When an AFL player is offered a contract there is an expectation that they will perform at a high level based on their performances prior to the contract.
One would likely assume that coaches are offered contracts on a similar basis; however, recent history suggests this may not be the case.
Aside from the select group of greats that includes Alastair Clarkson, John Longmire and to a certain extent Ross Lyon, there is essentially a chasing pack of ‘survivors’ who are battling for contracts year to year, yet the basis for offering and terminating contracts seems to be strangely inconsistent given that each club is in the competition for the same reason: to win a premiership.
Take Nathan Buckley and Damien Hardwick as examples. Buckley is currently in his sixth year in charge of Collingwood, taking them to two finals series and winning only one final. Hardwick in comparison is coaching in his eighth year in charge of Richmond and in that period is yet to coach a winning final.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Given that the object of this sport is to win a premiership, and in order to do that a team must win a minimum of three finals in any given year, surely two coaches that have coached just one winning final between them in fourteen combined years is falling well below the mark. This is where the inconsistency really shines through.
If Buckley and Hardwick’s performances have been seen as acceptable, then the sacking of Brenton Sanderson from Adelaide is quite simply bizarre. Sanderson took Adelaide to within a kick of the grand final in his first year and finished with the second-best win/loss ratio in Adelaide’s history, yet he was sacked after just three seasons.
Brett Ratten finished his five-year tenure – excluding the last six games of 2007 – at Carlton with a better winning percentage than Hardwick and yet was also shown the door.
In a results-based industry the sacking of coaches like Ratten and Sanderson could easily be justified given the fact that each of them did not lead their respective teams to successful finals in the years they were released. However, when you line them all up, how has Hardwick in particular been able to continue his tenure through eight seasons without winning a final?
From the outside looking in it seems as though some clubs are striving for a premiership while others are quite content to languish in the middle of the table. This couldn’t be the case though, could it?
There is no doubt that a coach must be given time to build a list; however, it is evident that the balance between development and actual results seems to be skewed too far in one direction if certain clubs are realistic about their premiership ambitions.
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