New Hawthorn chief executive Tracey Gaudry says she will work hand in glove with senior coach Alastair Clarkson through the AFL powerhouse's current crisis.
Gaudry, who represented Australia as a cyclist at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, was named on Monday as the first full-time female boss of an AFL club.
She is a vice president of world cycling's governing body and moves from a senior role at Athletics Australia to replace Stuart Fox as the Hawks' chief executive.
She joins the AFL's dominant force at its lowest point of the last decade.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
The Hawks sit second-last on the ladder, with previously untouchable coach Clarkson coming under fire for lacklustre performance and trading veterans Jordan Lewis and Sam Mitchell.
Gaudry said spending time with Clarkson over the past week had convinced her the club would surge under their leadership.
"Alastair is the most passionate, committed coach that you can find," she said.
"We spent a good hour and a half around my kitchen table last night shooting the breeze, talking about the things we are going to do together.
"He's been with the club for 13 years now. He's built the success on the field from literally the bottom.
"They're going through a patch which right now, frankly, I'm not happy about. As an athlete you don't ever want to be happy about not being at the top of the tree.
"I can't wait to be his supporter as he goes forward."
Gaudry said she'd reflected deeply about what it meant to be the first woman to run an AFL club.
"I was the first woman appointed to the board of the international cycling union in 116 years and I'm still the only woman on that board. That's a tragedy," she said.
"What I understand and know about these types of milestones is that there's a lot of responsibility with being first.
"Hawthorn Football Club sees and understands what it's like to be first.
"It's taken until today for an AFL club to appoint a female CEO. It possibility won't be too long before another one comes along."
Hawthorn president Richard Garvey said the club underwent an "extensive and thorough" process before choosing the 47-year-old to "drive Hawthorn into the future".
He denied that meant the club needed cultural change.
"If you don't continue to innovate, look to change and refresh yourself as an organisation you risk going backwards. We understand that," he said.
"It is a game of very fine margins ... we think (on-field results) can turn around pretty quickly."
Gaudry joins Hawthorn on May 29 and will continue her role in international cycling.
Tim Silvers has filled the role on an interim basis since Fox's departure late last year to be the chief executive at the Melbourne Cricket Club.
