{"id":500477,"date":"2026-04-29T03:59:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T03:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=500477"},"modified":"2026-04-29T05:23:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T05:23:44","slug":"lid-lifted-on-breakdown-that-led-to-puzzling-demons-axing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=500477","title":{"rendered":"Lid lifted on 'breakdown' that led to 'puzzling' Demons axing"},"content":{"rendered":"

N\ufeffot even 24 hours after news broke the club had sacked the incumbent seven months into the job, the Demons<\/a> have locked in a new chief executive and revealed the reasons behind the move.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday morning, Stan executive director Dan Taylor was announced as Paul Guerra's replacement. He will start later in the year after a transition period at the Aussie streaming giant, which is owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead.<\/p>\n

In a press conference a short time later, Demons president Steven Smith said the board had \ufeff"lost confidence in (Guerra's) ability to lead the club", which led to a "breakdown of relationships". He said the final decision to sack him was unanimous.<\/p>\n

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"These are not decisions that we take lightly. As a board, we're here to act in the best long-term interest of the football club," Smith said.<\/p>\n

"We've shown that we can make hard decisions, and we have done so again in this instance. We do wish Paul all the very best in the future, and sincerely thank him for his contribution."<\/p>\n

\"Steven<\/p>\n

Smith said tensions and concern had come to a head "in the last couple of weeks", before the board met on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

He said he had first approached Taylor as early as a fortnight ago to gauge his interest in the role, before then approaching Cox to be interim once Taylor's three-month notice period was confirmed.<\/p>\n

I\ufeffn an internal email to Stan staff, the Sydney-based Taylor said the Demons role was an opportunity too good to refuse.<\/p>\n

"The opportunity for me to return home to Victoria, and lead the club that I have supported since I was a child, is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I couldn't pass up, and a journey my family are extremely excited to embark on," he said.<\/p>\n

Nine's managing director of streaming and broadcast Amanda Laing confirmed Taylor's departure and said she "couldn't be happier for him".<\/p>\n

\"Stan<\/p>\n

"Seeing our leaders step into such iconic roles outside the media is something we can all be proud of," she said in an internal email to Stan staff.<\/p>\n

The shock news of Guerra's axing broke on Tuesday afternoon. \ufeffBrian Cook, the former West Coast, Geelong and Carlton CEO, had been mentoring Guerra and will replace him at the Demons in an interim role.\ufeff<\/p>\n

Guerra had been in the role only seven months, and told 9News Melbourne he was "puzzled" and had engaged lawyers over the move.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"\ufeffIt's been a challenging day. I'm puzzled by the decision made by the board today," he said.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI'm really proud of the team that we've put together in a really short period of time and I'm really proud of my role in the success of the club.<\/p>\n

"I have engaged lawyers and there's not much more I can say at this point."\ufeff<\/p>\n

\"Outgoing<\/p>\n

Melbourne president Steven Smith released a statement following the decision. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"On behalf of Melbourne Football Club, I thank Paul for his contribution to the club and wish him all the best for the future," Smith said.<\/p>\n

"Brian is a highly respected operator and with over 35 years of experience in AFL clubs he will provide much needed leadership and guidance through this period.<\/p>\n

"We are pleased that Brian has agreed to step into the role in an interim capacity until a permanent CEO can commence."<\/p>\n

The statement provided no clarity on the reason for his dismissal. \ufeff<\/p>\n

Reports on Tuesday suggested the board's call was unanimous. Players were unaware of the impending change. \ufeff<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Guerra's reported departure comes after he, head coach Steven King and footy boss Alan Richardson held a video meeting with about 15 partners of the players in February that the club has since admitted "caused distress" and apologised for.<\/p>\n

According\ufeff to SEN, a whistleblower on the call claimed confidentiality had been breached concerning the relationship between Steven May and his partner, Sachi Dade. It was alleged that inappropriate information was shared.<\/p>\n

May was on personal leave from the club at the time and police had attended a private residence on January 29 to carry out a welfare check<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Demons and May split in March when the premiership defender retired<\/a>.<\/p>\n

"The meeting sought to provide reassurance of the club's commitment to supporting the families as well as the playing group," said a club statement released in April.<\/p>\n

"Whilst it was not our intent, we acknowledge the meeting has caused distress and for that the club is sorry."<\/p>\n

Wide World of Sports is not suggesting the controversial video meeting and Guerra's reported departure are related.<\/p>\n

Guerra was the CEO of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry prior to being appointed as Demons CEO.<\/p>\n

Wide World of Sports contacted Melbourne for comment regarding the fresh Guerra reports.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

N\ufeffot even 24 hours after news broke the club had sacked the incumbent seven months into the job, the Demons have locked in a new […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":500479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500477"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=500477"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":500484,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500477\/revisions\/500484"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/500479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=500477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=500477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=500477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}