With Evans' surprise move fast-tracking AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan's plan to restructure his executive, Lethlean will be rewarded in part for his key role in establishing the AFL Women's competition.

It has also emerged that the league was ready to move former Gold Coast chief Travis Auld back into his old role on a caretaker basis before Evans agreed to take on the job early on Tuesday.

Fairfax Media understands that McLachlan needs to replace Evans by Thursday – which is the next fixtured game of the pre-season series – and at the very least Lethlean is expected to take on the job on an interim basis .

Evans, who had been the favourite to replace Stuart Fox as the new Hawthorn chief, selected the Suns after some heavy lobbying from Gold Coast chairman Tony Cochrane. The final decision was strongly pushed by McLachlan and his team who have harboured increasing concerns about the AFL's 17th club both on and off the field.

The Suns have not only struggled to secure a new major sponsor but their membership numbers are the lowest of the 18 clubs and despite early lofty predictions the team has not looked like reaching finals in its first six years. The Suns' best result came in Guy McKenna's final season, 2014, when they finished 12th.

Evans' football credentials are unquestioned while he has been working behind the scenes at head office over the past year to gain commercial expertise including sitting in on various media and sponsorship negotiations.

Lethlean's career at the AFL spans almost 13 years. He was the favourite internal candidate to take over the football operation from Adrian Anderson in 2013 before former CEO Andrew Demetriou – under pressure to select a candidate from a club – chose to pluck Evans from his off-field football role at Hawthorn.

It is understood key elements of game development could still come under Lethlean's jurisdiction including AFL Women's.

Poached by the AFL away from Hawthorn and close friend Alastair Clarkson, the appointment of Evans was largely hailed by club officials, due to his high standing within the competition.

Similarly, Lethlean's documented ability to organise and execute programs – namely AFLW – puts him in high regard in club land.

After originally being in charge of fixturing and broadcasting, which provided the basis for strong relationships with clubs and media networks, Lethlean then moved into game development at the AFL.

In just two years, he's been able to develop and launch the highly successful women's competition, which was initially thought to be several more years away.

The overwhelmingly positive reaction to AFLW has seen Lethlean put in charge of the league's expansion, which will include increasing the number of teams and redeveloping suburban grounds such as Ikon Park and Whitten Oval.

Lethlean's expected new position will come as the competition is undergoing an in-depth umpiring review and also experimenting with some radical ways to eradicate on-field congestion such as establishing set forward zones or even playing 16-a-side.