Christian Welch lands off-field role with AFL club

Former Melbourne Storm premiership winner Christian Welch has joined the Collingwood Magpies as a business analyst.

Welch, who has often been regarded for his off-field smarts, has a commerce degree and an MBA, studying at Harvard, Berlin & Oxford. During his time in the game, he was on the RLPA's board, and played a big part in negotiating the current collective bargaining agreements used across the NRL and NRLW.

The 31-year-old was forced into retirement last year after suffering multiple head knocks, having played 163 NRL games across ten seasons, where he also played for Queensland at State of Origin level.

Noted for his on-field toughness in the middle third, Welch will now take his off-field experience to AFL, telling Zero Tackle he wanted to get outside of the rugby league bubble for his next commitment.

"I really admire Collingwood as a club and the AFL in how they operate," Welch told us.

"I wanted to get outside the rugby league bubble for a while & challenge myself to learn and develop. Not sure what the future holds, Collingwood HQ is literally next door to the Storm, so I'll continue to have a close relationship there.

"It's a privilege to be at one of the best sporting organisations in Australia, so it's just be a sponge and work hard to help contribute."

Welch, who also has regularly appeared on the ABC to chat about issues surrounding the game, is not the first NRL name to join the AFL.

Ryan Hoffman, who is another former Storm player and will host Zero Tackle's new show The Boardroom in 2026 alongside Chad Townsend, is currently working with the Melbourne Demons as a leadership consultant, while Billy Slater also worked with St Kilda in 2019.

The Melbourne Storm have also gone to the AFL for talent, with Geelong champion Joel Selwood working with the Melbourne Storm during 2023.