Roche no puppet in Australian Olympic play

Danni Roche is adamant: she's no puppet in a play.

Roche rejects any strings attached to her challenge to John Coates' Australian Olympic Committee presidency.

The 46-year-old, an Olympic hockey gold medallist in 1996 and a successful businesswoman, has stepped off the Australian Sports Commission board during the election campaign.

The commission is, in sporting parlance, having a crack at Coates and the AOC over funding.

That battle has played out in an open feud between Coates and the commission's boss John Wylie.

But Roche says the bitter undercurrent is distant to her bid to oust Coates for the first time he took the role in 1990.

Roche argues it's time for change within the AOC.

As a director with AFL club St Kilda, former director of Hockey Australia, and Oceania Hockey Federation vice-president, Roche is well-versed in sporting politics.

She says, in sporting terms, the AOC is out of form, has been for a while, and needs refreshing - change from the top.

Roche has zeroed in on Coates' $715,000 a year wage from the AOC: she will reduce the salary to $100,000, then waive it during her term if elected.

Other campaign keypoints have been slicing waste from within the AOC and channelling more funds to sports.

Roche's campaign was bumped by bullying allegations from outside her camp - she kept her distance from the furore which sucked a week of campaign air, save for saying it underlined the need for change.

"I am deeply concerned about the culture at the Australian Olympic Committee," she said.

"On the day I announced I was standing for the role, I made a commitment to reset the philosophy and culture of the AOC.

"The need for change at the AOC is now clear. It needs to change, and it needs to change now."