“We did come in in 2022 and we did see that significant improvement. I’m not in any way putting that [winning the premiership] down to our board roles – we have the best coach in the AFL, we’ve got the best people around the club, and we’ll continue to focus on that. Boards need to be unified.

“The board has some clear objectives. And first and foremost is sustained success on the field. I think we’ve participated in 45 grand finals in 132 years, so from our perspective as passionate Collingwood fans and members we have an expectation of sustained success.

“In terms of priorities, I want to make sure that Collingwood remain a destination club, the No.1 club for people and their life’s journey.”

Collingwood are in strong financial health with $100 million in assets ($60m net assets) and liquid assets now of $50m largely through significant growth in a fund established to manage profits from the sale of gaming venues.

After winning the 2023 premiership the club endured a difficult year, missing the finals after managing the season without a permanent football manager during Graham Wright’s season-long sabbatical. The search for his replacement, which has taken several months, has narrowed to two experienced football managers, one of whom is likely to be appointed within weeks.

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“You prefer to go through a really comprehensive process to get the right person and a person that’s going to make our club continue to be great and have sustained success, rather than just satisfy the desire to hire someone quickly,” Carp said.

Browne and the board had worked hard to persuade Wright to resume his role at Collingwood, but the experienced football head felt tensions with CEO Craig Kelly made it untenable for him to return. He has taken a job at Carlton as the successor to Brian Cook as CEO.

Losing Wright meant the club also needed a new list boss, with assistant coach Justin Leppitsch moved into the role.

Carp felt Collingwood were unlucky to narrowly miss the finals this year and remained in strong contention for the flag next year.

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“You have a bit of bad luck, which we did, and some games that perhaps we could have won, that ended up tied in the case of the Fremantle one over there. These things, in an even competition, it doesn’t take much to be the difference. We don’t want to use excuses, we don’t do that at Collingwood, but we didn’t have a great run with injuries last year either,” Carp said.

Collingwood will have 12 players aged over 30 on their list next year, and traded out of the early rounds of this year’s draft. They gave up their first-round pick next year to bring in talented defender Dan Houston while Harry Perryman arrived as a free agent.

“I’ve read the commentary around our list. I look at business and the world generally, and think, ’How good is it for the development of young players to sit at the feet of champions, players like [Scott] Pendlebury and [Steele] Sidebottom and [Jeremy] Howe? So I look at it positively. I say this is going to fast track the development of our younger players,” Carp said.