Kildonan
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Granted every wish, Thomas fell short of board's desire
Jake Niall
September 14, 2006
THE origins of Grant Thomas' demise can be traced back 12 months, to the days after the injury-ravaged Saints unexpectedly succumbed to Sydney in the final quarter of the preliminary final.
On that evening, Thomas is understood to have had terse words with his assistant and club legend Nathan Burke in the coach's box during the last quarter. Burke resigned within days, without much explanation.
At Thomas' request, the training services department was cleaned out, and the board gave Thomas carte blanche to hire new fitness staff. He chose just-departed Brisbane Lions fitness coach Craig Starcevich as the man responsible for ridding the Saints of that troublesome soft-tissue plague that might have cost them the 2005 flag.
Even then, the St Kilda board harboured reservations about whether Thomas would be able to deliver a premiership and whether he was prepared to loosen his control of nearly all aspects of the football department.
The board had sought to impose a football executive on him once before — in December 2003, when it was on the verge of hiring former Essendon football manager Matthew Drain (now with the Western Bulldogs), before a dogmatic Thomas dug in and won, retaining his joint roles as senior coach and football operations manager.
There was, however, some personal fall-out from the summer of 2003-04. Thomas' formerly close relationship with club director and former player Mark "Captain" Kellett was damaged and, in hindsight, this was the beginning of the erosion of his power base. His famed friendship with president Rod Butterss would be next to cool.
Thomas was still a commanding figure, but by last September the board room was no longer his domain. His strongest relationships now were with the players — especially the critical Nick Riewoldt-Luke Ball-Justin Koschitzke peer group; he worked most harmoniously with those beneath, rather than above him.
Rather than attempt to bring him to heel and weaken his grip on the football department, Butterss and company made a tactical retreat. They met a series of Thomas' requests — granting him new facilities, allowing him to take the team to China and, suspecting that it had contributed to the high hamstring toll, repaired Moorabbin's surface. They did not bring in a football executive.
After Burke quit, the board allowed Thomas to pick two new assistants in Mick McGuane and Jason Mifsud, the latter plucked from the country leagues. Within reason, he was given all that he asked for — about a million dollars' worth of improvements and extra resources.
In meeting his requests, the directors also had given Thomas sufficient rope to entangle himself. The coach was made aware that, having been granted his wish list, he would now be accountable and, after consecutive preliminary finals, the board held great expectations for 2006.
Yet if Thomas had, in effect, been put on notice a year ago, no one familiar with St Kilda's internal workings would have thought the board had the cojones to sack its second-longest-serving coach.
It's clear that Thomas, one of the game's most forceful personalities, didn't think the axe was over his head. I certainly never thought the boom would be lowered this year — like many relatively informed outsiders, my guess was that the injury alibi would keep Thommo safe for at least another season. As it happens, his 12 months' grace was 2006.
That the St Kilda board acted so decisively, before the inevitable leaks, is to its credit. The speed of the sacking suggests that the directors were mindful not only of the information getting out, but of the possibility of a player backlash. Significantly, unlike Geelong's review of Mark Thompson, player input was never sought.
As Macbeth said, if it be done, best it be done quickly. It is a courageous call, and only the years can answer whether it was the correct one. Butterss and the board would know that their decision, like the Thomas tenure, hangs on whether a flag is delivered.
Jake Niall
September 14, 2006
THE origins of Grant Thomas' demise can be traced back 12 months, to the days after the injury-ravaged Saints unexpectedly succumbed to Sydney in the final quarter of the preliminary final.
On that evening, Thomas is understood to have had terse words with his assistant and club legend Nathan Burke in the coach's box during the last quarter. Burke resigned within days, without much explanation.
At Thomas' request, the training services department was cleaned out, and the board gave Thomas carte blanche to hire new fitness staff. He chose just-departed Brisbane Lions fitness coach Craig Starcevich as the man responsible for ridding the Saints of that troublesome soft-tissue plague that might have cost them the 2005 flag.
Even then, the St Kilda board harboured reservations about whether Thomas would be able to deliver a premiership and whether he was prepared to loosen his control of nearly all aspects of the football department.
The board had sought to impose a football executive on him once before — in December 2003, when it was on the verge of hiring former Essendon football manager Matthew Drain (now with the Western Bulldogs), before a dogmatic Thomas dug in and won, retaining his joint roles as senior coach and football operations manager.
There was, however, some personal fall-out from the summer of 2003-04. Thomas' formerly close relationship with club director and former player Mark "Captain" Kellett was damaged and, in hindsight, this was the beginning of the erosion of his power base. His famed friendship with president Rod Butterss would be next to cool.
Thomas was still a commanding figure, but by last September the board room was no longer his domain. His strongest relationships now were with the players — especially the critical Nick Riewoldt-Luke Ball-Justin Koschitzke peer group; he worked most harmoniously with those beneath, rather than above him.
Rather than attempt to bring him to heel and weaken his grip on the football department, Butterss and company made a tactical retreat. They met a series of Thomas' requests — granting him new facilities, allowing him to take the team to China and, suspecting that it had contributed to the high hamstring toll, repaired Moorabbin's surface. They did not bring in a football executive.
After Burke quit, the board allowed Thomas to pick two new assistants in Mick McGuane and Jason Mifsud, the latter plucked from the country leagues. Within reason, he was given all that he asked for — about a million dollars' worth of improvements and extra resources.
In meeting his requests, the directors also had given Thomas sufficient rope to entangle himself. The coach was made aware that, having been granted his wish list, he would now be accountable and, after consecutive preliminary finals, the board held great expectations for 2006.
Yet if Thomas had, in effect, been put on notice a year ago, no one familiar with St Kilda's internal workings would have thought the board had the cojones to sack its second-longest-serving coach.
It's clear that Thomas, one of the game's most forceful personalities, didn't think the axe was over his head. I certainly never thought the boom would be lowered this year — like many relatively informed outsiders, my guess was that the injury alibi would keep Thommo safe for at least another season. As it happens, his 12 months' grace was 2006.
That the St Kilda board acted so decisively, before the inevitable leaks, is to its credit. The speed of the sacking suggests that the directors were mindful not only of the information getting out, but of the possibility of a player backlash. Significantly, unlike Geelong's review of Mark Thompson, player input was never sought.
As Macbeth said, if it be done, best it be done quickly. It is a courageous call, and only the years can answer whether it was the correct one. Butterss and the board would know that their decision, like the Thomas tenure, hangs on whether a flag is delivered.
