Caretaker to coach: The Richmond dilemma as McQualter impressesPeter Ryan
The Age
July 30, 2023Applications for Richmond’s vacant coaching position closed on Friday.
Caretaker coach Andrew McQualter’s application has been underway since the end of May.
That’s when he coached the Tigers for the first time after triple premiership coach Damien Hardwick’s shock departure following the round-10 loss to Essendon.
The Tigers have won six of their eight matches since and McQualter is in pole position to become their next coach.
Despite his impressive performance – both publicly and privately – McQualter respects the fact he will be treated equally to the other candidates applying for the position.
“This club has been a really strong club for a reason and they’re going to run a thorough process for a reason, which I fully support and encourage,” McQualter said.
Taking over a team just 30 months after their most recent flag, with a stable administration and wise heads in the football department, meant McQualter’s runway has been different to most caretaker coaches.
The 37-year-old with a sharp football brain, sense of humour and empathetic personality quickly realised the club did not need a disruptor. They needed a fresh voice to grease the wheels of a fresh system.
McQualter continues to talk about the collective approach rather than the imprint he is making.
“The coach’s box is doing a good job, solution-based thinking, open conversation,” he said.
McQualter said it’s “not just me making the decisions” and the coaches were taking a “collaborative approach among a group of experienced people”.
His performance has been so impressive that two industry sources with knowledge of the coaching landscape, who wanted to remain anonymous so they could speak freely, said some potential candidates may not apply because they think it’s McQualter’s job to lose.
Most caretaker roles are undertaken amid turmoil, when a coach loses their job after losses and unrelenting pressure that forced clubs to act.
Darren Crocker recalls writing on a whiteboard the list of things that needed to improve at North Melbourne, in a meeting the week after being given the task of guiding the team in 2009, following the resignation of then-coach Dani Laidley. Crocker soon ran out of space.
He realised he was kidding himself to believe he could fix everything in 10 rounds. He circled three ideas: play with more dare, lift training standards, rediscover the enjoyment.
Richmond three-time premiership coach Damien Hardwick has resigned, effective immediately.
The Kangaroos finished the season well with a win over eventual runners-up St Kilda. Crocker understood when they overlooked him for Brad Scott as they needed a fresh direction, but said being the caretaker candidate wasn’t ideal.
“I was having a full dress rehearsal every time I was coaching. You want what is best for the team and to make marginal gains here and there, but you also know that if the team is not showing enough you are never going to be a chance to get the main role,” Crocker said.
Crocker, who now coaches the Kangaroos’ AFLW team, said he admired the approach Scott brought when he won the job, not only relaying how much he valued Crocker’s experience but giving him responsibility that made use of that knowledge.
Paul Roos was one of the few success stories of the 10 caretaker coaches to win the job of the 28 who have taken on the role since 2000. He led the Swans to the 2005 flag three years after being the caretaker at the end of 2002.
“To be honest it’s the easiest period of your coaching career,” Roos said via text from California.
“Thinking medium to long term from a planning point of view is important but difficult as you don’t know if you are keeping the job. [The] main lesson is to take the job for what it is and try to learn and enjoy it.”
He said to make the transition successfully from caretaker to permanent coach it was vital to “know what you want, know how to build it and have people you know and trust [around you]. This is absolutely key. You must have great staff you trust.”
That is an advantage McQualter has as he can grow within a proven football program surrounded by familiar faces who know his strengths and weaknesses.
The Tigers know appointing a caretaker is no longer sexy as the three caretakers appointed in 2019 – Rhyce Shaw, David Teague and Brett Ratten – were all gone by the start of this season.
The processes varied before those jobs were filled, but none were as rigorous as the one Richmond will undertake having spent time formulating the attributes and skills they want in their next senior coach.
That approach puts less weight on the win-loss record of the caretaker, and more emphasis on projecting the club’s future needs when assessing candidates.
To not give McQualter the job may be considered as awkward as passing on a father-son bid in the national draft, however, clubs often overlook internal candidates for such jobs, as Geelong did when they appointed Chris Scott at the end of 2010 ahead of Ken Hinkley and Brenton Sanderson.
McQualter gets that. That’s why he appears as relaxed as one can be going for the top job that Richmond expect to fill by September despite saying his calm demeanour sometimes belies a busy head.
“[The process] will happen and whatever happens will happen,” McQualter said.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/caretaker-to-coach-the-richmond-dilemma-as-mcqualter-impresses-20230727-p5drph.html
