JEFF Kennett is back at Hawthorn as president after the sudden resignation of Richard Garvey. 

It follows the removal of Tracey Gaudry as chief executive on Monday, an appointment that was engineered by Garvey after a long and exhaustive process. 

In an email to members on Tuesday, Kennett said he would serve as president for the next three years.

He was president from 2006 to 2011 and in that time changed the Hawthorn constitution so that no president could serve more than two three-year terms.

"As testament to the values of Hawthorn as the family club, where no individual is bigger or more important than the club, president Richard Garvey has accepted personal responsibility for a board decision that unfortunately has not worked out as hoped," Kennett said.

"In life as in commerce, not all decisions we make always deliver the results we wish, but rarely does an individual accept personal responsibility as readily as Richard Garvey has done," he said.

"His decision and action is a noble act that he has made selflessly in the club's best interest."

As president, Kennett was in charge for the 2008 premiership and on the back of that success and the landmark sponsorship deal with the Tasmanian government, which included four home games a year in Launceston, helped turn the Hawks into a financial and commercial powerhouse, with one of the largest membership bases in the AFL. 

Gaudry, a former Olympics road cyclist and athletics and cycling administrator, was appointed as the first woman club chief executive in May, but lasted barely five months in the job and Kennett’s first order of business will be to find a replacement.

The process to appoint Gaudry took as long as the time she ended up holding the position, and the Hawks came under fire for not just the process but because it also potentially cost the club ready and qualified candidates such as AFL (and former Hawthorn) football operations manager Mark Evans, who instead joined Gold Coast, and St Kilda chief operating officer Ameet Bains.

Kennett and the equally headstrong senior coach Alastair Clarkson had their moments. Not long after he finished up in early 2013, Kennett called for Clarkson to be sacked after yet another loss to Geelong.

By the end of the season, the Hawks had won the first of their three-straight flags and Kennett was quick to admit he was wrong. 

He also called for Clarkson to consider stepping down early during the 2017 season after the Hawks started the season 0-4 and lost to Gold Coast and the Cats in consecutive weeks by 86 points. 

But such is Clarkson’s position of power at the Hawks that it is hard to imagine he wasn’t consulted and perhaps even signed off on Kennett’s return to the club. The pair will have no choice but to co-exist for at least the next two years with Clarkson contracted through to the end of 2019.

Jeff Kennett during his first spell as Hawks president with Alastair Clarkson in 2010. Picture: AFL Photos

In addition to the search for the new chief executive, Kennett needs to oversee the move from Waverley Park to the new headquarters in Dingley, and to forge a path for women’s football given the club missed out on the AFLW expansion in 2019 and 2020. 

"In the short term my priority will be, as it has been in the past, to with the board, oversee the continuing good governance at Hawthorn, the welfare of all of the club's employees, the interests of our members, and support to the football department to deliver the best possible outcomes on the field," he said. 

And it remains to be seen how combative he will be with the AFL. In his time at the Hawks, and despite early promises to keep his counsel, Kennett was one of the most outspoken club presidents and a virtual 'leader of the opposition'.

Garvey took over as acting president in March 2016 when Andrew Newbold resigned to join the AFL Commission and was ratified by the members later that year. He will remain as a board member.

Jeff Kennett timeline 

2005: Jeff Kennett, a longtime Hawthorn supporter and former Victorian premier takes over as president. He replaces Ian Dicker, who helped save the club from a proposed merger with Melbourne in 1996. Kennett pledges to be low-profile and to let the administration and players do the talking. He is not true to his words. 

2006: St Kilda finishes its arrangement for two home games a year at York Park in Launceston and the Hawks pounce, signing a new agreement to play four games a year there (having played two games a year there themselves since 2002) as part of a lucrative sponsorship deal with the Tasmanian Government. The new deal would underpin Hawthorn’s financial strength and provide the team with a pronounced home ground advantage. 

2007: The Hawks return to the finals for the first time in six years as he unveils a garish, reversible brown and gold blazer to be worn only after wins.

2008: Hawthorn wins its 10th premiership, upsetting Geelong by 26 points in the Grand Final.

2009: On the eve of the season opener, Kennett says of Geelong on ABC TV, "What they don't have, I think, is the quality of some of our players; they don't have the psychological drive we have. We've beaten Geelong when it matters." The Cats would beat the Hawks in round one and on the next 10 occasions after that. His words would become known as 'Kennett’s Curse' and it was real.

Kennett casually suggests to Essendon it should chat to Hawthorn chief executive Ian Robson about its vacant CEO position. Sure enough, he takes the job. 

2010: The Hawks start the season disastrously and drop to 1-6. In his weekly email to members, he writes, "Reputation and goodwill have been totally used up. Everyone is on notice. No excuses accepted. The coach has put the players on notice; I have done the same with the coaches, and I expect you, the members, to do the same with me." It later emerges that he suggested that Clarkson drop himself to the VFL for a week. If not for a lunging Sam Mitchell tackle on Shane Tuck in round eight that preserved a narrow win over Richmond, he would likely have sacked Clarkson.

Later that year, he calls League chief executive Andrew Demetriou a "benevolent dictator". 

2011: Steps down as president at the end of the season, having served out his mandated six-year term. Andrew Newbold takes over.   

2013: After yet another loss to Geelong, this time in the opening round, Kennett calls into 3AW post-match and suggests Clarkson should step down as coach.

During the season, as the depth of the Essendon drugs scandal becomes clearer, he calls for Demetriou to resign and says that Gillon McLachlan is not suited to be his replacement. 

Caps off a big year by declaring Melbourne a rabble and offering to become president. "It doesn’t matter what club you support, Melbourne is the name given to our capital city. We’re all proud of our state, we’re proud of our city, we want our brand Melbourne to do well wherever it is utilised."

2017: As the Hawks crash to a 0-4 start, he again raises the prospect of Clarkson moving on. "Clarko has been there a long time, Eddie McGuire has been (Collingwood president) longer than the Ark – is this all good for those organisations?"

Returns as president in October, following the resignation of Richard Garvey. Pledges immediate support for the coach and expresses the wish to find a young and ambitious new chief executive.