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If there was any doubt as to the ruthless nature of the AFL coaching profession, those doubts were answered with the sacking of Brenton Sanderson by Adelaide.
In reality, this was a decision that puts the AFL alongside English and American sport with the showing of a coach being expendable for a greater good. Consider this a sacking that makes the AFL just like any other sport around the globe.
Prior to 2011 Australian Rules had for the most part done things right with coaches. Yes, coaches were sacked and years were left on contracts, but for the most part an AFL coach was always held with respect from the club.
The change began in 2011 when Fremantle head hunted Ross Lyon and clinically and coldly removed a beloved club coach in Mark Harvey. It was the first example of an administration putting success ahead of fans, players and coaches. This was business.
While the Fremantle board received immediate condemnation for their actions, the results by Lyon and Fremantle over the next three years have meant that what began as an unthinkable decision is now considered one of the AFL’s great masterstrokes. Like any movement, there needs to be a trailblazer and the Fremantle Football Club played that role perfectly.
The success they have experienced from such a calculated business decision probably always meant it was going to happen again. But for it to happen just three years later, to a coach with just three years of coaching experience, two years removed from a preliminary final berth and a career 60 per cent winning record? This indeed was shocking.
With the decisions made by Adelaide and Fremantle, these can no longer be seen as isolated cases. This is a new era for coaches, one in which the club has all the power and failure is not accepted. Again, this was Adelaide taking a play from an EPL, NFL or NBA handbook, where coaches are chopped and changed seemingly monthly.
In both English and American sports coaches are judged in the moment. It is rare to see a coach who can survive on past success. Learning from global sport sackings generally happen for three reasons. A team has underachieved in the moment, a new administration comes into power or there is a movement against the coach. Unfortunately for Sanderson, he entered the perfect storm where all three were against him… in the moment.
This is a world of instant gratification and perhaps it is naive to imagine sport would be different. But it still has to be seen as going against the traditions of the game for a coach to be considered just some interchangeable piece in the quest for success.
Prospective AFL coaches need to consider what lies ahead of them. This is no longer a coaching world where mediocrity will be accepted. Five-year plans are a thing of the past. Australian Rules and the AFL are a sport and competition that is about results. Career coaches are likely dead with the bygone years of coaches surviving decades or more at a club unlikely.
Coaching has always been considered a tough gig, over the past 24 hours it just got tougher.
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