The new league boss pledged his leadership style would push for a better working partnership with its clubs. He told the club chief executives to expect more transparency from head office as it worked to build the game in both its traditional and developing markets.

As the AFL puts its finishing touches to the first two years of a diluted equalisation formula McLachlan’s consultative style — by comparison with his predecessor Andrew Demetriou’s — remained one talking point as the two-day club conference closed in Melbourne on Thursday.

It has been revealed that the Brisbane Lions, St Kilda, the Western Bulldogs, Melbourne, North Melbourne and Port Adelaide will be the main beneficiaries of a watered-down revenue sharing pool of some $3 million, with Richmond and premiership favourite Sydney to receive a small amount of equalisation funding having fallen slightly below the AFL’s break-even formula.

McLachlan told the clubs the true push to close the gap between the rich and poor clubs would start in 2017 as the next broadcast rights agreement began. Brisbane, with a debt of some $12 million, appears the most financially troubled club and will receive a total of $3.2 million from the AFL in various forms next season.

Port Adelaide honoured its commitment to present to all other clubs its work around rebuilding its supporter base and creating a new match-day experience for its fans despite the fact that the club’s chief Keith Thomas departed Melbourne on the eve of the two-day conference because of his club’s viral meningitis outbreak which led to the further hospitalisation of three Port academy players.

Port is one of two further clubs — Melbourne is the other — which will receive further AFL assistance next season in being excused from having to pay the recently implemented gate levy tax.

Brisbane, StKilda, North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs have already been made exempt from the tax.