Jade Rawlings, Damien Hardwick not such hard picksShane Crawford | August 02, 2009
DAMIEN Hardwick to coach North Melbourne next year and Jade Rawlings to coach Richmond: they're the appointments I'd make if I was in charge of securing coaches for the Kangaroos and Tigers for the long-term.
Nathan Buckley is out of the market after agreeing to join a new-look coaching panel at Collingwood.
I've had connections with Damien and Jade from my time at Hawthorn and I'm convinced both will be outstanding senior AFL coaches one day.
Hardwick perfectly suits the Kangaroos' job. He has one of the best coaching CVs you could imagine after two premierships as a player with Essendon and Port Adelaide, and a flag as an assistant coach at Hawthorn.
Also in his favour is that he has played under two premiership coaches - the great Kevin Sheedy and Mark Williams.
And it is fair to say he played a key role in Hawthorn's redevelopment over the past few years along with senior coach Alastair Clarkson.
I know Clarko was incredibly impressed with Damien from his time at Port Adelaide and one of the key requests when he took on the Hawks' job was that he could secure him as one of his assistant coaches.
In that time, Damien has played a massive role in the development of a young team that went on to win a premiership.
He has a very impressive knowledge of the game, a great strategic outlook on the game and is considered one of the ''go to" men in the coaches box.
Hardwick always has been a person who wants to challenge himself and he has continued to do that at Hawthorn.
Having played a significant role with the forward set-up, he asked at the end of last year to be given a new challenge. In doing so, he is now responsible for the midfield.
The one thing North Melbourne chairman James Brayshaw may be a bit concerned about is that he is perhaps not as media savvy as some of the other candidates.
But he should not be worried.
Damien can handle the media well; just that he hasn't had to do it on too many occasions.
He will sell the club if that is what is required and I reckon he can also do that by putting the Kangaroos in the best possible position out on the field.
Clearly, Swans assistant and former Kangaroos star John Longmire is a strong chance to win the job, and he has undoubtedly done great work under Paul Roos.
But I'd be pushing for Damien Hardwick. He missed out on the Essendon job a few years ago to Matthew Knights, but I reckon he is primed and ready to go now.
As far as the Richmond position goes, the Tigers will go through a long process to pick the right man.
In my view, that man is closer to home than they might think.
Jade Rawlings was probably not given much chance of being the long-term successor to Terry Wallace when he took over the caretaker's role, but he is now.
He has done a superb job in uniting a fractured team after what had been a very tough season for the yellow and black.
He has changed the way the team has played in the past few months, he has gone with the kids and left older players to play out at Coburg and has worried more about the long-term development of the list than his own preservation.
Leaving aside the St Kilda game, where they were soundly beaten as most teams have been against the '09 Saints, Rawlings' Tigers have been competitive in every game and have won two games and drawn another since he took over.
They should win against Melbourne today, too.
Jade was always coaching material in my eyes. He was a sponge and just took everything in as a player.
He just needed a chance, and now that he has it, I reckon he can go on with the job.
Hopefully, the Tigers have got the courage to put their faith in him and let him get on with the job.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25868627-19742,00.html
