GEELONG will break new ground next month when the club's general manager of people and culture, Rosie King, takes on the position as acting chief executive during the first month that Brian Cook is studying at Harvard University.

It will be the first time the Cats have had a woman fill the position of acting CEO.

"It may even be the first time this has happened in the AFL," Cook told geelongcats.com.au.

"There might have been one or two for a week or a day, but I'm not sure a female has been the CEO of a club for a month.

"So that's something we're proud of."

King, who lives in the central Victorian town of Buninyong, has headed up Geelong's human resources department since September 2010.
Before that she held a similar position at Sport and Recreation New Zealand.

"She is an extremely gifted person," Cook said.

"We've probably got four people here now who could take up the CEO role if pushed.

"I think our leadership around the place is really good."

King will lead the Cats' executive through April, then the club's general manager of finance and administration, Rob Threlfall, will take over for May.

Threlfall has served as acting chief executive on a number of occasions in the past.

"It could have been (general manager of football) Neil Balme or (general manager of team performance) Steve Hocking as well," Cook said.

"But they wanted to concentrate on winning games early and spend as much time as they could in the football department in the early part of the season.

"So I understand that."

King and Threlfall will have plenty to deal with during their time in charge.

Among their most pressing concerns will be ensuring the new Players Stand and floodlights are completed in time for Geelong's first match of the season at Simonds Stadium on June 1.

The club is also facing a tight timeframe when it comes to installing the new super-screen that will be located between the Players Stand and the Reg Hickey Stand.

"It will be the same size as the MCG screen, which is 130 square metres," Cook explained.

"But it won't arrive until May 20 and it has got to be finished by May 30. That's how tight it is.

"And it's a similar situation with the lights.

"So there's some really tight and important deadlines to meet, but it seems like that is always the way with redevelopments.

"You're usually still putting the final coat of paint on while people are walking through the gates.

"We don't plan it that way; it just happens that way.

"But by and large the whole construction process has gone pretty well so far."

Adam McNicol covers Geelong news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_AdamMcNicol