Post To Wire: AFL Coaches

Nick Tedeschi

So Cliffo, we move onto AFL coaches this week and we are lucky enough to have with us afl.com.au reporter and regular Making The Nut columnist Stu Warren, our first Post To Wire three-way.

So let's start off with Adelaide, a very interesting situation indeed. Neil Craig was this year taken off contract and placed on staff, something I cannot recall happening in any major sport. The deal seems to be that at a mutually agreed time, Craig will hand the reins over to someone else. Will this work Cliffo or will this lead to trouble? It seems to me the Crows are trying to avoid the situation at Collingwood by integrating Craig more into the club. I'm not sure how this one will play out.

And what of Michael Voss? He has had his powers at the Lions stripped right back. Has the injury to Jonathan Brown been the death knell for Brisbane? If so, who will succeed him? Do either Brisbane or Adelaide have any natural successors or will they both look outside to a coach with senior experience?

Cliff Bingham

All indications are that Neil Craig is a good man with the club’s best interests at heart, but the shift to him being a staff member must surely upset the balance of the hierarchy at the Crows. They were insipid in the last three quarters against Port Adelaide and Craig’s post-match assessment that they were blown away by a ‘power house’ was both an inadvertent terrible pun and a poor assessment of what unfolded. There could be some troubling times on the horizon for the pride of South Australia.

I wonder whether the Brown injury will actually save Voss in the interim, as it gives the club a ready-made excuse for a string of poor performances in the absence of their best player. Nonetheless, his gamble to recruit a number of older players in 2010 (most notably Brendan Fevola) rather than providing opportunities for younger players to develop further has backfired and he can expect a short leash from club management for some time to come. The mobility of labour when it comes to senior AFL coaches is high and therefore a natural successor is not necessarily required. Coaching senior footy is becoming more of a young man’s game as the tactics evolve so quickly these days. On that note, Stu, as a devoted Collingwood man, how have you seen the Malthouse/Buckley transition playing out and how do you think Nathan will perform when at the helm of the Magpies? And how much pressure do you think Brett Ratten is under over the next four of five months at Carlton?

Stu Warren

Brett Ratten’s only under as much fire as his players dish up to him, for mine. He’s Blues through and through and even though Carlton fans can be a knifey lot, you’d think finals footy sees him clear of any real job jeopardy (but they’ve got to win in September to take anything out of the season). He’s certainly got the cattle for that – as long as they perform at par or better.

Voss, on the other hand, does not have the players at present, and could be a long way off assembling a list that doesn’t just look like Richmond’s, with a suntan. Hell, Damien Hardwick has high draft picks on the up-and-up at Tigerland and he seems sure to get his lot up the ladder before the Lions.

At Collingwood, and as a supporter of the reigning premier, I’m happy with the succession plan. I’m not a financial member (though I would be if the club re-structured its interstate membership to take into account the Island State and the absolute unlikelihood of Collingwood ever playing down here for premiership points). I also think Malthouse will stay at the club through 2012 and beyond. In essence, the play for Collingwood is the same as that made by Essendon during the summer gone; club champion at the reigns and a football guru to help word the mantra.

And knowing your penchant for the men in the red sash, Cliff, I’ll spin the Lazy Susan back your way for an early take on the Hird era at Windy Hill.

Cliff Bingham

For the record, I thought the manner in which Matthew Knights was shown the door was unsavoury, as were some of the clandestine dealings (and denials of said deals) that landed the last two Essendon premiership captains back at the club in a coaching capacity. Nonetheless, the early signs for the Hird/ Thompson era at Windy Hill are extremely encouraging – a greater level of discipline has been neatly paired up with the existing flair and pace of a pretty young list, and the Bombers are relevant again. May it continue for many a year.

Speaking of former Essendon dual premiership players, hasn’t Mark Harvey turned it around in the last season and a bit at the Dockers? They have a young and talented list of players who seem to have the right level of intestinal fortitude – couple this with top shelf key players in Pavlich and Sandilands and you have the makings of a very successful club who will only improve when Barlow and Mzungu return from injury. At the start of 2010, Mark Harvey looked to be on borrowed time – now he appears to be one of the safer coaches in the league.

Geelong and Gold Coast barely rate a mention from a coaching merry-go-round perspective, as Chris Scott and Guy ‘Bluey’ McKenna are both on debut in 2011. Scott seems to have slipped in at Kardinia Park seamlessly and his passion and enthusiasm after the win against St Kilda was a breath of fresh air.  McKenna has an enormous task ahead of him, but with a new club and so many new players on the list, he is likely to see out two to three seasons before any glaring assessments of his performance and future tenure are handed down.

Two men whose performance will be scrutinised much more heavily in the present tense are Hawthorn’s Alistair Clarkson and Melbourne’s Dean Bailey. Nick, what is the word down Melbourne-way on the pressures both men are facing?

Nick Tedeschi

I am surprised at the scrutiny Alastair Clarkson is under boys. Clarkson did lead the Hawks to an unlikely title only three seasons back and he did so on the back of an outstanding strategy. Injuries certainly hurt the Hawks in 2009 but Clarkson admits that the evolution of the game had him behind the eight-ball in 2010, a refreshing bit of honesty from a coach not renowned for his relationship with the media.

This is a make or break year for Clarko seemingly though. The Hawks are seen as legitimate title threats and failure to deliver will see Jeff Kennett move swiftly, for good or ill.

At Melbourne, Dean Bailey has to show something this year. The Dees were tipped by many as a smokey for the eight but have started the season less than impressively. If Melbourne miss out, I would not be surprised if the Dees went after a coach with experience.

The name being bandied about is Mick Malthouse. I disagree with Stu: I think he walks on Collingwood. He is a coach and he still wants to coach and I think Melbourne is his most likely destination. Rodney Eade has also been mentioned in dispatches.

Onto a couple of struggling team Stu. North and Port. Will Brad Scott be given time at the Kangaroos? And what about Matty Primus? He made a ballsy decision to dump Kane Cornes last week and it reaped a pretty heavy reward. Is he a long-term coach?

Stu Warren

Primus is an interesting case study. Port picked him up as an uncontracted player formerly of the Fitzroy Football Club where he’d played his first 20 League games. He’s no stranger to a club on Struggle Street and no shrinking violet given the spray served up at the first break of last weekend’s Showdown. Primus has time as long as they can avoid the dreaded spoon.

At Arden Street, Brad Scott probably has more time than he knows what to do with. If, as is starting to appear to be the case, his list is bereft of a genuine gamebreaker, it’s going to be a good few years before he’s sitting somewhere above the equator on the planet we know as the AFL ladder. With games played and weight sessions, he’ll forge a strong and pugnacious outfit, as is the Shinboner way, but probably not one to provide fodder for the highlights reel.

But I’d suggest both these guys are safe for this season at least.

As is John Worsfold, if the Eagles’ showing against Hawthorn last weekend is anything to go by. His team operated pragmatically against a fancied Hawks outfit, doggedly clinging to a narrow lead. Only a bag from one L. Franklin managed to turn the match, otherwise the headlines would have been for ‘Woosha’, not ‘Buddy’. He’s got them playing like ‘his’ Eagles used to play, not like the Eagles that fell in a flat-spin to the foot of the ladder last year. As long as they continue to make progress, he’s safe.

Cliff Bingham

Speaking of safe coaches, John Longmire is another one who would appear to have an ally in time, especially as the time spent working as an assistant to Paul Roos seems to have led to a fairly seamless transition for the Swans. He barely rates a mention in the list of prospective coaching moves for the next year or two. After the strong second half of 2010 submitted by the Tigers, I’d also throw Damien Hardwick into that category, albeit that coaches are never truly safe at Punt Road and he will need to keep delivering further progression of his team and list to stay in the job.

Nick, Ross Lyon is under a surprising amount of pressure for a man who has taken his club to successful Grand Finals – what is your take? Do you think ‘Rocket’ Eade has a home at the Bulldogs in 2012 and if not, a home elsewhere? I do not subscribe to the idea of hiring older coaches (be it Eade, Malthouse, Sheedy or whomever) to take on the head position at a new club when the evolution of the game lends itself to requiring a younger man to take the helm – your thoughts?

Nick Tedeschi

I don’t think Ross Lyon is in any danger Cliffo. St Kilda are a tough club to get a handle on, certainly the most closed shop in Melbourne, but Lyon is a highly regarded tactician whose disdain for the media sits well with the Saints philosophy. In this time of flux for the club as well, I doubt a coaching change would be particularly advantageous.

The case of Rodney Eade is much more interesting. David Smorgon has put him under the gun by saying the Dogs needed to win the premiership this season. Eade is copping a bum wrap. He has taken the Dogs to three straight prelims and is a smart tactician. But the Dogs don’t seem as strong as they were, say, two years ago, at least at this stage, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he got the axe taking the club to another prelim. The club is desperate for a flag and they want to at least make a Grand Final before this window ends.

I also agree with you re: fresh coaches Cliff. This is a young man’s game, a sport in constant evolution. Those stuck in their ways, fall behind. See Essendon in the final years of the Sheedy Era.

Anyway boys, good chat. Thanks for coming in Stu and you’ll no doubt be back sooner rather than later and hopefully next week….

Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images AsiaPac