David EdwardsChanging Of The Guard
September 1st 2006 12:50
With only a round to go in both major football codes, this is the time where changes occur the most often. As the football seasons wrap, we come to the changing of the guard. The coach is ultimately responsible for the success or the failure of team, and as a result, they are always the first to be praised or admonished.
We have seen this already in the NRL, where this week alone two coaches, Ricky Stuart of the Roosters and Shaun McRae of South Sydney have been given their walking papers, and with Parramatta caretaker coach Jason Taylor moving to take charge of the Rabbitohs we will see a definite mix up of whose in charge before 2007.
But the AFL has not made a single change just yet, and after last season where all coaches stayed the same, it would seem the winds are definitely changing. So after 21 rounds, who has steadied their career, who is walking the rocky path, and who should have their bags packed before the final siren?
There is no doubt that before the month of September wraps up, their will definitely by a change in management for some teams. Two that are on unsteady ground are Dean Laidley of the Kangaroos, and Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson for Geelong, and I personally believe will already be updating their resume’s.
Laidley was a selection for coach that never really sat well. After the Kangaroos dynasty of domination under current Carlton coach Dennis Pagan in the 90s, the Kangaroos have whittled away to a mere shadow of their former self. Even though all sides go through peaks and troughs over the years, the worst point of their current squad is that it seems they have no younger members that will be able to take over the reigns when the veterans leave the game.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the Kangaroos do not have good young players. Guys like Firrito, Harris and Swallow do have the potential to before future stars, but the point of the matter is that they should have a lot more of players like these in their fold. But instead of rebuilding their squad with a number of decent young players, like Hawthorn who have gone from a joke to contender in a matter of years, they focused on insane trade deals on players who have two, maybe three years left in their career.
Some trades have worked, like Nathan Thompson in 2004, but last year’s acquirement of Jonathan Hay has seriously hit the team hard, simply due to the fact that he is not as good as he was traded for. Add that to the fact that key players such as Simpson, Harvey, Archer, Rocca and even Thompson and Hay themselves, only have a handful of games left in them, it seems that the team has a lot more to go through before it can stand proudly once more.
Whilst Laidley will be given the blame for their slump, and lack of future assurance, it will be nothing compared to the flak that Thompson will receive for Geelong’s form this year. At the start of the year they were toted as premiership favourites, and in fact at the start they seemed to hold the form of potential champions, but now they have one game left, and unable score a win over Melbourne last week, means that they won’t even get into the finals.
Now Thompson might be spared if they went through a horrible injury run, or if they lost due to a small margin on a number of games, but the simple fact is that they didn’t perform. They lost games they should have won, they seemed to make simple mistakes on the field, and overall they did not look like a championship side. Now if the potential hasn’t shone for the Cats under the guidance of Thompson over the last few years, the Cats do have to look for a new direction.
Of course these two are not the only ones that might have to face a hard ask next season. In fact three of four coaches who won premierships, Matthews (Lions), Williams (Port) and Sheedy (Essendon), might have a question mark next to their name if they cannot make a better run in ’07, but with the names of Matthews and Sheedy, two legendary figures in coaching, it would be a huge ask to let them go. But sometimes if the team is not performing, a change of direction is all it takes. Just look at Hawthorn, Richmond and the Bulldogs, who after changing coaches in 2004 have seriously made their mark on the competition to say that a hiring of a new manager does not help the squad immensely.
Until next time, sport minds.
We have seen this already in the NRL, where this week alone two coaches, Ricky Stuart of the Roosters and Shaun McRae of South Sydney have been given their walking papers, and with Parramatta caretaker coach Jason Taylor moving to take charge of the Rabbitohs we will see a definite mix up of whose in charge before 2007.
But the AFL has not made a single change just yet, and after last season where all coaches stayed the same, it would seem the winds are definitely changing. So after 21 rounds, who has steadied their career, who is walking the rocky path, and who should have their bags packed before the final siren?
There is no doubt that before the month of September wraps up, their will definitely by a change in management for some teams. Two that are on unsteady ground are Dean Laidley of the Kangaroos, and Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson for Geelong, and I personally believe will already be updating their resume’s.
Laidley was a selection for coach that never really sat well. After the Kangaroos dynasty of domination under current Carlton coach Dennis Pagan in the 90s, the Kangaroos have whittled away to a mere shadow of their former self. Even though all sides go through peaks and troughs over the years, the worst point of their current squad is that it seems they have no younger members that will be able to take over the reigns when the veterans leave the game.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the Kangaroos do not have good young players. Guys like Firrito, Harris and Swallow do have the potential to before future stars, but the point of the matter is that they should have a lot more of players like these in their fold. But instead of rebuilding their squad with a number of decent young players, like Hawthorn who have gone from a joke to contender in a matter of years, they focused on insane trade deals on players who have two, maybe three years left in their career.
Some trades have worked, like Nathan Thompson in 2004, but last year’s acquirement of Jonathan Hay has seriously hit the team hard, simply due to the fact that he is not as good as he was traded for. Add that to the fact that key players such as Simpson, Harvey, Archer, Rocca and even Thompson and Hay themselves, only have a handful of games left in them, it seems that the team has a lot more to go through before it can stand proudly once more.
Whilst Laidley will be given the blame for their slump, and lack of future assurance, it will be nothing compared to the flak that Thompson will receive for Geelong’s form this year. At the start of the year they were toted as premiership favourites, and in fact at the start they seemed to hold the form of potential champions, but now they have one game left, and unable score a win over Melbourne last week, means that they won’t even get into the finals.
Now Thompson might be spared if they went through a horrible injury run, or if they lost due to a small margin on a number of games, but the simple fact is that they didn’t perform. They lost games they should have won, they seemed to make simple mistakes on the field, and overall they did not look like a championship side. Now if the potential hasn’t shone for the Cats under the guidance of Thompson over the last few years, the Cats do have to look for a new direction.
Of course these two are not the only ones that might have to face a hard ask next season. In fact three of four coaches who won premierships, Matthews (Lions), Williams (Port) and Sheedy (Essendon), might have a question mark next to their name if they cannot make a better run in ’07, but with the names of Matthews and Sheedy, two legendary figures in coaching, it would be a huge ask to let them go. But sometimes if the team is not performing, a change of direction is all it takes. Just look at Hawthorn, Richmond and the Bulldogs, who after changing coaches in 2004 have seriously made their mark on the competition to say that a hiring of a new manager does not help the squad immensely.
Until next time, sport minds.
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