AFL THURSDAY: LONGMIRE READY TO COACH - ROOS

AFL NEWS
Thursday, 18 June, 2009

ROOS SAYS LONGMIRE IS READY
John Longmire (pictured) is ready and eminently qualified to become a senior coach, according to his Sydney mentor, but Paul Roos is unsure whether Longmire will be a candidate at North Melbourne or Richmond. Samantha Lane of The Age reports today that Roos said yesterday he would not even talk to Longmire, who has the most responsibility of any assistant in the AFL given he usually sits in the coach's box on match day while Roos works from the boundary line, about his intentions. "John's got outstanding credentials but I think the decision, first and foremost, needs to be made by the Kangaroos and then obviously, if John's in the mix, he needs to decide whether it's something he wants to pursue," he said. "I think it does tend to come down to what the club thinks they need, rather than who is the best candidate, so I think the decision really needs to be made by North Melbourne. In terms of me sitting down and saying 'John, is it something you want to do?' No, that's not necessarily my business. The one thing I know about John Longmire … he would not even be giving North Melbourne a second thought at the moment. He's completely focused on the Sydney versus Collingwood game and the next 11 games."

Is he ready for a senior post? "Absolutely. I don't think there's any question about that," said Roos of his offsider who missed out on the job at St Kilda that went to another former Swans assistant, Ross Lyon.
While Longmire is seen as the heir apparent at Sydney, late last year Roos extended his contract with the club until the end of 2011. What that meant for any succession plans at the club, Roos said: "I always talk to John in relation to what I'm doing, but again, we've never made an absolute commitment and I don't think he'd expect that."

With Darren Crocker (North Melbourne) and Jade Rawlings (Richmond) installed as caretaker coaches until the end of the season, Roos said he would frown on any of his assistants being disturbed during the remaining home-and-away rounds. "This is an uneducated guess, but I suspect that both the Richmond footy club and the Kangaroos would be looking to do post-season interviews and there would be minimal disruption to other footy clubs. "I don't think that anyone would be supportive, to be perfectly frank, of assistant coaches going for jobs during the season."

Swans chairman Richard Colless was reluctant to comment on what he said was a football department matter, but indicated the club was unlikely to stand in the way of aspiring senior coaches.
Longmire played 200 games, including a premiership, for North Melbourne, as did fellow Swan assistants John Blakey (224 games, one premiership at North, 135 with Fitzroy) and Brett Allison (219 games, two flags).

ARCHER ON ROOS PANEL
Glenn Archer, the official Shinboner of the Century, is expected to be asked to join the sub-committee to find the next coach of North Melbourne, according to Jake Niall and Michael Gleeson of The Age. It is a move, they report which will potentially ensuring the Kangaroo champion has to make a decision on several of his former premiership teammates. With John Longmire, David King and John Blakey all likely to seek the senior job, along with caretaker coach Darren Crocker and possibly assistant Anthony Rock, North will have plenty of former players wishing to assume the role as the next head coach. While Collingwood champion Nathan Buckley remains at the top of a preliminary wish list, it is expected that others will enter the frame.

North's board will meet today to consider its options at a meeting that had initially been called to hear former coach Dean Laidley on his plans for the group. The board is likely to consider the proposal that the same sub-committee that was reviewing the coach's position will now find the next coach. That review panel included chief executive Eugene Arocca, directors Mark Brayshaw and Trevor O'Hoy, chairman James Brayshaw and Archer. It is understood James Brayshaw is slightly uneasy about committing to joining a panel to consider the new coach given his close relationship with Longmire and others.

Archer is in the same position as Brayshaw in that regard, but many at the club want him involved in the search and decision due to his understanding of the club and its culture, the football needs of the club and the fact that as a Stride director he has been involved in a detailed AFL-funded analysis of senior coaching and the benchmarks required. North Melbourne believes it needs to move quickly and today's meeting will be the first opportunity to decide if the likely sub-committee is asked to come back with a single name or two or three names.

The initial feeling of those involved at the club was that a few candidates would be preferable to simply throwing the net wide. Out-of-contract Collingwood coach Michael Malthouse is not in North's thinking at this stage and no discussion has been held about Port Adelaide's Mark Williams, though the club has held to a view that it would not seek to poach a coach.

Darren Crocker will be given full control over the team, without club-imposed directives, for the remaining 10 games this year. James Brayshaw said last night that Crocker, who was appointed coach almost immediately after Laidley's resignation, had been given the opportunity "to take control" of the team for the rest of the 2009 season, without the proverbial riding instructions. "There's no instructions from me or anyone else," said Brayshaw. "The only thing he knows is that while he's coaching we'll be having a close look at our football operations."

Brayshaw said it was "unfair to speculate" on whether Crocker would be seriously considered as a candidate. But he expressed confidence in Crocker's capacity to coach out the season. "I know he'll do a fantastic job," he said.

ROOS PLAYERS VISIT LAIDLEY HOME
Such was the respect for Dean Laidley that every listed North Melbourne player visited the former coach at his home on Tuesday night, according to the Herald Sun. Jackie Epstein reports that the group converged to toast Laidley's 6 1/2-year stint in charge, along with staff, coaches and administrators, including chief executive Eugene Arocca. Festivities concluded about 2am and everyone left content that the split announced earlier in the day had been as clean and dignified as possible.Former captain Adam Simpson felt it was a fitting tribute for someone who had done so much for the club. "I was only there for two or three hours because I wasn't well, but it was a really good night," Simpson said yesterday. "Every player on the list was there, every coach and assistant coach and footy staff. It just had a really good feel about it. (Eugene) was there enjoying himself like everyone else and there didn't appear to be any animosity. The club has always provided us with a united front.  It's a tough one because I'm definitely saddened to lose a good person. What I'm happy about is that everyone's left on good terms. That Dean's satisfied he's done everything he could and everyone walks away with a good feeling about the future."

Simpson said he was proud of the club for the way it handled the separation and could only speak in glowing terms about Laidley and his input. He has no doubt his trusted mentor will pick up another job in football. "I still reckon he should be coach of a club," Simpson said. "He'll probably look at all areas of footy and take it from there. He'll have more than a couple of offers to look at, I would think. I've learned more about football from him than anyone else that I've been involved with. Under Denis (Pagan) I learned about character building and morals and how to treat people with respect and also disciplines of AFL. Then Dean taught us about football and where it was headed. How to break down oppositions, how to carry out things on field and how to lead on field. Unfortunately he can't be a part of it but he's definitely left us in a position where we can launch."

BUCKLEY TO COACH SOMEWHERE: AFL
The AFL hierarchy believes Nathan Buckley will be a senior coach in 2010 and has given little consideration to pursuing the game's most sought coach-in-waiting for the vacant position as coach of the new western Sydney club, according to Jake Niall of The Age. He reports today that AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said yesterday he assumed that Buckley would be a senior coach in 2010, and he had the attributes to be an "outstanding" coach. But while Buckley shapes as an ideal candidate to head up the AFL's 18th team — he could be appointed to the position and still serve an apprenticeship coaching the under-18 team, in the manner of the Gold Coast's Guy McKenna — Demetriou said the AFL had not contemplated that scenario. "I think that Nathan Buckley has all the makings of an outstanding senior coach," said Demetriou, who is heavily involved in the formation of the west Sydney club, which is slated to enter the competition in 2012 — a time frame that would give an inexperienced coach, such as Buckley, the opportunity to do a two-year apprenticeship with the club. "My assumption is that he will be well sought-after next for (coaching positions) … and I wish him well and I think he'll be very good at it." Asked specifically about whether Buckley could be a candidate to coach west Sydney, serving an apprenticeship coaching the junior team before it entered the competition, Demetriou said: "It's something we haven't even contemplated. My assumption is that he'll be coaching next year."

While Buckley has been discussed as a prospective coach of four clubs — North Melbourne, which is believed to be keen to sign him, Richmond, Port Adelaide and his old club Collingwood — the possibility of west Sydney has been ignored, despite his strong relationship with the AFL as an assistant coach of the Australian Institute of Sport-AFL academy, a position that Michael Voss also held before he was offered the Gold Coast job.

Voss declined the AFL-sanctioned offer to coach the Gold Coast on the grounds that it gave him only a three-year deal, which would expire after his first year as coach of the team. The position was taken by McKenna, who has a two-year contract and no formal guarantee of the AFL job, though it is widely assumed that he will be the foundation coach.

Buckley is travelling in the US with the west Sydney club's first appointment, high-performance manager, Alan McConnell, and with the league's head of game development, David Matthews. The AFL party is visiting college football powerhouse Notre Dame and meeting with senior officials of America's most famed college, with Buckley using the trip to further his coaching education.

The west Sydney club is not considered to be as advanced as the Gold Coast was at the corresponding time last year, though the AFL will soon announce the composition of the advisory board that will help form the new club.

BUCKLEY FOR MALTHOUSE A MISTAKE: MATTHEWS
Collingwood’s most recent premiership coach Leigh Matthews says replacing Mick Malthouse with Nathan Buckley would be akin to appointing a schoolboy as head of Australia's biggest company, reports the Herald Sun. Rebecca Williams and Damien Barrett report today that Matthews, speaking yesterday at a function on the Gold Coast, said such a replacement would be illogical. "You've got a bloke who has never coached being compared with someone who has taken three clubs to the top four, which is Mick Malthouse," Matthews said. "To even contemplate putting up someone who has never coached any club anywhere and replacing Mick Malthouse, it is quite clearly illogical. But the football system hasn't got a great deal of logic so that might happen. It's like grabbing a Year 12 kid and say let's make him the general manager of BHP (Billiton)."
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire said the Magpies wouldn't be rushed into making a decision on Malthouse's future, despite the coaching merry-go-round starting to wind up, with North Melbourne and Richmond both eyeing Buckley. The Magpies continue to keep their cards close to their chest about Malthouse's tenure, with the veteran coach out of contract at the end of the year. "It doesn't worry us at Collingwood what anyone does," McGuire said.

Malthouse said the debate over his contract was not a concern. "It will be resolved, it is not an issue," he said. "I will coach no differently, regardless. I will not change. It doesn't matter, and I look at it this way -- if I am good enough, I coach, if I'm not, I'm out. If the club thinks it is finished, it is their call."

After coaching Brisbane to three premierships (2001-03), Matthews stepped down as Lions coach last year and was replaced by the untried Michael Voss, who, like Buckley, is a playing legend of his club. "There's one qualification (for making a transition from player to coach) and that's being a very good captain," said Matthews. "What I know of Michael Voss he should be a good coach and what I know of Nathan Buckley you would say the same. They were really good captains, really good on-field leaders, understood how teams worked, then they are pretty well credentialled to be senior coaches."

GOLD WATCH FOR MALTHOUSE
Receiving a watch from your employer generally comes with a slap on the back and hearty "thank you" before you pack up your desk and head for the door, writes Martin Boulton of The Age. On the other hand, it could simply be thanks to mark a significant milestone.

On the eve of coaching his 600th VFL/AFL game Mick Malthouse falls into the latter category, according to Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, who said Malthouse was a legend of the club and football. "Some coaches would get this and it might be a sign that's the end of the road," McGuire said. "This isn't a gold watch … it's engraved 600 games, a remarkable achievement."

While speculation about Malthouse's future beyond this season grows, the focus internally yesterday was on celebrating his contribution to the game and his time at Collingwood. Malthouse will coach his 222nd Magpies game on Saturday night and joins Collingwood legend Jock McHale and former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy to have coached 600 games at the elite level. In a playing career that began at St Kilda in 1972, continued at Richmond from 1976 and included the Tigers' 1980 premiership, Malthouse carved out a name as a ruthless defender. He began his coaching career at Footscray, aged 30, in 1984 and guided the club to the finals the next season. After six years with the Bulldogs he crossed to West Coast and guided the Eagles to flags in 1992 and 1994.

McGuire relayed a quote yesterday from Guy McKenna, who played under Malthouse at West Coast and was an assistant at Collingwood before taking on the Gold Coast coaching job. "Playing under Mick, he was hard but fair, motivating, constantly educating and a great orator," McKenna said. "He's been able to change, innovate and stay competitive in and out of the coach's box over many years."

Malthouse used the opportunity to acknowledge many of the people he'd worked alongside throughout his career. "The people at Footscray tried an untried coach," he said. "I'd coached one basketball side, which managed to win a premiership by the way, but had people like Shane O'Sullivan, Peter Sidwell and Dr Tony Capes who had trust in a young bloke."

He listed loyalty, trust, patience and "my word, teamanship" as integral to building successful teams. "I love this game, I love the involvement and I've made some wonderful friends."

AFL WEATHERS FINANCIAL CRISIS
The AFL website reported yesterday that the AFL is weathering the global financial crisis well according to figures released by League chief executive Andrew Demetriou, The annual review measures a range of key performance indicators across a number of areas including membership, match day attendance, the laws of the game and television ratings.  While some figures do reflect the effects of the financial downturn, overall Demetriou was buoyed the report's findings. The shining light of the review was the overall increase in club membership led by Hawthorn, Melbourne, Richmond and Carlton.  "Something that's emerging here that is telling us something about the game itself, is that people genuinely want to belong to their football clubs," Demetriou said from AFL House.  "They feel a deep sense of belonging to their football clubs, particularly during these periods of uncertainty, and I think that speaks volumes about the game. People want to come along and watch the game in big numbers, but they also want to belong to their football clubs and feel a little bit of ownership in their football club and their players."

With June's figures still to come, club memberships are one per cent higher than at the same time last year with the League predicting 580,000 by the time they close. Eleven rounds into the 2009 season 3.202 million people had gone through the turnstiles compared to 3.391 million the previous year. Hawthorn, Richmond and the Brisbane Lions have recorded significant increases, while Collingwood, St Kilda and Carlton are well behind on last year's numbers. "Everyone knows that last year we had an extraordinary year and record crowds," Demetriou said. "On average we've been going pretty well over the last five years and we're on track, probably, to get to the second-highest attendance figure ever. We know in the second half of the year we've got some strong football rounds."

The round one clash between Richmond and Carlton drew the biggest crowd of the season to date with the figure of 87,043 eclipsing the traditional Anzac Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood that drew 84,829.

Demetriou was thrilled with the effect the new rushed behind rule has had on the flow of the game with rushed behinds dropping from an average of six per game in 2008 to just 3.6 this year. One error in interpretation of the rule has been recorded with the free paid against Matthew Kreuzer wrongly awarded. Free kicks plus 50m for retarding a player after disposal have been awarded 25 times with 17 of those in the first three rounds with just eight paid since as umpires and players have adapted.

The introduction of four boundary umpires has seen a dramatic increase of 60 per cent in boundary umpiring accuracy and has also aided goal umpiring with just one mistake recorded. There have been 89 recalled bounces in the 88 games completed while only two free kicks have resulted from umpire contact at a bounce.

Demetriou pointed to statistics that show small increases in both contested possessions and marks as evidence that the new laws and interpretations are having the desired effect while seeing the number of free kicks paid per game drop by an average of four.

In terms of television viewership, the free-to-air numbers are down 1.2 per cent on last year despite an increase of six per cent in the Melbourne market. Pay TV has record a 6.7 per cent increase in viewership with the Sunday twilight time slot performing well. In a reverse of the crowd figures for the respective matches, the largest national television audience for a single game was 1,447,377 for the Anzac Day clash between Essendon and Collingwood while 1,299,009 people tuned in for the season opener between Richmond and Carlton.  

Demetriou admitted to some concern over small drops in attendance, membership and free-to-air viewership in the key Sydney market, but pledged to continue working with the Swans as the League prepares for the introduction of a team in western Sydney. "We'll continue to say that that it's one of the great challenges that we face," Demetriou said of the League's plans for a second team in the region. We're not deluding ourselves and thinking it's going to be easy. It's going to be one of the greatest challenges that has ever faced the AFL, but we think it's the right time. We think it's a great opportunity and we think it's going to be of benefit to the Sydney Swans.

SECOND TEAM WILL HELP SYDNEY: AFL
The AFL is steadfast in its view that Sydney is fertile territory for a second team — even if attendance, membership and TV ratings figures from the first half of this season suggest the opposite, writes Jesse Hogan of The Age.  The league's mid-year review, released yesterday, painted a picture of the Swans more underwhelming than the team's unfamiliar position in the bottom half of the ladder. In the first 11 rounds, Sydney's average match attendance was down almost 10 per cent from last year to about 29,000, while memberships at the club had sagged 15 per cent to about 29,000. Swans games shown on pay-TV, on current trends, are attracting about 7.4 per cent fewer viewers than last year, while the number of Sydneysiders watching AFL on free-to-air television has fallen 20 per cent to about 50,000 per match.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou backed a recent warning from Sydney coach Paul Roos that the AFL "can't have two teams in that market that are not successful", but nevertheless said the league still wanted to base its 18th team in western Sydney. "It shouldn't come as a surprise that we will continue to say it's one of the great challenges we face," he said. "We've never said anything other than that, we're not deluding ourselves … but we think it's the right time. The Sydney Swans are in the most difficult and challenging football market in the world. They're one of 17 football clubs, when you consider NRL, A-League and rugby union clubs. It's a tough market, and we need to put another team in there to help them … but it's not easy."
Demetriou said Sydney was conspicuous, like Geelong, for having never "bottomed out" and backed the ability of Roos and the club's football manager, Andrew Ireland, to lead the Swans back up the ladder. "They've got a history of making very good decisions, but they have got some players who are getting to the end of their career. They know exactly where they are at this point of time," he said.

A WOMEN’S VOICE IN THE COMMENTARY BOX
Kelli Underwood is set to become the first woman to call a football game on national television in July, writes Caroline Wilson of The Age. She knows her AFL debut on Network Ten will upset some people, but she also believes that she is ready for her small but significant piece of history. Over three wintry Saturday afternoons, including the MCG grand final re-match between Geelong and Hawthorn in round 17, Underwood will join either Anthony Hudson or Tim Lane in the commentary box as Channel Ten assesses whether she deserves to become a permanent part of its AFL roster. Her debut comes after a brief apprenticeship of calling five games on ABC radio and one game for Ten during the 2009 pre-season competition. "This time I feel like I'm ready," Underwood said. "Obviously the whole 'woman' thing will be a talking point and I understand it's an issue that polarises people and a lot of people have an opinion. But I'm a woman and I've earned this opportunity and I'm going to go for it."

Ten's executive producer of AFL, David Barham, described Underwood's short-notice effort back in the pre-season as a "successful experiment" before encouraging her to continue to push and practise in a bid to knock over one of the major obstacles in the Australian sporting landscape. He likened his 31-year-old charge to a first-year player who deserved a decent run to prove herself. Underwood, a Channel Ten sport reporter who also calls netball for the new One HD channel, will make her AFL TV debut at Geelong's Skilled Stadium in the round-16 game against Melbourne, followed by Geelong-Hawthorn and then in round 18 Geelong-Adelaide. "You pick people on ability not gender," said Barham yesterday. "Kelli's a very good caller and she's got a big future and she works well for us. I'm playing her like you would a promising first-year player. She's been given three games in a row because she needs to get some continuity and we need to look at her and see how good she is."

Underwood described calling football as "a huge adrenalin rush" and something she has practised alone in commentary boxes at Etihad Stadium for several years as well as at home. Her first public foray came several years ago for one quarter of football alongside Rex Hunt for 3AW. "I have put a lot of hard work into it and it's true that you can put in so much preparation but it's still flying by the seat of your pants," Underwood said. "And it's really good fun. Everyone at Ten and at the ABC has been very positive and if they pull you aside over a small thing, it's always worthwhile. The best thing I can do is listen to people I respect like David Barham and (the ABC's) Gerard Whately. There's no point jumping on websites and reading negative things about yourself."

SWANS GET SWINE FLU ALL CLEAR
Sydney Swans pair Barry Hall and Nick Malceski have been tested and cleared of having swine flu after initial concerns the pair might have contracted the disease following their trip to Melbourne for the team's match against Hawthorn two weeks ago, reports Michael Cowley of The Age. Swans club doctor Nathan Gibbs confirmed yesterday Malceski and Hall had been sent for testing for the disease after both began showing flu symptoms on their return to Sydney. While awaiting the results, they were prohibited from attending the club and the team's training session last Wednesday, their final session before the players went on their four-day mid-season break. "It was just a couple of guys, Malceski and Hall, who were both pretty crook last week with the flu, but they were both came back negative [to swine flu]," Gibbs said yesterday. "We followed the usual procedure and got them checked out by the testing lab. They went there and went through the testing process but it was all a bit of a storm in a teacup. They didn't have swine flu, they just had normal flu. It was just the two of them who got it, so that was fortunate, and it's just normal flu, so it may having nothing at all to do with going to Melbourne. With the club having a break last week, it was perfect to quarantine someone because they were really only missing one [training] session. But both are over it now, and will train on Thursday, so it's all looking good."