With three teams currently looking for new coaches, the football world is waiting to see who will be leading Adelaide, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs next season. Melbourne could plug a hole and appoint Todd Viney for twelve months but this would be a big mistake.
The Crows (the first of the three clubs to have parted ways with their coach) have won three and lost one since Neil Craig resigned a month ago. They have a serious candidate for the coaching role in caretaker Mark Bickley.
While recently freed Bulldogs mentor Rodney Eade is the bookies’ favourite for the Adelaide job, the playing group is responding well to a clearer, simpler message delivered from Bickley and the Adelaide board would have to be comfortable if the captain of the Crows’ two premiership sides was appointed to lead the South Australians.
At the Western Bulldogs a lot is still to unfold, but it is clear the Dogs want to undergo a proper auditioning process as they search for Rocket’s successor.
Leon Cameron is odds-on for the job after impressing as an assistant at the Dogs for seven seasons (which included working under Eade in the Bulldogs’ three consecutive preliminary finals appearances). Cameron is now a deputy to Alistair Clarkson at third-placed Hawthorn after joining the Hawks at the end of last season.
So impressed was he with Cameron’s work at the Hawks, Coleman Medal leader Lance Franklin heaped praise on Cameron when talking about his improvement this season.
“Every year I’ve taken a step forward in the way I play. Leon Cameron has been a big part of that too. He has been great with my progress as a player and taught me a lot along the way.
“He has taught me to be a lot more of a team player, that has been my main focus this year. I’m not saying I wasn’t, but that’s something he has brought to my game this year and I’ve really enjoyed having him here,” Buddy said.
It would seem that Cameron is ready for a crack at a senior coaching role.
At Melbourne, however, the outlook isn’t as rosy. It certainly isn’t as clear.
Unlike the 2007 method that was used to bring Dean Bailey to the club, the Dees have seemingly abandoned the auditioning process in 2011 and are chasing big names – something that doesn’t seem be going so well.
Hawthorn coach Alistair Clarkson was the big fish. Uncontracted for 2012, it was rumoured that a multi-million dollar five-year deal was tabled for Clarkson, but it is very likely the 2008 premiership coach will be staying at Glenferrie Oval next year.
Mick Malthouse, probably the best coach in the competition presently, was also highly sought after but has made clear his intentions to remain at Collingwood next year and work alongside Nathan Buckley in a yet-to-be determined role.
Eade’s name was thrown around last week, but the head of Melbourne’s appointment team, Garry Lyon, has voiced his opinion on the ex-Bulldog mentor, questioning Eade’s ability to employ an effective, more modern, defensive game plan.
Ross Lyon’s name has been brought to the forefront in the last few days and his story is intriguing. Like Malthouse, the St Kilda coach is contracted as coach of St Kilda next year but Mike Sheahan and Robert Walls believe he could be a perfect fit for Melbourne.
Lyon taught St Kilda to play an ultra-effective defensive game and he has the capacity to nurture and develop, as he did in his earliest days at the Saints, a team with plenty of potential.
So, what does Melbourne do in the meantime, while Lyon and Malthouse fulfil their contractual duties next year?
The answer (which is increasing ever so quickly in popularity) is to appoint caretaker coach Todd Viney on a 12-month deal.
This might seem like a good, albeit different, approach on paper. With names like Lyon and Malthouse possibly available at the end of 2012, getting Viney to fill in a twelve-month gap could be the answer in the short term to Melbourne’s coaching conundrum.
And Viney, whose strength is said to be in developing young players (he was the player development manager at Melbourne prior to being appointed caretaker coach), would have the reigns in possibly the most crucial year in the Dees rebuild.
But before any further consideration is given to this idea, let’s take a step back for a second.
Essentially, Melbourne would employ their player developer to coach in a full-time capacity for only one season before the job is handed at the end of next year to some white knight who may or may not even be available.
In essence, Viney would be the surrogate coach at the club he has been associated with since 1987, carrying the Melbourne foetus in its crucial year of development, knowing that he will have to relinquish his child at the end of the year.
Not only does such a situation reek of Collingwood’s position this year – where the coach of the defending premiers, Mick Malthouse, will hand over to Nathan Buckley at season’s end – but it lacks the certainty of the Pies’ situation.
What happens if there is no white knight next year? What happens if Melbourne has to embark on an audition-like process like it did in 2007 when it appointed Dean Bailey, like what it probably should be doing right now?
What happens if Melbourne wins a final or two next year and Viney has to make way for Ross Lyon due to contractual reasons at the end of 2012? It will get ugly.
Todd Viney is a great leader. In his month at the helm this has been illustrated on more than one occasion but probably best on the weekend just passed.
By describing Melbourne’s seven-point loss to Richmond at the weekend as “nowhere near good enough” Viney led from the front; by controversially substituting captain Brad Green, Viney took a stand.
But the fact remains, Viney doesn’t want the Melbourne coaching job and getting him to fill that role for 12 months would be wrong. As compelled as he may be to help his fledgling club, it would be the wrong decision for both parties.
Because for Melbourne there is too much risk in such a plan, while for Viney his heart would not be in it.
Melbourne must get this appointment right. A Todd Viney surrogacy is not the answer to the Dees’ coaching conundrum.
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