Fourth time’s a charm? McQualter can buck the interim-coach curse and propel Richmond back to a flag tiltBen Wilmoth
theRoar.com.au
19 June 2023How quickly fortunes can change.
In Saturday night’s driving rain at the MCG it was sometimes hard to see, but two things were as clear as day: first Richmond seemed to have got its mojo back in its win over the Saints, using the go-forward-at-all-costs brand that became Damien Hardwick’s signature and which was used with such stunning success. The Tigers’ season is alive. And second, the win has consolidated Andrew McQualter’s chances of grabbing the top job.
The fact that this was achieved in such challenging conditions and in Trent Cotchin’s 300th game just underscored Tiger excitement, and that the coach they’re looking for might already be in the job.
If departed triple Premiership-winning Richmond coach Damien Hardwick tried to cook the sausage 1000 times and failed to inspire his champion side, as he colourfully put it on his way out, caretaker coach McQualter might have found a new recipe.
There’s something mysterious about interim coach success. We’ve seen teams one week dish up a coach-killing performance, then, when the interim coach takes over, they knock off a premiership fancy the next.
A new message – from a new voice – can ignite a spark in an otherwise dour and uncompetitive outfit.
McQualter is firming as the next interim coach to be signed on for the top job, after Hardwick sensationally quit after Round 10.
The interim coach is generally regarded as the stop gap option, but sometimes – after expert panels and extensive nation-wide searches – the person they want is waiting in the room next door. He knows the game plan, he knows the culture, he knows the players and it’s not a massive and perhaps disruptive handover. This smooth transition can make a lot of sense.
But the strike rate of successful caretaker coaches isn’t good.
Since 2000, only 10 of 25 interim coaches have been signed to the top job, and the majority of those successful have had brief stays.
After Brad Scott and North Melbourne mutually parted ways mid-season in 2019, Rhyce Shaw, long-time assistant coach, replaced him. The Roos then won four matches from eight games to keep them in contention to steal an unexpected spot in the finals.
Only two weeks later, David Teague took the reins from then Carlton senior coach Brendan Bolton, who registered 16 wins from 77 games and a 1-11 record mid-way through the 2019 season. With popular support among the Blues faithful, Teague was given the job after going 5-4.
Brett Ratten, a month later, became the third man to convince his club’s board that his work as interim boss was deserving of the top job, leading the Saints to three wins from the remaining six games.
But both McQualter, the man leading the surge, and Richmond are acutely cognisant of the fact that only three seasons after winning the job, none of Shaw, Teague or Ratten remain in charge.
So, is the successful caretaker to full-time theory still in fashion at club land? McQualter will have to convince Richmond CEO Brendan Gale and President John O’Rourke to ignore recent history.
“Mini” McQualter, like other acting senior coaches, will be given a head start in the race for the job not only through his connection to players and staff, but through a liveliness and spirit that is inevitably born through change.
McQualter’s endorsers will point to the success of Paul Roos, who, after Rodney Eade resigned mid-year, took charge of the Sydney Swans in 2002 and led them to a flag three years later. Roos’ success is the exception to the rule, being the only stop gap coach this century to produce silverware. In this way, the odds remain stacked against McQualter.
During McQualter’s brief stint, Richmond have shown shades of their flag-winning best, playing their style of daring, chaos-embracing footy for which they became renowned.
In an evenly-placed competition, three wins in a row has moved them back into the finals conversation, now only 2 premiership points outside the eight.
Richmond, says Gale, is looking for ‘the next Damien Hardwick’. And McQualter might be just that after a nine-year apprenticeship under the champion coach
Gale’s comments give us an indication of Richmond’s headhunting strategy. It effectively crosses off the out-of-contract Ken Hinkley, highly rated tactician and ex-Crows coach Don Pyke, Nathan Buckley, and anyone else who’s done it before.
If Richmond are looking for the next Hardwick, McQualter will be given a runway against other untried candidates like Adem Yze, Daniel Giansiracusa or Ashley Hansen.
Word around football is that McQualter is well-placed. If he can continue the Tigers’ climb post the bye, starting with a win over the Lions on prime-time Thursday Night Footy at the Gabba, his credentials for the job will be hard to ignore.
We know what it means if Richmond qualify for September: not only will it strike fear into the hearts of whoever faces them, but McQualter may just be the one to break the interim coach curse.
It could be that the sausages he’s cooking prove to be the recipe Richmond needs.
https://www.theroar.com.au/2023/06/19/fourth-times-a-charm-mcqualter-can-buck-the-interim-coach-curse-and-propel-richmond-back-to-a-flag-tilt/
