Opinion Speculation over - Eade Coach

[Prog Rocker]

I honesty believe the Suns board should SERIOUSLY look at getting Bomber to the Suns as a Senior Assistant Coach under Bluey. His knowledge,experience is undeniable and he's a Premiership coach!

*************************** EDIT BY SUNS ***************************

Good idea with all the speculation and accusation to create a thread for all things to do with the coaching panel in here.

Keep it nice. All you Bluey haters can continue to do your thing, but be aware there is a fine line between criticism and abuse. Goes for everyone. I'll be watching this one like a hawk (probably not posting).

 

[SandyToes]

Doubt Bomber would be interested being assistant to Bluey McKenna

 

[Experimental]

As much as I love Bomber, and I'd personally prefer he coach us over Bluey, I doubt it'd work due to history between he and Gary. If Gary were okay with it (which I very much doubt), then I'd be okay with it.

 

[Prog Rocker]

Think Gary/Bomber are mature enough not to worry about the past. Bomber would be an Amazing asset to our great club.

 

[Big Red Machine]

After all the years and effort we've put into Bluey, Do you'd think we'd throw that all away now?

We're literally one healthy season away from fulfilling our destiny, Let's not get sidetracked.

Don't get me wrong I think Bomber would make a great assistant coach, A strong support staff is key to any top team in any sport and we do like picking up former head coaches to fill our bit player roles (Matty Primus has done well I would think) So why not bring him on I'm a specialist role?

That said, I am 100% confident that Bluey is the one to lead us to the promised land. I see no other possible outcome.

 

[Corkie]

I think Bluey, the players and the club as a whole have really missed having Ken Hinkley and Shaun Hart as assistant coaches. We lost a whole lot of experience, footy smarts and most importantly coach/player rapport when they walked out the door.

Next season is make or break for Bluey, coaching is a volatile business, especially with the expectations of a new club with generous draft concessions to provide a rapid rise in the comp. Cameron at GWS will come under the same scrutiny if things go pear shaped.

I just hope we don't lose influential players if there is truth to the Bluey reports. That would be gutting.

 

[Sunny_]

He still hasn't taken us backwards. There's been improvement every year.

But I agree -- next year we must play Finals, barring some extraordinary toll on the injury list.

Also agree that Bomber wouldn't travel all the way to QLD just to be an assistant, which he'd likely have on offer at Essendon. It's a Senior role or bust, and at the moment I wouldn't sack Bluey. As I said above, he's taken us forward every year.

We are missing guys like Hart and Hinkley definitely, especially when we replace them with guys like Fraser, who literally has zero Coaching experience at anything close to AFL level. But that's just the way it falls unfortunately. Hopefully we can get in some new/more development Coaches. I think Collingwood just got rid of theirs?

 

[TheSunGod]

Bomber would be a fantastic acquisition. I do think our coaching group has gone backwards with the loss of Hinkley and Hart. Whether we could fit him in with all the other dynamics involved is another matter. I do believe we need to beef up our coaching development group if we want to keep progressing forward. I'm sceptical about the supposedly rumours of unrest within the playing group but I can understand that some players might be concerned their football education / development is not up to par with other clubs, especially when we have only a few players with over 100 games experience to help assist the kids whereas the Hawks / Swans etc. have over a dozen on their lists. I'm all for poaching another very experienced senior assistant or two to help Bluey next year. Don't know about his family situation but you'd have to think we'd be very attractive to Bomber or others with our list and the fact they could escape the fishbowl of Melbourne. How about Vossy to coach our mids, even on a part-time consultancy basis? I'm not convinced Fraser is the man to be in charge of our NEAFL team.

 

[Sunny_]

I think Vossy has signed on for media stuff? Otherwise would be a very good get.

We need cash to beef up our development Coaches. Have we got that cash? I'm not so sure. It's clearly an area which needs focus on though. We only have 4-5 assistant Coaches. Our midfield coach and forwards coach is the same person. Compare that to the likes of Collingwood who have 8-9+ assistant/development Coaches.

Love that equalisation.

 

[SandyToes]

Everything good happening at the Gabba is down to Vossy
I'm a fan.
I'm always amused when that internet meme/term"haters" is instituted in a discussion
It should have the same status as Godwin's Law IMO
Saying you don't like Bluey as a coach isn't "hating" no more than saying a short fat guy won't win the high jump at the Olympics.
I just don't think he has the tools, but I desperately want to be proven wrong.
I think our team has progressed despite Bluey rather than because of him
I think our foot skills and general footballing presence or what I call "footy-craft" are substandard for the league
Time and time again he tells us "our game is contested footy" but Clayton recruited the fastest most skilful players he could find?
Our game should be Hawthorn's model...laser accurate passing by foot and hand, strong defence and use of the corridor with our superlative running mids
I don't see that
Maybe the Bluey "lovers" do.

 

[Sunny_]

I agree that our skills need work, but I think that this is more of a result of our lack of development Coaches, or rather, how many we can afford. Not so much Bluey himself, as he can only do so much.

Clayton is another discussion all together. As time goes on, I'm thinking more and more we should be going after another recruiting guy.

 

[SandyToes]

Clayton is another discussion all together. As time goes on, I'm thinking more and more we should be going after another recruiting guy.

I knew you'd come around Sunny!

*cough cough* Zorko *cough cough*
(I know you've threatened to card me if I bring it up again, but I think the deal was if we made finals I would zip it good.At 9 and 2 that was looking a motza!)
But if "in and under hard ball gets" is our gameplan, why would we let him go?
What I'm alluding to is a major disconnect between recruiting philosophy and coaching philosophy.

 

[Sunny_]

It's not so much Zorko to be honest. I still think Warnock benefitted us much more short-term than someone like Zorko would have.

I always like to rate recruiters base on their picks outside of the top 20. Picks inside the top 10 are virtual guarantees, really. So picking guys like Swallow, Bennell, Day, Prestia, Lynch and the best kids in the country like Matera, Shaw, McKenzie etc. is all well and good. That doesn't make you a good recruiter, as anyone would have taken them there. Trading for O'Meara and Martin also no-brainers.

What makes you a good recruiter is your ability to get players beyond that and create depth for the side. Not only depth, but depth that can push into your 22. Bluey has said a number of times that he's been unable to make changes to the senior team because the 2s side lost by 20 goals. Literally no-one is good enough in the entire Reserves side to get into the 1s side, even though the 1s side lost terribly. How can that be? Can blame be put onto any one person?

It seems to me that Clayton has gambled our picks on speculative choices for the sake of just liking them. Schade is a good example of this, taken with a pick in the 20s. Still yet to play a game and really, barring a huge turn around in persona and ability go gain weight, likely won't.

Leslie was taken at pick #20, where every other recruiter had him way farther down the ladder. Yes, he's got speed, power and height. But his actual exposed football was very, very limited. That's what you call a project player. You don't take project players at #20. Last year we could have taken Gardiner at that choice, the best rated KPD in the draft. Or Zach Merrett, or Lewie Taylor. Actual players who can come into the 22 and make an impact, creating depth.

At this stage, I would say that his only successful selection beyond pick 20 that I can really think of is Lemmens, who was a really good selection and fitted a great need.

This could be also part of the above problem mentioned in that we don't have enough people to help him, or enough people to over-rule him. I'm not sure. But I am really looking forward to see what he does with our picks this year, and can only hope he gets some guys that can help with our depth problems.

 

[ZeJackal]

Correct me if im wrong Sunny , but I think Scott is our list mangrer who's deals with contracts etc , and Dom Ambrogio is chief recruiter?

 

[Sunny_]

Clayton does both. He looks after contracts, but he's also the head honcho when it comes to recruiting. Ambrogio sits under him.

 

[Iva Bigun]

courier mail articale today focussed on player unrest around game plan (lack of skills training) and a review of the coach

make of it what you will

 

[jackenny]

I couldn't see Thompson coaching the Suns.

Voss is a top bloke, but I am not sure he would be happy simply being an assistant coach.

 

[ZeJackal]

After watching on the couch , they confirm the review is going on , unsure if Bluey will coach next year , they say review is down to bad end of seeson and player unrest , think we will hear more bout this.

 

[Suns of Anarchy]

I knew you'd come around Sunny!

*cough cough* Zorko *cough cough*
(I know you've threatened to card me if I bring it up again, but I think the deal was if we made finals I would zip it good.At 9 and 2 that was looking a motza!)
But if "in and under hard ball gets" is our gameplan, why would we let him go?
What I'm alluding to is a major disconnect between recruiting philosophy and coaching philosophy.

It was Zorko's attitude and lack of discipline at the time that scared us off. He's turned out to be a good player but I've got no problems releasing a NEAFL player with a poor attitude at the time.

 

[Experimental]

After watching on the couch , they confirm the review is going on , unsure if Bluey will coach next year , they say review is down to bad end of seeson and player unrest , think we will hear more bout this.

Cant' be true, surely.

 

[Suns of Anarchy]

After watching on the couch , they confirm the review is going on , unsure if Bluey will coach next year , they say review is down to bad end of seeson and player unrest , think we will hear more bout this.

Mike Sheahan seemed to be holding back on everything he knows.
Not sure Bomber is the man simply because he's a great coach. He doesn't seem to have his heart in it and I still remember the Malcolm Blight - St Kilda debacle.

 

[nutstar]

Thompson confirmed last night on 360 that he doesn't believe he wants a senior coaching role, Really hoping we give Bluey one more year as Senior coach, surround him with the right assistants, Weather that be the same ones or a couple of changes. If we don't at least make finals next year, I'll join the Bluey haters, but like most I've seen the gradual improvement under him and am more than happy to have another year of Bluey.

 

[jackenny]

I am in the same boat as nutstar. We faced some terrible injuries this year, which I think was the main reason we weren't able to crack the finals this year.

I wouldn't mind a review of how we're developing our ruckman, though. Nothing awful, just to see if we can improve it in some way.

I am very much on the fence with Zac Smith and Tom Nicholls.

Recruiting is another issue.

 

[Covertackle]

OK. Its a bit easier looking back now, without the emotion and hope of a few weeks ago. At the time things were identified that needed to be, and had we not gone through that period without GAJ we will be in serious trouble at some point in the future without this dramatic experience to draw from.

A rough overview of what i identified during our last 5 (?) weeeks without GAJ was;

*GAJ is not only captain, he is also the leader.
*Bluey can not replace GAJ as leader, in any shape or form.
*The midfield either have no pecking order, or it was ignored by the coach.
*It is debatable if someone actually stepped up and branded themselves a captain or a leader by performances in 5 weeks when we needed it.
*The way they sooked on the field with pathetic performances, shows they are too pampered and have too many backslappers surround them.
*This is A squad of superstars that are individually likely to have been treated as such throughout their lives. Adversity is something new.
*Some of the superstars showed their talent is not connected to their heart, and need to be traded off.
*The coach needs to surround himself with learning or those that have learned about sport psychology. Not fairies from UNI, but proven winners.
*Bluey needs an understudy/player that has proven himself on the field as a great psychological motivator. A warrior the boys will identify with.
*Only Brendon Bolton would i chose rather than an ex player. He is a special talent. More likely to go to the Dees i believe.
*The team needs to choose some mature inspirational talent and cull some of the heartless talent we mollycoddle.
*The GC club can be the most successful franchise of any code in history on the GC. (not too hard) But it can be done in just 3 more years with correct decisions.

The coach.

Bluey doesnt need replacing. He is a novice, just like our squad. Where i feel he has failed was his ability to prepare his team mentally every time we have played without GAJ. He knew there was, has, and is a problem when GAJ doesnt take the field. It is an ability Bluey lacks. Psychological motivation is the greatest ability as coach can possess. I feel he has the personality to learn it, and have his charges buy into it. Whereas i doubt ex-Dees coach Neeld could never have done so. All the great coaches of any sport, were motivators. It was what they said that went into the subconscious, not what was said and accepted consciously. Its only recently that Subconscious physiological motivation has become a practiced tool for elite teams of the world. For many years coaches have been good at it, but didnt even know they were doing it. At half time or 3/4 time they said the right thing, they didnt even know what it was, but it worked. The next time they said the same thing it probably didnt work, as the subconscious message was somehow different.

To put it simply, Bluey needs to become a motivational leader. He has one in Ablett. Ablett isnt always there. Bluey needs someone who has already displayed the leadership who has proven himself a psychological motivator on the field to become an understudy.

 

[Big Red Machine]

I am in the same boat as nutstar. We faced some terrible injuries this year, which I think was the main reason we weren't able to crack the finals this year.

I wouldn't mind a review of how we're developing our ruckman, though. Nothing awful, just to see if we can improve it in some way.

I am very much on the fence with Zac Smith and Tom Nicholls.

Recruiting is another issue.

I agree with most of that.

However, Recruiting? How do you figure?

Kollar and Lemmens were awesome pick ups for us this year.