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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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.
 
Having a guy already based in Sydney with his family settled is a big advantage. Also whoever we go with needs to have a proven track record.
If only we went with Adam Simpson instead of Leon in the first place we wouldn't be in this mess and the club would likely already have a flag.

An obvious short list candidate.

If the Board and CEO are doing their jobs there must have been some informal contact already.

All of which means probably no one has spoken to him.

The question of what happens from now until the end of the season with the HC role (interim appointment, or more of the same) is the more pressing one.


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Don Pyke,

Super smart, works well with young players, doing amazing job at Swans, available.

Get him in and Magoo out.

It's bizarre to me that the Swans can bring in a guy like Pyke to support Horse but we continue to get guys with minimal to no experience at all. Yesterday it looked like McVeigh is now LC's right hand man. Seems more like a self protection set up than budget constraints.
 

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It's bizarre to me that the Swans can bring in a guy like Pyke to support Horse but we continue to get guys with minimal to no experience at all. Yesterday it looked like McVeigh is now LC's right hand man. Seems more like a self protection set up than budget constraints.
Perhaps we just couldn't get anyone interested in coming to Sydney?
 
Perhaps we just couldn't get anyone interested in coming to Sydney?

They make too much of that.

There is a boys club and Matthews is front row centre. He appointed Leon who then brought in old Richmond people, this has been a disaster. Then the McCartney appointment which again looks like a bad one. Then Matthews comes out to bat publicly for Leon and paints himself into a corner.

Outside of this Matthew’s has a public spat with Paul Roos who then gets a set against the club and Roos best mate Ross Lyon. Trouble is these guys, like them or loathe them have some of the best IP in the game, trouble also is they are mates with Pyke.

For me Matthews thought he would leave HQ (AFL) deliver the baby to the promised land, look like a hero and then sweep into Gill’s job as CEO. Trouble is even the most ardent Giants fan can see this is now years if not decades away after a complete rebuild of the list.

I don’t hate Matthews or think he’s completely hopeless, I admire his feistiness and fighting qualities but the fact is he has allowed mateship and arrogance to cloud his judgement.

If you watch the doco you can see Leon see what we see. His pointed comments to players are years of frustration dealing with selfish, me first, entitled spoilt dicks, but the fact remains his messaging has gone stale and the players are making a statement with their actions. They dont believe in him and want him gone.

The club needs a rebuild from top down. Pyke has to come in and if that means Matthews goes with Cameron so be it.

If Dave is too selfish to put the interests of the club and its fans first then he simply has to go.
 
They make too much of that.

There is a boys club and Matthews is front row centre. He appointed Leon who then brought in old Richmond people, this has been a disaster. Then the McCartney appointment which again looks like a bad one. Then Matthews comes out to bat publicly for Leon and paints himself into a corner.

Outside of this Matthew’s has a public spat with Paul Roos who then gets a set against the club and Roos best mate Ross Lyon. Trouble is these guys, like them or loathe them have some of the best IP in the game, trouble also is they are mates with Pyke.

For me Matthews thought he would leave HQ (AFL) deliver the baby to the promised land, look like a hero and then sweep into Gill’s job as CEO. Trouble is even the most ardent Giants fan can see this is now years if not decades away after a complete rebuild of the list.

I don’t hate Matthews or think he’s completely hopeless, I admire his feistiness and fighting qualities but the fact is he has allowed mateship and arrogance to cloud his judgement.

If you watch the doco you can see Leon see what we see. His pointed comments to players are years of frustration dealing with selfish, me first, entitled spoilt dicks, but the fact remains his messaging has gone stale and the players are making a statement with their actions. They dont believe in him and want him gone.

The club needs a rebuild from top down. Pyke has to come in and if that means Matthews goes with Cameron so be it.

If Dave is too selfish to put the interests of the club and its fans first then he simply has to go.

To be fair the appointment of Leon was more Gubby Allan's call as were just about every footy department call until about 12mths prior to Gubby leaving but since then as I'm sure you know Matthews has interfered more and more with footy department calls.
 
They make too much of that.

There is a boys club and Matthews is front row centre. He appointed Leon who then brought in old Richmond people, this has been a disaster. Then the McCartney appointment which again looks like a bad one. Then Matthews comes out to bat publicly for Leon and paints himself into a corner.

Outside of this Matthew’s has a public spat with Paul Roos who then gets a set against the club and Roos best mate Ross Lyon. Trouble is these guys, like them or loathe them have some of the best IP in the game, trouble also is they are mates with Pyke.

For me Matthews thought he would leave HQ (AFL) deliver the baby to the promised land, look like a hero and then sweep into Gill’s job as CEO. Trouble is even the most ardent Giants fan can see this is now years if not decades away after a complete rebuild of the list.

I don’t hate Matthews or think he’s completely hopeless, I admire his feistiness and fighting qualities but the fact is he has allowed mateship and arrogance to cloud his judgement.

If you watch the doco you can see Leon see what we see. His pointed comments to players are years of frustration dealing with selfish, me first, entitled spoilt dicks, but the fact remains his messaging has gone stale and the players are making a statement with their actions. They dont believe in him and want him gone.

The club needs a rebuild from top down. Pyke has to come in and if that means Matthews goes with Cameron so be it.

If Dave is too selfish to put the interests of the club and its fans first then he simply has to go.

A number of truth bombs from AtG that hit the target.

I think the Chairman and CEO have done excellent work on the corporate commercial side.

However, football dept problems have been glossed over for mutual self-preservation.

And that hits Members between the eyes.

VFL - correction, AFL - HQ’s master-servant attitude to our club and disdain for NSW generally has also been a multi-year problem for Giants HQ, but that’s an issue for another time when the football dept has been sorted.



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They make too much of that.

There is a boys club and Matthews is front row centre. He appointed Leon who then brought in old Richmond people, this has been a disaster. Then the McCartney appointment which again looks like a bad one. Then Matthews comes out to bat publicly for Leon and paints himself into a corner.

Outside of this Matthew’s has a public spat with Paul Roos who then gets a set against the club and Roos best mate Ross Lyon. Trouble is these guys, like them or loathe them have some of the best IP in the game, trouble also is they are mates with Pyke.

For me Matthews thought he would leave HQ (AFL) deliver the baby to the promised land, look like a hero and then sweep into Gill’s job as CEO. Trouble is even the most ardent Giants fan can see this is now years if not decades away after a complete rebuild of the list.

I don’t hate Matthews or think he’s completely hopeless, I admire his feistiness and fighting qualities but the fact is he has allowed mateship and arrogance to cloud his judgement.

If you watch the doco you can see Leon see what we see. His pointed comments to players are years of frustration dealing with selfish, me first, entitled spoilt dicks, but the fact remains his messaging has gone stale and the players are making a statement with their actions. They dont believe in him and want him gone.

The club needs a rebuild from top down. Pyke has to come in and if that means Matthews goes with Cameron so be it.

If Dave is too selfish to put the interests of the club and its fans first then he simply has to go.

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Something has changed but it's hard to know who gets the credit. Buckley and Keefe to defence has made things better but if Phil didn't get injured would they still have played Keefe fwd? Cumming and Ash have benefited the most and can have the confidence to play more attacking football. Finlayson being out of form doesn't make sense given he barely played pre-season, and then comes straight in and makes an immediate impact up fwd, his fitness looks off from last year but he is still one of the most skillful players in the league. We are moving the ball quicker from defence and we are also setting up behind the ball at contests better. Green, Hopper, Taranto are no longer try to scrum the ball fwd and one will a lot of the time stay on the defensive side of the contest as a bail out option rather a rushed kick out of the pack. HH still hasn't taken the next step but I think Hogan will be the answer, his strength was always the team fwd role in blocking and creating space for others, Jesse should enjoy playing alongside him. It's good to see there is no stubborness in terms of what wasn't working because it was looking like a long year ahead so credit where it is due.
 
Can we just revisit this conversation while we are on the up? Gee we have been good

we have a clear style of game play and these kids are excelling because they can slot in and just play a role. But it’s working- the contested ball game plan is still a pretty good one

Of most importance is our ability to change the game plan round to round. Against the saints we were run and gun but a few weeks later against the swans we take all the pace out of the game and beat them by not letting them do that to us.

finally, our defensive structure has just been fantastic. When the stand the mark rule came in we didn’t really have the pace on the list to play like the adelaides or the swans but instead we reacted to figure out a defensive structure to slow-ball movement through the middle and push attacking plays wide to allow us to flood back and create a zone. You might notice the midfield plays a defensive zone through the middle of the ground and the backs play man. I just think it’s brilliant reactive coaching to the changing game and we need to name that while it’s working well

just imagine if we had a full team on the park
 

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Can we just revisit this conversation while we are on the up? Gee we have been good

we have a clear style of game play and these kids are excelling because they can slot in and just play a role. But it’s working- the contested ball game plan is still a pretty good one

Of most importance is our ability to change the game plan round to round. Against the saints we were run and gun but a few weeks later against the swans we take all the pace out of the game and beat them by not letting them do that to us.

finally, our defensive structure has just been fantastic. When the stand the mark rule came in we didn’t really have the pace on the list to play like the adelaides or the swans but instead we reacted to figure out a defensive structure to slow-ball movement through the middle and push attacking plays wide to allow us to flood back and create a zone. You might notice the midfield plays a defensive zone through the middle of the ground and the backs play man. I just think it’s brilliant reactive coaching to the changing game and we need to name that while it’s working well

just imagine if we had a full team on the park
Credit where credit is due, the coaches have done a good job in the last month.

You nailed it. Kids slot into positions and they do well and the team does well because there's systems and structures that have been drilled.

I want to make a comment about team selection as well and willingness to play rookies, but hard to say as coaches were probably forced a hand in many instances given our injury crisis. That said, would like us to get some more consistency and stretches of games into XOH, Bruhn and Stone.
 
Credit where credit is due, the coaches have done a good job in the last month.

You nailed it. Kids slot into positions and they do well and the team does well because there's systems and structures that have been drilled.

I want to make a comment about team selection as well and willingness to play rookies, but hard to say as coaches were probably forced a hand in many instances given our injury crisis. That said, would like us to get some more consistency and stretches of games into XOH, Bruhn and Stone.
Yeah I get that but we are clearly trying to win games and play finals rather than play the kids

I think they are playing more games than they deserve... it’s not like they are lighting up the VFL and banging the door down. Without the injuries I’m not sure they play

that said, bruhn looks the goods and I’m glad he is getting exposure
 

It definitely raised my eyebrow on the weekend to see the Giants Chairman - in his role as SCG Trust Chair - make a public presentation to Bucks ahead of the Dees game.

And this comes in the same week as CEO Matthew’s being linked to the Cats.

Ultimately though, I don’t think anything has changed all year.

The minimum pass mark for Leon and the coaching team is top 8.



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Buckley : H&A win % 54.85 : Finals W5 / L7 : 1GF (L)
Leon : H&A win % 54.66 : Finals W6 / L5 : 1GF (L)

and Leon had 2014/15 impacting his W% when we were still young and a basket case at the start of his career, while FIGJAM took over a team that had made the GF 2 years in a row before taking over.

why on earth would anyone think he would be such an improvement worth dumping Leon for?
 
It’s time for a new set of eyes.
We haven’t improved our consistency in all that time.
We have the worst difference between our best and worst in the league and unfortunately that’s coaching.
The players are good enough to be in the 8, hell top 4, but something isnt connecting the dots and that is coaching.

We have lost to Freo, Saints, North(it felt like a loss), Hawthorn.

The excuses we get are “we aren’t a top 8 side“ Rubbish.

He has had many many many years to fix this issue and it hasn’t been fixed.

We need a quality coach, someone with plenty of experience.
 
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It’s time for a new set of eyes.
We haven’t improved our consistency in all that time.
We have the worst difference between our best and worst in the league and unfortunately that’s coaching.
The players are good enough to be in the 8, hell top 4, but something isnt connecting the dots and that is coaching.

We have lost to Freo, Saints, North(it felt like a loss), Hawthorn.

The excuses we get are “we aren’t a top 8 side“ Rubbish.

He has had many many many years to fix this issue and it hasn’t been fixed.

We need a quality coach, someone with plenty of experience.
This is utter crap

I get the blaming of the coach earlier at 0:3 or for last year but honestly if this was reporting it would be called lazy reporting. Where was this rubbish when we were ravaged by injuries and lost a bunch of stars but kept winning with our backs to the wall?

look at the list… it’s full of contested ball winners. So the game plan has to cater to the strength of contested ball and clearances. Which is what it does. But when those players don’t turn up (which is going to happen in a season) we will lose games. It’s a game plan that works for teamslike geelong/melb and the dogs…. But if you notice the age profile of those lists… they have the capacity to go harder for longer. Age is directly related to consistency

I was as frustrated as anyone at the loss on the weekend. But come on…. To blame Leon for that is weak and just pushing your already really clear agenda
 
Leon has been the central figure in a decade long project gifted generational draft pick talent across all lines.

The project was to crescendo to finals and compete for flags.

For me there have been four points of obvious reassessment for Leon.

1. 2016 end of season. We should have faced the Swans in the GF that year, and we probably would have won. Mistakes happen though, so give Leon a pass and another tilt.

2. 2019 end of season. Leon was under the pump by mid-2019 after falling short in ‘17 and ‘18. An amazing finals campaign got us to the GF, although we only just scraped through the PF vs Pies. Injuries and fatigue a legitimate explanation for a terrible GF. Some argued it was over for Leon then, but I believed Leon could rebound us back for one more tilt.

3. 2020 Shepherd announces Leon will be resigned after we smack the Cats in R1 in expectation of a return to finals. Then the world goes to heck and we drown in the Amazon. Jezza walks in a huge blow to the club, Heater casts serious doubts on culture, next gen draft picks walk out, Cogs in a world of pain. Warning signs flashing red at end of season. There was a very strong case for Leon to go at that time, but give him one last benefit of the doubt.

4. Leon enters last chance saloon heading into 2021. We just have to finish top 8. No excuses, no if’s, no buts. We all want it to happen, and Leon just cannot deliver against North or the Hawks - not to mention the Saints. It’s over. Leon has given everything for a decade, but we need to move forward as a football club.

Who should take over as HC? Someone who can hold the playing group together and get the best out of our ‘magnets’. Players will be discussing their 2021 options with their agents, and in my opinion recommitting to Leon for 2021 would risk blowing up our squad. We need a new, permanent HC coach announced before R23.

This is a very sad week for the club, but it’s surely time to face up to some hard decisions.

A prelim and GF loss is not enough, just ask Bucks.

Sherlock Holmes says listen for the dog that doesn’t bark. That’s the tell. Anyone hearing Shepherd or Bartel backing Leon in recent weeks? The silence is deafening.

I would like the new HC selection committee to be Bartel, McCartney, Shepherd. I’d also want Cogs and TFG to be consulted.

Matthews should not be involved, and IMO he is headed to the Cats. Again, the silence from him has been deafening.
 
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