News Leppitsch's contract extended until 2017

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Tom14 said:
Leppo's been given a year to fix the clubs kulcha whereas bucks has been selflessly taken only a year on his deal!!!

(Ive been off bigfooty for a couple of months - is arguing with random pies fans or 'Basil Zemplas' really still a thing????)
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The former, yes.
The latter, less so unless his alts get a few posts in before being banned again.
 
I guess it's similar to when he selflessly left the Bears (a team clearly on the up), and tried in vain to use his prowess to help Collingwood win a premiership.
 

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Leppitsch Signs Contract Extension

Brisbane Lions Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch has agreed to terms on a contract extension to the end of 2017.

The new deal was announced by Brisbane Lions Chairman Bob Sharpless at the Club’s Season Launch in Brisbane tonight in front of 300 sponsors and supporters.

During his two years as Senior Coach, Leppitsch has been central to an overhaul of the playing list and Football Department operations that has the Club poised to reap the rewards in the years ahead.

Football Director Leigh Matthews said Leppitsch and the Brisbane Lions’ Board were “fully aligned” on the Club’s progress in its rebuild both on and off the field.

“There has been a lot of change around the Club and there was never any doubt as a Board that we would continue with Justin,” said Matthews.

Lions CEO Greg Swann said the Club was convinced Leppitsch had the team headed in the right direction.

“You only have to look at the young talent on our list and the growing number of our best players who’ve re-committed to the Club to know that we are in a good place ,” said Swann.

“The kind of football we played in the win over the Bulldogs at the end of last season shows what a team coached by Leppa can produce, and we are looking forward to much more of that in the years to come.”

Leppitsch’s reappointment comes on the back of a hugely successful off-season for the Club during which 10 players re-signed including Vice-Captains Dayne Zorko and Pearce Hanley as well as Stefan Martin, Mitch Robinson, Marco Paparone, Harris Andrews, Ryan Harwood, Jaden McGrath, Rohan Bewick and Josh Clayton.

Quality players Tom Bell, Ryan Bastinac, Josh Walker and Jarrad Jansen have also chosen to come to the Club through the trade period, following Dayne Beams, Allen Christensen and Mitch Robinson the year before.

Off the field, a number of highly-regarded staff including Assistant Coach Danny Daly, High Performance Manager Damien Austin, as well as Retention & Strategy Manager Craig Lambert and Player Welfare Manager Melissa Lambert have all come to the Club as part of a full revamp.

Leppitsch said he was happy to have the extension finalised and was looking forward to the start of the 2016 season.

“Our football club is on a journey and the hardest part of our journey is now done in many respects,” said Leppitsch.

“We have made a lot of changes over the past two years but they have been changes for the better and we will see positive results in the years ahead.

“The recommitment of so many of our current players, as well as the influx of quality players and staff show that we are on the right track.

“We still have a lot of work to do but our foundation is strong and our future is bright.”
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Via email to club members.
 
Not sure how i feel about this. Great for stability, yes. However, he really hasn't earned it based the onfield performances. Anyways, i really hope that for his sake the boys start performing way above their 2015 standards, because assuming we are not plagued with injuries, anything less than 8 wins in 2016 will be flat out disappointing.
 
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I'm very pleased with this result. Any team would struggle with the injuries we endured last year, so it is only fair to judge his coaching credentials when he has a relatively full list to work with. Stability is essential and this will somewhat ease the pressure with what is a tough opening fixture. The number of re-signings in the past few months is evidence the club is doing something right, so I fully trust their decision in keeping faith with Leppa!
 
TheBrownDog said:
The right decision. Clearly. The world's greatest coach wouldnt have done s**t all with our injuries last year.
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The wrong decision.

And terrible reasoning. The coach of an AFL club is an elite role. Leppitsch should be judged by what he has achieved, not the strength of the excuses for why he hasn't achieved anything. There are always excuses. Adversity is part of the role and coaches should be judged on how they deal with it.

Whatever it was you saw in 2015 that makes this decision clear to you, I didn't see it. I hope your vision is better than mine, and I hope it's not too long before you are proven right. What is more likely is that we'll be debating excuses again in twelve months.
 
Ironmonger said:
The wrong decision.

And terrible reasoning. The coach of an AFL club is an elite role. Leppitsch should be judged by what he has achieved, not the strength of the excuses for why he hasn't achieved anything. There are always excuses. Adversity is part of the role and coaches should be judged on how they deal with it.

Whatever it was you saw in 2015 that makes this decision clear to you, I didn't see it. I hope your vision is better than mine, and I hope it's not too long before you are proven right. What is more likely is that we'll be debating excuses again in twelve months.
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He's transformed the list and we're much better off in 2016 than we were in 2013 - I'm really stoked that has happened. I would say that this was his first task and that's been a success - if with this cattle over the next two years we do the same or worse, then questions will fairly be asked.

This is stage two - what can he do with a half decent list... I think Robinson attributing a lot of his personal success to Leppitsch (on Twitter) is quite telling as well, and I'm very impressed with how young players have been doing since coming to the club.

It's not like he's been given a 4 year extension...
 
Ironmonger said:
The wrong decision.

And terrible reasoning.
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Thanks. Likewise to be honest.

AFL coaching being an "elite role" doesn't mean we dispense with context altogether. Do we really need to go over that stuff again? Or do we just sack a coach every year we miss the finals because it wasn't an "elite" result.

Inherited a club on its knees, shambolic administration, 5 first round draft picks leaving a list that had already performed poorly. Has overseen a massive reshaping of the list which meant the first two years are pretty much a washout while the worst of the rebuilding sting is in effect. Add in the injuries and I have to ask... what could he have really been proven or achieved?

So yes, Leppa hasn't proven anything. Granted. So shall we change horses midstream and replace him with someone else who has also likely proven nothing? Or do we back the guy in to deliver on the medium to long term rejuvenation that he was brought in to do and has been unequivocal about from the start? The club's messaging has been very consistent on this. They have been working to a blueprint that was never going to deliver results straight away. They believe they are on track and that this year won't be enough to make the call either... so they extend him another year to send the message that this year is another stepping stone - not judgement day.

I am not saying the "excuses" are a reason to renew him. I am saying they are supporting evidence that weakens any case that we should abandon a long term plan before it has had a chance to come to fruition.

The only reason not to get rid of him now would be if they thought the original decision to appoint him was wrong... there is very little reason otherwise I can see to not back him in. To me it would be like mixing a cake up in the bowl and then throwing it out before you put it in the oven because someone said the batter looked a little runny.

I have no idea if the cake is going to turn out, and the end of your post seemed to intimate that I am claiming some sort of prognostication that I am not. I don't know if he is a good coach, or a bad coach. Do you? I want to see the cake thing go in the oven first before we put it in the trash.
 
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ZoBlitz said:
I'd argue list management isn't actually the role of the coach anymore though...
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I think a big part of the reason he was employed was that he saw the list as it was in the same way that the panel choosing did.

He's got to have some say, and the press from the Club suggests he's been behind most of it...
 
TheBrownDog said:
Thanks. Likewise to be honest.

AFL coaching being an "elite role" doesn't mean we dispense with context altogether. Do we really need to go over that stuff again? Or do we just sack a coach every year we miss the finals because it wasn't an "elite" result.

Inherited a club on it's knees, shambolic administration, 5 first round draft picks leaving a list that had already performed poorly. Has overseen a massive reshaping of the list which meant the first two years are pretty much a washout while the worst of the rebuilding sting is in effect. Add in the injuries and I have to ask... what could he have really been proven or achieved?

So yes, Leppa hasn't proven anything. Granted. So shall we change horses midstream and replace him with someone else who has also likely proven nothing? Or do we back the guy in to deliver on the medium to long term rejuvenation that he was brought in to do and has been unequivocal about from the start? The club's messaging has been very consistent on this. They have been working to a blueprint that was never going to deliver results straight away. They believe they are on track and that this year won't be enough to make the call either... so they extend him another year to send the message that this year is another stepping stone - not judgement day.

I am not saying the "excuses" are a reason to renew him. I am saying they are supporting evidence that weakens any case that we should abandon a long term plan before it has had a chance to come to fruition.

The only reason not to get rid of him now would be if they thought the original decision to appoint him was wrong... there is very little reason otherwise I can see to not back him in. To me it would be like mixing a cake up in the bowl and then throwing it out before you put it in the oven because it wasn't a cake yet.

I have no idea if the cake is going to turn out, and the end of your post seemed to intimate that I am claiming some sort of prognostication that I am not. I don't know if he is a good coach, or a bad coach. Do you? I want to see the cake thing go in the oven first before we put it in the trash.
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Love the cake analogy.
 
TheBrownDog said:
I have no idea if the cake is going to turn out, and the end of your post seemed to intimate that I am claiming some sort of prognostication that I am not. I don't know if he is a good coach, or a bad coach. Do you? I want to see the cake thing go in the oven first before we put it in the trash.
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I didn't intimate that. I said I hope you're right, but that I suspect you're not.

We don't need to know whether he's a bad coach. We do need to know that he's a good coach. If we still don't know that much after three years then he shouldn't get a fourth. But now he will.

There is almost no limit to the things Leppitsch could have achieved. There are all kinds of ways a club can make progress, even with an unstable list and with injuries. We've had a lot of players fall out of form, and not be able to get back into it. We look listless and confused much of the time on the field. Players still seem to be disgruntled. Apart maybe from how well he's integrated new recruits into the team, and the isolated case of Marco Paparone's development, it's hard to find even low-level areas where Leppitsch has made progress. I don't think that's good enough for two years, and definitely not for three years if we can't substantially add to that.

Absolutely sometimes you need to 'change horses in midstream'. Organisations need to constantly assess the path they're on and the key staff that are in charge. It's not good practice to defer judgement for three or four years while you wait for the whole of the plan to be completed.
 
Renovation almost finished at home. Glad we stuck with the builder. Oh and after balancing many factors I am glad the Lions are sticking with Leppa. I think a year of "when will sack the coach" would be the worst possible scenario. I would prefer no wins and some player development, to the instability of Voss's last year and general melt down including player exodus, to a sack the coach year given the stage we are at in the rebuild.

Said another way Leppa's current job is to take the club through a rebuild. And there is considerable evidence the rebuild is progressing well
 
I think anyone who thinks this guarantees he'll be here until the end of next season is being a bit naive. Another very poor season will see him on the way out. What defines poor is the unknown from a club pov. We're not talking huge money here. This is all about taking a bit of perceived pressure off and giving the media less to talk about. It's not a guarantee he'll see out his contract.

Let's hope we improve and he gets another bit coaching contracts are barely worth the paper they're written on
 
Fatcat08 said:
I think anyone who thinks this guarantees he'll be here until the end of next season is being a bit naive. Another very poor season will see him on the way out. What defines poor is the unknown from a club pov. We're not talking huge money here. This is all about taking a bit of perceived pressure off and giving the media less to talk about. It's not a guarantee he'll see out his contract.

Let's hope we improve and he gets another bit coaching contracts are barely worth the paper they're written on
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Good point. I am sure most people who support this decision understand that this is about reducing pressure in the short term. Personally I think Leppa needs until the end of 2017 to establish whether or not he can move from being a team rebuilding coach to a match winning coach. But I guess another poor year in terms of win/loss and he may not get that time.
 
Skoob said:
Cake is inspiring. One day they will sing of this cake in our team song, and of the brave warriors who ate it while marching to success.
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But if we eat our cake we won't have it anymore. :cry:
 
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