Essendon name new president to succeed Lindsay Tanner

Tanner called his successor Brasher "indispensable" to the Bombers during Tanner's time as president. Brasher is credited by the Bombers with having been a key figure in Essendon's financial revival from the ASADA disaster in which the club piled up a huge debt that peaked at close to $13 million, and for the overhaul of governance.

"No, no second thoughts," Tanner told The Age of his decision, which he had flagged at the club's annual general meeting late last year. "I said when I took the role on that I saw it as a three- to five-year role and we're very fortunate that we've, in a strange kind of way, we've had a bit of a dry run for the current circumstances, courtesy of the drugs issue, with you know huge financial pressures and huge challenges.

"All the key people who navigated the club through that period, both management and board, are still in place. There's no case for me changing my position.

"The primary reason for me needing to move on is the pressure of other commitments."

Tanner has a number of board and business commitments, having just become chairman of a superannuation services business Certes.

"The driver of the decision is a combination of things," he said. "One is that it's a reasonable period of time for someone to be president, secondly the pressure of other commitments has increased significantly, thirdly I saw myself as taking on the position to do a job, which was to get the place back in good shape after the consequences of the ASADA stuff."

Four weeks after Tanner, a key figure in the Rudd government, took over as president, the club was hit with the CAS verdict. "Clearly that phase is now over. We are a normal club, we're in good shape and well positioned to battle our way through the extraordinary situation all our clubs are now facing."

Tanner said he intended to stay on the board, as he had flagged. His term finishes late 2021 but he did not know how long he would remain. "I certainly won't pursue another term ... I would expect to be on the board into next year, but whether I remain there for the whole year I think depends a bit on circumstances."

Tanner said he expected to stay on for the duration of the season. "We haven't settled on a precise handover date, but the operating assumption is it'll be somewhere between the end of the season and the AGM."

Tanner said Brasher was "absolutely indispensable" during Tanner's time at the helm.

"It's well documented that the club got itself into strife because of governance deficiencies and there's been an enormous rebuilding of the governance infrastructure that Paul has driven."

"He's also been very important on the board generally and as mad a supporter as anybody I know ... he's been absolutely fundamental to the rebound."

Brasher has served on the Essendon board for the past eight years, is finance director, and chair of the audit, risk and integrity committee. He is the only surviving board member from the disastrous 2012 season when Stephen Dank was at Essendon. And as such, to avoid any issues, Brasher chose to be put before the members in an election in Tanner's tenure.

Brasher was a partner at accounting giant PwC, then chaired the Australian firm and rose to the heights of chairman of the global board of PwC.

Brasher has been chairman of Incitec Pivot Limited and of the Reach Foundation, director of Amcor Limited and Perpetual Limited, board member of the Victorian Arts Centre Trust and Teach for Australia.

In a statement, Brasher said: "I am delighted to be named president-in-waiting of the Essendon Football Club," he said.

"Firstly, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge and thank Lindsay for his leadership as president since 2015. His guidance and direction has ensured crucial stability for our football club.

"I am very proud to be representing our members as president of this great club, and I look forward to continuing to build on the strong foundations that have been put in place over recent years."