Analysis Giants Coaching. Congratulations Adam Kingsley & welcome to GWS.

Who is your preference to be next coach of GWS Giants?

  • Alistair Clarkson

    Votes: 22 26.8%
  • James Hird

    Votes: 7 8.5%
  • Don Pyke

    Votes: 7 8.5%
  • Nathan Buckley

    Votes: 3 3.7%
  • Ross Lyon

    Votes: 3 3.7%
  • Mark McVeigh

    Votes: 6 7.3%
  • Robert Harvey

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Scott Burns

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Blake Caracella

    Votes: 1 1.2%
  • Adam Yze

    Votes: 14 17.1%
  • Adam Kingsley

    Votes: 13 15.9%
  • Daniel Giansiracusa

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Luke Power

    Votes: 1 1.2%
  • Jaymie Graham

    Votes: 2 2.4%
  • Ash Hansen

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Andrew McQualter

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Chris Scott

    Votes: 3 3.7%

  • Total voters
    82

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Nov 23, 2015
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The GIANTS are delighted to announce the appointment of Adam Kingsley as the club’s next AFL head coach.

As a former Premiership and Best and Fairest winner with Port Adelaide, where he played 170 games, Kingsley quickly moved into coaching following his playing career, immediately taking up assistant coaching roles with Port Adelaide and then St Kilda. After eight years with the Saints, Kingsley joined Richmond as assistant coach in 2019 where he played a leading role in the Tigers’ last two Premierships.

GIANTS Chief Executive Officer David Matthews said Kingsley's appointment marked the next chapter in the evolution of the football club. “On behalf of the Board and our entire organisation, I’m thrilled to confirm Adam Kingsley as our new head coach,” Mr Matthews said. “After a thorough and considered selection process, Adam’s vision for the club, our players and our people made him the standout candidate for the job. Adam has outstanding values that align with the GIANTS and with 16 years’ coaching experience he is an exceptional tactical coach, a strong, clear communicator, and someone who brings people together. In our 11 years in the competition we have undoubtedly become a successful club with a fantastic culture and a great playing list. But we haven’t been satisfied with our recent results. We - and Adam - believe success isn’t far away and we’re thrilled to have him lead us into our next chapter as a club. This is an incredibly exciting day for our club and Adam's appointment will not only take our playing group and football department forward but will help continue to grow our game across NSW and the ACT. We look forward to welcoming Adam, his wife Nadine and children Cayla, Ethan and Raf to the GIANTS family.”

Mr Matthews also paid tribute to caretaker coach Mark McVeigh. "We thank Mark for his efforts as interim senior coach and the tireless work he has contributed to our program since taking over in round 10,” Mr Matthews said. “It’s a difficult job to come in as caretaker coach but he attacked the role with fresh ideas and sought to improve our players, staff and program at every step. Mark is a person of the highest integrity and character, and he has always put the club first. He was steadfast in leaving the program ready for whoever would be taking over.”

Following an extensive interview process, Kingsley was deemed the best fit for the GIANTS by the club’s interview panel that consisted of Mr Matthews, Chairman Tony Shepherd AO, Football Director Jimmy Bartel and General Manager of Football Jason McCartney. Kingsley said he was honoured to have the opportunity to coach the club for the next three years. “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity,” he said. “It’s a privilege and an honour to be the next senior coach of the GIANTS. I’ve been clear in my aspirations to become a senior coach and over the last 16 years I’ve continued to learn and develop to the point now where I’m absolutely ready to take the next step in my coaching career. This is a club which has built a strong culture from the ground up in just a few short years. In just 11 years the GIANTS have made multiple preliminary finals, and a Grand Final, and while the ultimate success has eluded the club, it’s clear the building blocks are in place. It's clear the players, staff, members and fans are hungry for success, and we’re going to drive each other to get to where we want to go. I believe in this club and what we can achieve together.”

Kingsley played 170 games for Port Adelaide between 1997 and 2006 and was a member of the club’s inaugural team as well as their first Premiership in 2004. He won the Power’s club champion award in just his second season. In 2007, he became an assistant coach at Port Adelaide, a position in which he stayed in until the end of 2010. Kingsley joined St Kilda at the end of the 2010 season as an assistant coach before moving to Richmond in 2019.
 

Bay Giant

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Jun 20, 2019
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My outside opinion of someone who watches a lot of GWS and wants them to win a flag..
- Leon either needs to change things up or go. He needs a new game plan as this one clearly isn’t working, every year same result. I think maybe he needs to go, his game day tactics are poor
- the medical department needs to be reviewed, every year injuries ruin your season

This needs to be rectified this off season because in my opinion, you should have already won a flag. The window is running out
Fair and honest.
 

Andre the Giant

Norm Smith Medallist
Feb 20, 2012
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Here is my take.

Leon is a smart guy, he reads and watches the game carefully and is fully understanding of where the game is and is going. He is a likeable person, diplomatic and gets around the players well.

His assistants have improved over the journey and he is better resourced now then previously however there is still some sentimental dead wood that needs to be moved along.

Is he capable of leading us to a flag? Possibly, but he did fail to do so in 2016 when all the planets were aligned and our team is not as strong depth wise as we were then.

How is he with team selection? I think generally he has been quite fair, giving most guys an opportunity and apart from the odd occasion (last week too tall and immobile) getting the mix right.

Does he have a defined style? Absolutely not, this team seems to change its style regularly, there doesn’t appear to be defined style and this does get shown up by other teams.

Is he tactically innovative? I would say yes and no. He is definitely trying things, Zac Williams into midfield, Toby going from guts to small forward, moving Whitfield around, Finlayson forward, but as a team he frequently gets out coached by the likes of Clarkson, Scott and Hardwick.

Is he ruthless enough? Absolutely not, he just comes across as a nice guy.

Does he play favourites at the team’s expense? I’m a bit undecided because we don’t have the internal information/data. On the face of it a guy like Sam Reid is not best 22. His stats are often poor and he has held a spot ahead of the likes of Bonar and at times Hately and others.

We don’t know what intangibles Reid is giving Cameron that he loves, perhaps it’s vital to his overall scheme? Is it in isolation influencing games? I would think not.

Does Cameron have the right personnel to execute his plan? I would argue no. In 16’ we had a much faster team and were able to break up games.

We now have a hard headed but pedestrian midfield full of samey same players that are good but can’t break up games.

Next year this will be worse particularly if Cogs leaves. We will draft Tom
Green, who is an absolute jet and found gold, but he is also one paced meaning we get slower again. Ward comes back a year older and from an ACL and Scully and Shiel are already gone.

We face having a very slow midfield and at this point don’t have the draft collateral to fix this. We already need a ruckman and replacement for Shaw but the need for an agile midfielder is really pressing. I do like Caldwell but he’s tidy but not express and Hately is slow.

Anyways, got off track. Personally all things considered I think Leon is probably more an assistant coach and a very good one in that capacity rather than the head coach, I feel he just lacks presence to fulfil that role.

If we don’t replace him he needs a gun like Balme (cannot get) Roos (hates GWS) to come on board and really help him out, otherwise I suspect this time next year we will be looking for a new guy.

I would bring in Robert Harvey, he has a tremendous CV and has done the hard yards. He is old enough to command full respect and is ready to go to the next level. No coach will come without some level of doubt. Is he ruthless enough? Who knows but he is smart, has had the highest level of success and has the ambition to do the job. I think he is the best bet.
 
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gee whiz giant

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Mar 3, 2014
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Leon has many positives, but the game is absolutely ruthless, and 17 coaches fail each year.
I'd like to see someone on the coaching panel with a bit of cunning, a bit of 'nous', some in the moment decision making.

Last week v Hawthorn, early first quarter, Burgoygne just paddled the ball backwards, where 2 Hawks were always positioned behind the high ball.
'So that's how it's going to be tonight?" It was for them.
Giants had no clue how to counteract. Five minutes and the game was done.
 

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bossman111

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Feb 18, 2008
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Ross Lyon + our list = ?????

P.s. I'm no Ross fan based on his exit from last two clubs and how poor the St Kilda list was for years after his exit, but its an interesting hypothetical
 
Sep 8, 2012
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You know what, as a Freo supporter I have always been a Ross Lyon supporter.

It's not his fault he has been to 3 losing Grand finals but at least he got there.

Freo had the first 12 shots on goal or something stupid I'm that GF for 2 points. That's what cost them

This year Freo turned at the half way mark equal 4th slot on the ladder before the entire forward line and half the backline got injured in the space of 2 games. Had that not happened he would probably still be there.

Tactically he is a master coach and you know what I can almost guarantee the thought would have at least crossed the mind of GWS officials

My only concern with him is that he has a game plan and refuses to change it. Super stubborn and then you go down by 50 points

But then again so does Leon. So interesting times ahead

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fridgeman

Premiership Player
Jan 26, 2014
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Some names I would think could be a good fit for an assistant role at the club
Kingsley
Burns
Rutten
I would consider Richardson for a role at the club similar to McConnell but Lyon is too much of a divisive character for the club to consider imo
 
Sep 8, 2012
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Haha didn't take long did it

You know what though I know what he means. See defensive high pressure footy is great. Did anyone see the Freo v swans Prelim in 2013 ? The swans got smashed by 4 Freo players within 2 seconds of getting the ball, and they just couldn't move it.

So defensive footy is good. However where Ross style at Freo looked "boring" is that Freo could stop other teams scoring but couldn't score themselves.

The closest I have seen is the Geelong game a few weeks ago. Watch the replay and imagine that style with the giants players

I don't think it would be terrible

However one thing I'm sure of is that we won't win a flag with Leon



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Danny88

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Mar 21, 2014
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I wonder if there are many clubs that are actually really happy with the coaching group. Obviously Clarkson gets a huge wrap but even their fans get frustrated with him and his team selections

Swans get frustrated with team selections (especially picking veterans over kids)

West coast as Richmond we’re regularly critical of coaching but obviously eased off when they won a flag

These are teams with supposedly the strongest coaches in the league

My wondering is if it’s inherent in the afl community to be critical of coaching to try to change the things we cannot explain. This is not just giants related but league in general. The average afl supporter has such a simple working understanding of the intricacies of a game and the small battles and tactics that happen all over the ground I wonder if they just say- we played poorly we blame the coach.

Coaching seems to be in the spotlight at the moment- I reckon they are underpaid for the roles they play
 
I wonder if there are many clubs that are actually really happy with the coaching group. Obviously Clarkson gets a huge wrap but even their fans get frustrated with him and his team selections

Swans get frustrated with team selections (especially picking veterans over kids)

West coast as Richmond we’re regularly critical of coaching but obviously eased off when they won a flag

These are teams with supposedly the strongest coaches in the league

I know a team you missed that has started a religion around their coaching group, which probably counts. ;)
 

sydney_gws

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Oct 31, 2016
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Read some of the stories coming out about the toxic culture Lyon created

We don’t need that. We lose enough players each year without pushing them out the door with his crap
I am not disagreeing, but maybe Ross Lyons flaws are hidden if he has 6-7 a graders on the list. He did do a good job with st Kilda and freo 2012-2015. He also might be better having had his ego dented a bit
 
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