Richmond and Essendon reaping benefits of sticking with coachPaul Newberry
The Australian
17 Feb 2018AFL clubs enter a fresh season next month with just one new coach among them and, in a rare occurrence, almost certainly with no coaches coming out of contract at the end of the year.
The only rookie on show is Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew, who has replaced Rodney Eade, on an initial three-year deal.
There have been more changes in the top administrative positions than among the head coaches, with four Melbourne-based clubs which failed to compete in the finals last season changing their chief executives.
Carlton start 2018 with new chief Cain Liddle. Collingwood have appointed Mark Anderson, Ameet Bains has joined the Western Bulldogs from St Kilda and Justin Reeves will start his first full year as Hawthorn’s CEO.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick and Essendon coach John Worsfold are working under contracts that expire at the end of the season but it appears a formality that the tenures of both men will be extended.
Hardwick last year coached the Tigers to their first premiership since 1980 and Worsfold took the Bombers from the wooden spoon to eighth. Both will be recontracted for two to three years and there’s every chance their new arrangements will be completed before the start of the home-and-away season.
It was not surprising just over three weeks ago that Adelaide and their coach Don Pyke agreed to terms that will keep him with the Crows until the end of 2021. Pyke was coming out of contract at the end of this year and committed to a three-year extension.
Pyke, who will coach his 50th game in the opening round, took the Crows to last year’s grand final after a minor premiership win in just his second year in charge.
Of the current coaches, Pyke’s 70 per cent strike rate in his first two years as a senior coach is second only to Geelong’s Chris Scott, who won 37 of his first 48 games with the Cats, including a premiership in his first season (2011), at a win rate of 77 per cent.
Premiership coaches in their second years, Luke Beveridge (Western Bulldogs) and Sydney’s John Longmire started their careers with the outstanding strike rates of 67 per cent and 66 per cent respectively.
Hardwick, who won his maiden flag in his eighth season after no previous finals wins, has coached the Tigers in 182 games for 92 wins, two draws and 88 losses. He took on the Tigers when they were rock bottom and last year took his career strike rate past 50 per cent for the first time. President Peggy O’Neal, who controversially supported Hardwick’s most recent contract extension early in 2016, said the day after Richmond’s grand final win that her board would consider another extension in the summer.
A two-year contract extension and at least one finals appearance over the next three years would make Hardwick Richmond’s longest serving coach, eclipsing Tom Hafey’s record of 248 games coached between 1966 and 1976, a period that included four premierships. Sitting second on that list is club legend Jack Dyer, who coached in 222 games, of which 159 were as a playing coach.
Hardwick last year acknowledged the support of his president and chief executive Brendon Gale for extending his tenure when others called for change.
“I learned a big lesson from last year because sometimes you learn most when you are in your darkest places,” Hardwick said.
“Brendon Gale and Peggy O’Neal have been outstanding. They could quite easily have said, ‘Dimma, it’s time.’ But they backed me in and I am glad they did and we are lot better for it.”
Across town at Essendon, Worsfold this week said remaining the Bombers coach was a priority in his life, but that he was in no rush.
The Weekend Australian understands Worsfold’s Perth-based long-time manager Reg Gillard is expecting a call from Essendon chief executive Xavier Campbell any day, despite the West Coast premiership coach having a year to run on his initial three-year contract with the Bombers.
“[The contract] is a priority, but it’s not the pressing priority,” Worsfold told the AFL website this week. “The priority at the moment is these next three weeks and getting ready for the season.
“It’ll take care of itself, but honestly I haven’t given it any thought at the moment other than we are going to sit down and start to talk about what it looks like. I can’t see any sticking points in terms of going forward.”
Worsfold guided the Bombers though a disastrous three-win 2016 season after replacing James Hird at the end of 2015.
Not long after his appointment, 34 past and present players were hit with season-ending doping bans, forcing the club to top up with other clubs’ cast-offs.
Last year the Bombers won 12 games and lost to the Swans at the SCG by one point on the Friday night of round 14 in the most thrilling of finishes. Gary Rohan’s match-winning goal after the siren enabled the home team to claw back a 20-point deficit with just over four minutes remaining.
That heartbreak shattered Essendon, who momentarily lost their way and were upset by Brisbane at Etihad Stadium the following weekend before Worsfold was able to regroup his players.
Worsfold coached the Eagles for 12 years from 2002 and believes he has another long stint in him. “I do, absolutely,” he said. “When I took the job I was thinking I could easily live in Melbourne for the next 10 years comfortably.”
Stability is a word often used but hardly adhered to in AFL coaching ranks. Look at the Tigers’ success last year after they stuck with Hardwick. They had not previously won a final since 2001. Essendon have not won a final since 2004, but that appears set to change, and very quickly.
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