Like a lot of footy fans, I wondered now and then over the off season exactly what was going to happen to Mark Thompson.
Personally, I rank Thompson as being among the modern era’s greatest coaches. Kevin Sheedy, Leigh Matthews, Mick Malthouse, Alastair Clarkson, Paul Roos, John Worsfold – he’s in good company.
I was excited to see what role he might turn his coaching talents to next.
So, you can imagine my disappointment yesterday afternoon when the news broke over Twitter that Thompson’s next big thing was a radio commentary position at 3AW.
I don’t like to spread rumour but sometimes it’s not possible to avoid, especially on a topic like this one.
When Essendon fell to a last-gasp Drew Petrie dazzler in the first week of September, rumours were flying left right and centre.
Had Thompson just coached his last game? Would he even be at Essendon in 2015? Or would Essendon shove golden boy James Hird aside and install Thompson as their long-term leader?
It was a reasonable enough proposition to make. Thompson had just coached Essendon to their highest finishing position since 2002 and gotten them as close to winning a final as they’ve been in the last decade.
We can only drool over the match-up that might have been – a semi-final stoush that would’ve pitted both Thompson and Paul Chapman against Geelong, a club that once hailed them both as legends, and still might.
There was a time there, too, when it really seemed like Thompson might be set to continue wearing the pants in the Dons coaching box. News of meetings behind closed doors abounded and media agencies everywhere had ‘James Hird sacked’ pieces in the barrel and ready to fire.
Nothing came of it. Who knows why or how, but nothing did.
Things took a left turn, a sharp one. Thompson gave an emphatic speech at the best and fairest about his reignited passion, and when a slew of post-season senior coach sackings began he was linked to club after club.
For about a day and a half the notion that Thompson was going to coach Gold Coast in 2015 was held at a similar level of certainty to death and taxes.
But again, nothing came of it. Then in November it broke that Essendon had decided there would be no room for Thompson inside their walls in 2015.
As time went on it became less and less likely that he was going to take on duties elsewhere, and yesterday’s 3AW announcement finally brought those hopes to an end.
I’m sure that Essendon have their reasons, but from a pure footy perspective it doesn’t make a lick of sense to me.
Thompson made Essendon a more exciting, more dangerous outfit than they have been in years. To push him out the door is an immense waste of talent no matter which way you slice it.
To make matters even stranger, Essendon followed this up by welcoming back ‘old boys’ Mark Harvey and Matthew Lloyd into coaching positions at the club.
It would seem Thompson’s just about the only club great who’s not welcome this year.
I said before I don’t like spreading rumours, and I meant it, but it seems like that’s what the entirety of Essendon’s ASADA saga has become. The truth of it all has long been burnt, buried, or spirited away. It’s become a game of politics, public image, and more than anything else, pride.
That’s a game that Bomber Thompson – an old-school footy coach who eats sandwiches in the coaching box and doesn’t care what anyone thinks of it – was simply never meant to play.
It’s hard to know what goes on behind closed doors, but in the end it seems that whoever makes the decisions at Essendon decided Thompson had outlived his usefulness, and that was that.
I’ll miss his press conferences most of all. In age of highly choreographed media events and cookie-cutter coaches who never stray from the party line, Thompson’s casual media moments were a balm. Now the best we’ve got left is Mick’s war on Stevo and Ross Lyon’s shifty eyes.
We can still hold out hope of course. Many great coaches have left the game, only to return down the track. Matthews. Roos. Malthouse. Rodney Eade’s about to have a crack at it this year.
We may see Thompson back in the box yet.
If this is it, though, then in this modern, media-driven age, where genuine characters of any kind are few and far between, I think we owe Bomber Thompson our gratitude for his contributions to the game.
Well done, Bomber – if I ever see you down the street, the sandwiches are on me.
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