Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett blasts AFL for helping to overhaul Melbourne's board Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett is concerned about the people being appointed to Melbourne's board. FORMER Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett has blasted the AFL's attempts to assist Melbourne's administrative overhaul, saying the Demons are in danger of having a board full of sycophants. The struggling Demons have a 1-11 win-loss record and former assistant Neil Craig is caretaker coach following the sacking of Mark Neeld. Chief executive Cameron Schwab has also been removed in 2013, with ex-Essendon chief Peter Jackson appointed to replace him. Club president Don McLardy stepped down earlier in June and ex-Victorian Premier Kennett's offer to take over has been declined by the AFL, who have agreed to provide the club with further financial assistance. Kennett said on Tuesday the AFL's standards of governance had slipped and this was evident in the way Melbourne's new board would be assembled. I can understand some of the Melbourne board not being overly impressed by my kind offer. Unfortunately the AFL were even less impressed," Kennett told a function to promote the upcoming EJ Whitten Legends game. Kennett said he had a very polite and long conversation with AFL chief Andrew Demetriou. "When I was president of Hawthorn, I was from time to time constructively critical of some of the things we did within the AFL," Kennett said. The AFL has been able to grow partly on the hubris of the success that has been built up over the years. In the main more recently with Andrew's leadership. But that doesn't mean that any of it was without error. The AFL doesn't like to be challenged in terms of what it does. I come away from that experience not in any way disappointed. You can only offer. What is now being proposed in the AFL is going to provide more money to Melbourne. But they and the CEO appointed by the AFL, Peter Jackson who's a qualified man, are now going to select a board. That connect breaches every form of good governance you can ever imagine. A CEO never appoints a board. Kennett says the board should select the CEO and then work with him to build the business. "My worry is that the AFL is going to appoint people who are sychophantic or they're comfortable with and therefore make the genuine task of rebuilding the Melbourne Football Club even tougher," he said. You can't compromise standards. We have been continually lowering standards, the AFL, in terms of governance.