Brasher, who shook hands with Barham after receiving a departing gift, and fellow board members Kevin Sheedy and Simon Madden were among those in attendance.

“As a president, I will lead a board and club that will be courageous and relentless in the pursuit of success. We will be a force in AFL football again, and I will ask all Bombers’ fans, players and administrators to join with the board and get going again,” Barham said.

The future of Rutten is a pressing issue, and will be the subject of debate at a board meeting on Sunday.

Rutten has a year remaining on his contract but the failed play for Clarkson has industry figures believing his position is untenable.

This year has been a disaster for the Bombers, finishing in the bottom third of the ladder, having made the finals last year in Rutten’s first year as coach.

The manner in which the Bombers treated Rutten over the past week has been unedifying, with Barham admitting it was “ugly” and even apologising for not notifying Rutten last Monday that the club was hunting Clarkson.

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The Bombers will also launch an external club review, with all areas of the club to be analysed, as part of transformational change. Barham, who says he is an agent for change, has said he even needs to examine how he and chief executive Xavier Campbell can get along. Tim Watson, the club great and a prominent commentator, has questioned whether Campbell can survive.

Campbell also took to the stage on Saturday, reiterating that he had been in the role for almost nine years.

“Football clubs are funny places, disproportionately high profile. There is the good, there is the bad, there is the challenging but, by and large, it all comes from the same spot, everyone being aligned to strive to be the best thing. It’s never as good, never as bad, that’s all I would like to say,” he said.