- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Opinion
If the opening two weeks of the 2023 AFL season have taught us anything, it is that the coach of a football club is probably the most important person of all.
Four clubs have taken on new mentors this season and frankly, all needed change.
Leon Cameron had done a solid job at Greater Western Sydney, yet a staleness was obvious. Adam Kingsley has brought considerable knowledge to the Giants, via his premiership experience as a player and assistant coaching roles at Richmond and St Kilda.
Essendon fans deserve better than what they have been forced to watch for what feels like an eternity, with Brad Scott the man charged with reversing the most long-standing and embarrassing trend for a club previously accustomed to sustained success.
St Kilda’s eternal troubles were sought to be addressed by the return of Ross Lyon, a man who departed the club for Fremantle in 2012 after doing everything but produce the flag fans felt was within touching distance.
Ross Lyon has made a stunning start at his old club. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
Few current supporters remember the heroics of Barry Breen in 1966 and the club is worse for that fact. Yet at some point, surely, a new age will dawn and provide the opportunity to build a new and successful future.
The most significant off-season move was, of course, North Melbourne’s acquisition of Alastair Clarkson, rested after a year out of the game and ready to begin the rebuild of a club situated in a similar position to that of the Hawthorn team he took control of in 2005.
At that time, Clarkson told his players they would win a flag in five years, they did so in four and the Kangaroos board will be hoping for something similar after a painful period under inept coaches, men incapable of getting the best out of the cattle at their disposal.
All four have made impressive starts in 2023, with seven wins from eight games suggesting that the clubs have done the right thing by moving on the men previously in charge and seeking out better options.
Kingsley will have his troubles at GWS with a developing squad that could be a force by 2025, yet will still win games this season despite finals being unlikely. For the Giants, it is all about a quick-fire rebuild and the new coach’s ability to fast-track change.
What Brad Scott has achieved at Essendon in the months since his appointment is creditable. Sure, the Bombers are yet to meet the competition heavyweights, however after two impressive wins to start the season and an intensity in defence for which fans have been longing, it appears supporters of the black and red sash might finally have a team worth cheering on.
Whether it is a team capable of qualifying for or winning a final is yet to be seen, but based on the Bombers’ start, both seem possible.
Lyon has now proven himself as one of the masters of modern coaching. Despite some thinking that his defensive leanings might make him a liability in the more expansive and modern game, let alone the dozen or so troops he is without thanks to injury, the 56-year-old has the Saints off to a 2-0 start and looking far different from the team that Brett Ratten commanded in recent years.
The biggest story in AFL circles was the return of Clarkson to the coaching ranks and the immediate improvement we have seen in a North Melbourne team that has been nothing short of an embarrassment under previous coaches. Suddenly, the Kangaroos have an identifiable structure and system; a basis from which to build and are now accountable to a leader determined to make them better.
What a difference a coach can make.
In the cases of North Melbourne, Essendon and the Saints, all of a sudden, prior list concerns have been somewhat vanquished, with fans perked up by the influence of a man at the helm who actually knows what he is doing.
The Kangas, Bombers and Saints may well all miss the finals in 2023, but one thing is undeniable, they are likely to be there in 2024, with the early signs suggesting that all three clubs have turned a corner based on the men presented with the opportunity to reverse their fortunes.
Drafts, free agency and trades are of undeniable value. Yet a quality, proven and experienced coach counts for a whole lot more and is well worth the money.