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Sliding head-first at breakneck speed down an ice track can prepare you for almost anything. But new Canberra Raiders board member Bronwyn Fagan is about to find out whether that includes the inner workings of a professional rugby league club. Fagan became just the second female on the Raiders board when her position was officially ratified on Thursday night. She joins Raiders Group chief financial officer Yvonne Gillett, who was elected on to the club's eight-person board in 2014. It is an appointment that has been in the works for the past two years, but Fagan was unable to follow up on the interest while she was still working as a lawyer for the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority. Fagan's tenure at ASADA finished on Thursday night, clearing the path for her to take the next step in her passion as a sports administrator. "I'm not there to tick a box, I want to contribute," Fagan said. "Fingers crossed, I'll be able to. "Those guys on the board are especially well credentialled and don't want me on there just to be a girl." Fagan brings a wealth of experience from a variety of fields, starting as an elite athlete across a number of sports. That included making Australia's shadow team for the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics for skeleton and bobsleigh. Fagan has also previously sat on the board of Cricket ACT, ACT Athletics, been a delegate to the ACT Olympic Council and spent the past 10 years as the co-host of ABC Grandstand alongside Tim Gavel. Outside of sport, she has built a successful legal career and will be specialising in sports law with Russell Kennedy Lawyers having spent the past 2½ years with ASADA. The Fagan name is well known in Canberra sporting circles. Her former partner Andrew Fagan was the chief executive of the ACT Brumbies and now holds that position with the Adelaide Crows in the AFL. The Raiders previously tried to recruit Channel Nine sports journalist Erin Molan to the club's board, but were knocked back. "I don't think the Raiders are looking for females, I think they're looking for diversity," Bronwyn Fagan said. "I'm probably a little bit younger than a lot of people that are on the board and my experiences and background are a little bit different. "Being a former elite athlete who has worked in anti-doping and in media, but I've also done a lot of governance in sport, but also outside of sport in my legal capacity. "It's more about diversity than just looking for another female to sit in a chair." Raiders chairman Allan Hawke said Fagan would be a valuable addition to the club's board with her background in law and sport. "She's got a passion for the game and she's got some skills we don't have on the board," Hawke said. "I just think she's got the goods for the sort of person we would be interested in. "She's got a seriously impressive CV for someone her age." Fagan joins Hawke, Gillett, Raiders Group general manager Simon Hawkins, DFAT secretary Dennis Richardson, lobbyist Paul Whalan, Colliers International state chief executive Paul Powderly, ActewAGL joint venture board chairman John Mackay and Price Waterhouse Coopers senior partner Terry Webber on the club's board. "The Raiders board has got to be one of the best credentialled boards in the whole of Australia," Fagan said. "It's got some incredibly successful, but also humble, business people who are very keen to help and do what they can. "I'm really looking forward to seeing how those guys operate."

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