The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs appointed Aaron Warburton to the position of Chief Executive Officer last week in a home-coming for Warburton who served as the Club’s Head of Commercial Partnerships from 2010-2017.
Joining Mornings with Matt White on 1170SEN, the newly appointed CEO spoke about returning to Belmore.
“It’s surreal to be honest. I spent seven years at the club from 2010 to 2017 and learned so much and this club gave me so much. To be back here is very humbling and it’s all sinking in,” said Warburton.
After seven seasons at the club, Warburton went on to start two business, including a sports sponsorship company and a fan engagement start-up.
His extensive experience in elite sporting environments has him ready to lead the Bulldogs back to the top.
“The four years have absolutely flown. In that time, I started two businesses, one was in a consulting piece so I worked closely with a lot of sporting teams across the country and not just in the NRL, across the AFL and some other codes as well. Between that and a sport tech start up that I launched a couple of years back, there’s been lots of learnings, but at the same time I think for me to come into the business and listen to my staff and everyone that has done it a little tough over the past few years. The team hasn’t performed to where the fans and our stake holders know that we should be at. For me I am really conscience of not coming in saying this is how we need to do it, it’s listening to those that are in the business and I know that can give so much. At the same time, I’m really taking the good from a lot of different organisations and over time we will bring that back,” he added.
His first week at Belmore has been jampacked, but the one meeting that was important, was sitting down with Head Coach Trent Barrett.
“My first meeting on Monday morning was with Baz (Trent Barrett) and a week prior I caught up him just before my announcement. It’s good to understand and in summary, we’re on the same page completely. We know where this club needs to go and that’s obviously an on-field performance driver that he just feels very comfortable at this stage. I just have complete confidence and that’s from Trent, but also what I am hearing from the playing group. A lot of people are relying on us to get back up the table,” added Warburton.
Catch the full interview below!
