Poached:Travis Auld.
The appointment follows last week's off-site day-long AFL executive workshop run by McLachlan as he sets about reshaping the competition's priorities and administration.
Auld is expected to remain with the Suns,the team he has overseen since their birth in 2009 and subsequent introduction into the AFL in 2011,until the end of the season before taking charge of a new portfolio involving stadiums,clubs and fans.
His appointment comes at a time when attendances in Victoria have dropped by an average of between 4000 to 7000 per game compared with recent seasons and with the AFL grappling with serious issues involving Etihad Stadium and the MCG as it remains locked in a review with the Adelaide Oval management and in sensitive talks over the embryonic Perth Stadium.
The Gold Coast's Metricon Stadium has been hailed as a blueprint for boutique sporting venues and boasts scoreboard features the AFL hopes to replicate at both the MCG and Etihad.
Recently-departed Carlton chief Greg Swann has already been linked with the Suns'role along with that at the Brisbane Lions,although Swann has also been approached by the headhunters looking to install a new CEO at the Victoria Racing Club.
The prospective internal candidates at the Suns are headed by another former Essendon executive Andrew Travis.