Past captains make the best coaches - Matthews

[mightytiges]

Matthews recommends O'Donnell for top job
By Peter Blucher
Brisbane
realfooty.theage.com.au
July 6, 2004

Brisbane Lions coach Leigh Matthews yesterday offered a glowing endorsement of Gary O'Donnell as a future AFL coach and told how he would hate to be in the position of having to appoint a successor to Danny Frawley at Richmond or Gary Ayres at Adelaide.

In recommending O'Donnell, his No. 1 lieutenant of the past six years, Matthews tipped the former Essendon captain to make a successful transition to senior coach and suggested former club captains invariably made the best coaches.

"Gary's been a fantastic support to me and a fantastic contributor to our operation for half a dozen years. If he can get a senior coaching job and he wants to take it, we'd be only too happy for him," Matthews said. "He's very stable, is a very strong character and has composure under pressure. Of the assistant coaches I think Gary has a lot of status.

"If you ask yourself , 'Where would you go for future coaches' you go to the past captains of footy clubs - people who, when they played, were seen as leaders. That's a pretty good recommendation from a club where they are closely involved.

"Most of the successful coaches probably were captains or close to it," he said.

O'Donnell, a 243-game Bomber and club captain, followed Matthews to Brisbane on a three-year deal in 1999 and has operated on a year-to-year basis since then.

He rejected an approach from Geelong in 2003 to stay with the Lions in the hope of being part of the club's premiership treble.

[mightytiges]

I think you can argue for and against captains making the best coaches. Out of the 2004 coaches:

Former captains: Ayres (P), Matthews (P*), Sheedy (P), Thomson (P*), N.Daniher, Williams, Frawley, Roos, Worsfold (P*).

Not captain: Pagan, Malthouse (P), Connolly, Schwab (P), Laidley (P), Thomas, Rhode, Craig.

Frawley and Ayres failed. Pagan is one of the fab four of modern coaches.

Of past coaches: Tim Watson (P) was a failure.

If you just take the premiership coaches from the last 30 or so years - Matthews (C,P*), Sheedy (C,P), Pagan, Blight (C,P), Parkin (C,P*), Malthouse (P), Jeans (?), Joyce, Walls (C,P), Jewell (P), Barassi (C,P*), Kennedy (?) and Hafey. Notice most of them played in premierships themselves although Hafey didn't but that was 30 years ago. More recent ones mostly have.

P* - premiership captain, P - played in a premiership, C - captain

Of the candidates for the Richmond job only O'Donnell was a captain (not a premiership one) and played in a flag. Eade, Wallace and Harvey played in premiership teams.

[wrennyboy]

I wouldnt mind seeing o donnel appointed i just want matthews to lead o donnel take over the reigns even this weekend against the bulldogs at the gabba to make him know what it feels like.