AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou might have groomed his likely successor too well.

Gillon McLachlan’s potential defection to the NRL as their new chief executive raises the question – if he goes, who would be Demetriou’s new deputy?

The AFL chief operating officer was acting CEO while Demetriou had an overseas holiday and there is no doubt that McLachlan’s star is shining brightly.

He was the point man in negotiations for the AFL’s lucrative $1.25 billion television rights deal, which is nearing the end of its first year.

While Demetriou wants McLachlan to stay, the AFL boss also continues to make it clear he is in no hurry to leave his post.

Demetriou’s ongoing enthusiasm for his job would appear to make it even more attractive for McLachlan to leave if he wants that level of responsibility.

Ben Buckley was also the AFL chief operating officer before taking over as chief executive at the FFA.

Buckley has now left that job and there is strong speculation he will return to the AFL as North Melbourne’s chief executive.

Other than Demetriou and McLachlan, the highest-profile administrator at the AFL is football operations manager Adrian Anderson.

Demetriou made the switch from “footy ops” to chief executive, but Anderson would appear very unlikely to follow suit.

There are reports the NRL will have to bump up their offer to McLachlan from $1 million to $1.5 million per year.

Interim boss NRL Shane Mattiske is also high on the list of candidates – like McLachlan, he earnt kudos for playing a key role in his code’s big TV rights deal.

The newly-announced agreement will be worth $1.025 billion to rugby league.

While Racing NSW boss Peter V’Landys is another potential candidate to take over from David Gallop, all the signs are that McLachlan and Mattiske are the two frontrunners.

Demetriou has been AFL chief executive since 2003 and, under his management, the league has continued to boom to the point where they have been able to finance the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney expansion teams.

Demetriou made it clear last week that he was going nowhere soon.

In an interview on Channel Nine, Demetriou declared he has a lot of unfinished business and added he planned to stay in the job “indefinitely”.

“I have a lot of challenges,” Demetriou said, pointing to the two new teams and the Adelaide Oval redevelopment.

But he is also unlikely to let go of his No.2 man without a fight.

Asked how he would feel if McLachlan accepted the NRL offer, Demetriou replied: “It would be disappointing, because he’s an outstanding talent”.

The unspoken concern for the AFL is also that they would lose important intellectual property to their biggest rival football code in Australia.

“It doesn’t surprise me he’s been approached … he will have a big decision,” Demetriou said.