The removal of Rodney ”Rocket” Eade, coach of the Western Bulldogs for the previous seven years, by the board this week marks the fourth change in coach at a club going into next season.
So that’s a change of over 22 percent of the head coaches from 2011 to 2012, with four other coaches still waiting confirmation that they will have a job next year.
This is a huge turnover in a cut-throat industry where the combined wage bill for all AFL coaching staff is upwards of $25 million a year.
It should be a formality that Alastair Clarkson, John Worsfold, Brett Ratten and Michael Voss are all likely to re-sign with their clubs in the coming weeks, or at the conclusion of the season.
Whilst there are concerns over Matt Primus at Port Adelaide, the likelihood is that he will be there at the helm come round one 2012.
Ratten had the axe marked with “must win a final” early this year by the club board.
Similarly, Eade had his metaphoric guillotine marked pre-season in a Footy Show interview with club President David Smorgon, where he uttered the famous words of “pass mark in 2011” would be a grand final appearance.
The Bulldogs hierarchy, who chose not to continue with Rocket in their pursuit of that elusive second premiership, seemingly have not been asked a significant question: what differentiates the Western Bulldogs from Geelong in the management of their football department?
As is well documented, Geelong after a poor 2006 season, where they missed the finals, performed a thorough review of its football department. The review predominately surrounded whether to persist with seven-year coach Mark Thompson.
They decided to keep Thompson. Three grand finals and two premierships later, the Geelong mini era is envied by all other clubs.
That Geelong stuck with Thompson, who at that stage had a worse record than Eade with a coaching record of 48.75 percent to the end of 2006 with the Cats. Eade’s record at the Dogs is just above 54 percent.
The decision is exacerbated further by the recent success of Collinwood, where it took 10 years of the same head coach before a premiership was achieved.
From media reports Eade still had the ear of the players, still had the drive and still believed in the process. From the outside the club, talking to fans of the Dogs, the decision appeases possibly half the Bulldogs supports at best.
Were the Dogs correct in not offering an extension to Eade? Well, as with most decisions like this, of course, only time will tell. It’s a gutsy decision; let’s hope it’s not one they success starved Dogs will rue in years to come.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Good memory there, I think that's right.
Greg Mc
Guest
Another major factor in the Cat's decision to keep Thompson was the fact that he had a year to run on his contract. At that time the Cat's were still rebuilding in the finance department and the prospect of paying out another 500k for a ex-coach's contract was a BIG factor in their decision... Still an awesome call tho :-)
stabpass
Guest
MILF, surely that cannot be on purpose, sounds like a indoor cricket team name. Must admit it's better than Q Girl. DILLIGAF, now thats one to work on !.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Yes, right you are MILF - over the years, the games start to merge into a very hazy memory - I sometimes find that I can remember games from 20 years ago better than I can remember games from 2 years ago! In relation to the decision to keep Bomber, well, the proof is in the eating I guess.
me, I like football
Guest
I hate to correct you the cattery, but Nick Davis game was not in a prelim' but a semi final. TBH I was calling for Bombers head after '06. Unsure if he made the difference, and I guess we will never know.
brendan
Guest
Steven Wells is what differentiates Geelong from the Bulldogs.He is a recruiting genius.Geelong if you averaged out the selections they have had in the draft would have the lowest overall of any premiership side in recent years.In 01 we got Bartel ,Johnson,Kelly and Ablett father son.Harry Taylor a late first round mature age recruit was an astonishing pick up for a premiership team.Look at the rookies he has recruited.There are about 12 players on other Afl lists that he recruited .The man is a genius .
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I spent much of my formative years on the Princes Highway that links Werribee with Geelong, with their flatlands of sheep pastures, and convict built dry stone walls, that can still be found to day in some parts around Avalon and Anakie, on the way to the You Yangs. I have a good appreciatioon of the history of both clubs. It's true that the clubs ultimately faced similar junctures, with the coaches facing up to their respective club administrations at the end of their 7th seasons at their clubs. It's also true that Eade had a very respectable 54% winning ration, in fact, that's more than just respectable after 7 seasons, that's the envy of more than half the clubs in the comp, plus three consectuive prelim finals appearances. Bomber's record was less than that, although he could point to unluckily missing out on a grand final appearance in 2005 when Nick Davis swooped for a freakish goal very late in the preliminary final. Also, at the end of 2006, Bomber must have been able to convince the administration that the squad was about to peak, as they did, and how they peaked. With the dogs, looking at the past four seasons, they'd probably have to conclude that those three prelim finals is the very, very best for the moment. Smorgo is saying publicly that they only need to refresh, not revamp, but the facts are: they lost a string of experienced players at the start of this season through retirement; Hall will go, Hudson is on the verge of going, and Lake remains a question mark, and Gilbee, Gia and Hargraves are all around 30 years of age. With Ward also likely to head to GWS, deep down, the dogs administration are thinking that they aren't where Geelong was at the end of 2006 - and you can't blame them for thnking that way. At the end of the day, a coach lasting 7 years at the one club with no grand final apearance is a very rare event. That Geelong stayed the course with Bomber Thompson after 7 seasons is one of the all time great calls any club administration has ever made. That's footy.