Dean Laidley of North Melbourne addresses his players during the AFL Round 10 match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and the Brisbane Lions at the Docklands Stadium. Photo Slattery Media Group
Dean Laidley joined Terry Wallace in the unemployed line after stepping down from his post with North Melbourne midweek. But unlike the fallen Tiger future prospects, there is still a possibility Laidley’s coaching career might not be dead.
With a handful of clubs still to shore up their coaching roles for 2010, expect Laidley’s name to be bandied about with plenty of abandon as the season ticks on.
Nicknamed the ‘Junkyard Dog’ during his playing career for his tenacious, never-say-die attitude, Laidley applied the same principles with his coaching.
In almost nine years at the club, he prided himself on cutting through the bullshit. It made him a prickly character for the media to deal with, and an unforgiving figure for his players.
Few would have tipped Laidley to have departed the Roos, who led his side to a third placing in 2007 and the finals in 2008.
Prior to this season, even fewer would have questioned his knack for getting the best out of what have been some fairly substandard playing lists.
But therein lies one of the Kangaroos’ modern-day problems, and one which Laidley did take some responsibility for in his final press conference as coach.
Make no (shin) bones about it, recruiting has been poor at the Kangaroos during Laidley’s time.
First-round picks Daniel Wells and Hamish McIntosh are still to consistently deliver for the club, nor has trading away picks to recycle the careers of Jade Rawlings and Jonathon Hay paid off.
And while few AFL coaches have a great deal of say on draft day, as captain of the ship Laidley must still – and did – take plenty of responsibility.
But he’s also had his adversities.
Financial troubles have dogged the club, while a move to the Gold Coast was seriously mooted.
So will Laidley coach again?
At 42, he is still young enough to be included in the current fashion of hiring fresh, youthful coaches willing to think outside the square.
And despite his ultimate failure at the Kangaroos, he is still highly rated in the football community. Many of his coaching rivals rate Laidley as among the AFL’s best on game day.
And even with his at-times Ebernezer Scrooge persona with the milling throng, he is still respected by the media.
While leaving his beloved North Melbourne – with whom he won a premiership as a player in 1996 – would have gone close to breaking his blue-and-white heart, Laidley has already said he is keen to continue in football.
The dog ain’t lame yet. He deserves another chance.
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