to turn up and have the fight.
So Mark Evans confirmed to agenda setters last night that he'll do a review to find out exactly what is going on. Is that the right move?
Well, I think so. And I, you know, look, uh, you know, the board, everybody has to be accountable here. Uh, You know, this is – there was no expectation of this. I mean, I personally didn't think we were going to win a premiership or anything this year in my wildest dreams. But if you had have said to me, we're not even going to make the eight, I would have had that bet, as I said before. So, look, it's been a devastating year. And Queensland footy didn't need it. I mean, we really – didn't need this setback because, as I alluded to before with the stupidity of how the AFL have a competitive balance, you know, we're already in behind the eight ball. I want to pick up something that Tim and Gary questioned after the last time.
I know I haven't been on for a while because you've been busy, I've been busy.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
Who is Tony Cochrane and why was he invited to stir the pot?
0:00–1:38
2
What’s the vision and scale of the John Farnham tribute event Tony is producing?
1:38–6:12
3
What went wrong at the Gold Coast Suns and how does Tony explain their decline?
6:12–11:19
4
Will a review by Mark Evans fix the Suns and what should it examine?
11:19–23:38
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Whateley
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