Frawley: 2001 was my best year in footyHerald-Sun
21 April 2016DANNY Frawley says he has stopped fighting with himself.
Stopped beating himself up about his coaching weaknesses, stopped wondering why that elusive flag slipped through his fingers.
Later this year the former Richmond coach will even hold a reunion of sorts — with the 2001 Richmond team that surged all the way to the preliminary final.
A preliminary final reunion?
Frawley knows some might scoff, but at 52 he has finally come to accept he has made a success of his life.
“I was looking through a lens of would-have, could-have,’’ says former St Kilda captain Frawley, who coached Richmond from 2000-04 for 113 games.
“I couldn’t live in the moment. I was for the last 50 years competing with myself and now I have put down the gloves.
“Looking back at that 2001 year, it was the best year in footy I have had. We couldn’t have asked for a better position that year.
“Brisbane won the flag and Essendon was still up there, but the fact was the team performed as well as it could have.
“It was the most satisfying year I ever had coaching or playing. It was a great achievement, and if you say that people look at you as if you are a Martian.
“We had people there like Wayne Campbell and Benny Gale, and Leon Cameron (and Danny Crocker). Alan Richardson was the VFL coach. We developed three fitness guys. Warren Kofoed (now at West Coast) and Matt Hornsby (now at St Kilda) were under Noel Duncan.
“Chris Bradshaw is now the Collingwood doctor, Tim Barber is St Kilda’s head doctor. It is on my bucket list to invite those guys back to my place before the end of the year.
“I will get howled down by all and sundry — what is Danny inviting back a team that only finished third? But those guys bled for the jumper.”
Former AFL Coaches Association CEO Frawley cannot believe the only judge of senior AFL coaches has become a premiership.
After 33 seasons in football Frawley has learnt to be content with a successful media and coaching career (he is part-time at St Kilda) and his life with three daughters and wife.
Yet he believes a new positive outlook has finally allowed him to celebrate his achievements in football — even if it never reaped a premiership cup.
“History will say we should have gone back to the draft (in 2002) and instead we had some ageing players from other clubs and had some salary cap issues.
“Change happened, and the list became in decline and the win-loss record got to a stage where it was impossible not to move on.
“I released the pressure valve and from that day I didn’t want to coach again.”
He says living in the moment has helped centre him, pushing away the regrets and allowing him to enjoy even the smallest victories.
“I am very lucky to have a happy healthy family. I am very happy to be part of the media and enjoying my time at St Kilda.
“Things are going well, but I only dwell on the next ten minutes, not worry about the last ten.
“Gone are the days when I dwell on the past or what I did or didn’t do.”
AFL Coaches Association chief executive Mark Brayshaw, also the chief executive at Richmond in 2001, says the exclusive focus on premierships as a measuring stick of success is warped.
“In 2001 we made the prelim and were beaten at the Gabba by the Brisbane Lions, who were one of the greatest teams in living memory,’’ he said.
“I look back on that period as everyone at the club does with extreme fondness.
“There are not 17 failed senior coaches at the end of every season. It is so unhealthy and the wrong way to look at it.
“It is an extremely competitive industry and these guys realise they are measured by success.
“When they come together I see the respectful way the coaches look at premiership coaches like John Longmire and Paul Roos and Alastair Clarkson who has won four premierships.
“But within the industry no one feels there are 17 losers at the end of the year.”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/richmond/danny-frawley-says-coaching-richmond-in-2001-was-his-best-year-in-football/news-story/92fd2ff4f452976fbc69d2aed6f343e3
