John Longmire

[Kildonan]

Time has come for Longmire
Carolin Wilson
September 24, 2006

Timing plays a significant role when it comes to building careers, writes Caroline Wilson.

TIMING is everything in AFL football. In 1980 Richmond won its last flag and Kevin Sheedy, the favourite son and assistant coach, put his hand up to be a senior coach. The Tigers administration from that time still asks how on earth it could have appointed Sheedy and sacked premiership coach Tony Jewell.

Sheedy went to Essendon instead and Richmond, which sacked Jewell a year later and has had 12 coaching changes during Sheedy's reign, will always wonder at what might have been.

In 2000, Wayne Brittain was the AFL's in-vogue assistant coach. He had virtually accepted the St Kilda coaching position after Tim Watson's departure but was convinced by a posse of Carlton footballers to remain and ultimately take over as senior coach.

Now St Kilda is looking for its third coach since parting with Watson, despite a list widely regarded as among the best in the AFL. Carlton sacked Brittain for Denis Pagan after two years, and for a plethora of reasons — many outside Pagan's control — is the basket case of the AFL.

On Friday night at Telstra Stadium, Nick Davis sealed Sydney's second successive grand final appearance with a beautiful goal seconds before the three-quarter-time siren. Several big names at the Swans have made it their business to rehabilitate Davis. He can be erratic and cocky with a tendency to let himself go and he loves a punt.

When Davis's world threatened to cave in, it was played out in public during Sydney's round-14 loss to Adelaide. The forward was undisciplined, struggling with his fitness and was dragged, and it was John Longmire's telephone direction that he refused to take.

Longmire is as fashionable today as Brittain was six years ago but there is plenty of evidence to suggest his likely rise will not end in tears. He has refused to discuss Davis' snub and had no issue with it, anyway.

But you only had to watch the performance of what is clearly the best forward line remaining in the finals race to understand why Longmire was looked at by Geelong as a potential replacement for Mark Thompson and why St Kilda will not start to make a call on its next coach until after the grand final.

Mick Malthouse only conditionally threw his support behind assistant Guy McKenna last week as a future senior coach. McKenna has spoken with the Saints' chief executive Archie Fraser, submitted to the club's psychological tests and has withdrawn from Collingwood trade and list-management talks.

Adelaide also is unsure as to whether the highly recommended Don Pyke is ready to take the next step, and Pyke publicly ruled himself out of contention for the Saints job. West Coast believes Peter Sumich is further advanced than McKenna but no club speaks as highly of its support individuals as the Swans do of Longmire.

His supporters are many. Longmire played a key role in the 1998 Andrew Demetriou takeover of the AFL Players Association, which led to the collective bargaining agreement and improved benefits and conditions for footballers.

Said Demetriou of his former teammate: "I had the pleasure of meeting John when he was 16. His first assignment after coming down to North was our trip to London and the famous bloodbath game. That was a wake-up call for him, I can tell you.

"He was an architect of the reformed AFL Players Association, he is a deep thinker and above all has always impressed me as being a thoroughly decent person. He has a really terrific engaging personality, he can be tough but he is honorable and above all decent.

"He has had a terrific grounding as an assistant coach — just the right length of time. To his credit he was a favourite for the Hawthorn job but he realised he wasn't quite ready back then. I have no doubt he has all the right credentials to coach and I believe he wants to."

Sydney also believes that Longmire is ready. St Kilda certainly has him high on its list. The good news for St Kilda is that the club is now a far more attractive place than it was when Malcolm Blight had to be convinced to take the job in 2000.

Only Luke Ball, of the high-profile players at Moorabbin, remains out-of-contract and this year's skipper would appear to be not far from a new three-year deal.

But the Saints were a club divided, with the board and the football department at odds, and the fitness staff separate from Grant Thomas and his team.

Whether or not the new St Kilda coach will be Longmire, the next coach has a massive task ahead of him in unifying the threads.

Longmire has coached the Sydney reserves in most of their games this season. He was a Kangaroo for 12 years, a 200-gamer, a Coleman Medallist and a member of the 1999 premiership team. He has worked in sports management for IMG and also in the media.

The Sydney forward structure is terrifying in its diversity, and Longmire is one of its chief architects. He has helped to resurrect Davis, made Hall clearly a better player at 29 than he was when he came to Sydney at 25 and turned Ryan O'Keefe, who scraped on to the Swans' list, into an All-Australian half-forward.

Whether Longmire can become a successful senior coach is a matter for the future. That his time has come for a chance at the big time is beyond dispute.

 

[skipper kelly]

Re: John Longmuir

Good read. I hope he stays in Sydney.


ps. change the title.

 

[Oh When the Saints]

Re: John Longmuir

It's LONG-M-I-R-E

Not Longmuir.

OK already - I've fixed it !!!

 

[Kildonan]

Re: John Longmuir

I would value your input, Skipper.

I understand that if Longmire is selected, that would be to Sydney's detriment, but if he is as good and ready as is being touted, then it is inevitable that he leaves to coach another club. It might as well be us. I can't imagine that there would be a better setup for a first year coach than at St Kilda at the moment.

The club is restructuring the whole football department to achieve at least an equivalency with the highest standards of the best run clubs.
One of the reasons that they sacked Thomas was that he had control of too much (in the eyes of the board). His departure leaves an expertise vacuum in several critical areas. These areas are being given personnel and structure so that the same thing wont happen again. What it means though, for a new coach is that his role will be very well defined and documented and there will be no grey areas. He will be the coach and he will sit on these committees full stop.

 

[SpInNeR]

...above all he seems like a great bloke.

 

[garth p]

I think you are right.

 

[Kildonan]

Longmire apparently has had success already, the Sydney reserves team has won the Grand Final over Belconnen in the ACT league.

 

[garth p]

Longmire apparently has had success already, the Sydney reserves team has won the Grand Final over Belconnan in the ACT league.

Belconnen.

 

[Kildonan]

So what are the attributes that Longmire brings to Sydney?
How much of a contribution has he had toward their success?

Longmire has coached the Sydney reserves in most of their games this season.
They were just successful in the Grand Final.

According to Caro: "The Sydney forward structure is terrifying in its diversity, and Longmire is one of its chief architects. He has helped to resurrect Davis, made Hall clearly a better player at 29 than he was when he came to Sydney at 25 and turned Ryan O'Keefe, who scraped on to the Swans' list, into an All-Australian half-forward".

But Sydney are not known for their devastating forward line, more for their strangling style of play. They don't outscore their opponents, they prevent opponents from outscoring them.

Sydney tends to flood and slow down play. The number of stoppages in a Sydney match can make it boring. Sydney is not out there to entertain - they're out there to win. Their team is talented enough to win without employing boring, negative tactics, but the boring, negative tactics is a consequence of their disciplined approach to playing football.

I liked the style of play that Grant Thomas had St Kilda playing.
The fast paced, free flowing exciting style of play.

St Kilda got worked out though. Our forward line, for one reason or another became one dimensional and opposition teams were able to negate it's effectiveness. Longmire might be able to address that.

The discipline that Roos brought to the Sydney team is their strength. It makes them more consistent. They are one of the hardest working teams when the opposition have the ball, and they are one of the most patient teams, retaining possession until an opportunity arises in the forward line when they have the ball. The style leads to low scoring matches, but it also leads to success.

I don't want to adopt the Roos style game.
I want to have the exciting game style.
In 2004 when we won the preseason comp and the next ten in a row, we showed that the exciting style can also bring consistency.

Will Longmire bring the disciplined Roos game style to St Kilda or will he adapt to the available resources (players) and develop our exciting style in his own manner.

 

[giantroo]

So what are the attributes that Longmire brings to Sydney?
How much of a contribution has he had toward their success?

Longmire has coached the Sydney reserves in most of their games this season.
They were just successful in the Grand Final.

The reasons why sydney ahs done well is because of Longmire. His changed their whole forward line structure around. With longmire at your team as a coach you dont need another forward coach. He can do it him self. He was a FF in his hay days.

According to Caro: "The Sydney forward structure is terrifying in its diversity, and Longmire is one of its chief architects. He has helped to resurrect Davis, made Hall clearly a better player at 29 than he was when he came to Sydney at 25 and turned Ryan O'Keefe, who scraped on to the Swans' list, into an All-Australian half-forward".

Longmire is the man whos changed the whole side around.

St Kilda got worked out though. Our forward line, for one reason or another became one dimensional and opposition teams were able to negate it's effectiveness. Longmire might be able to address that.

Thats true. He can

Will Longmire bring the disciplined Roos game style to St Kilda or will he adapt to the available resources (players) and develop our exciting style in his own manner.

He will just continue the gameplan but he will be able to structure the forward line much better.

 

[Cudaman]

I agree with St.Kildonan - what will the new coach bring?

Coaching seems a little bit of a lottery - The 2 present coaching gurus have said recently - Craig, after having lost 2 preliminary finals in a row says soft tissue injuries have been a problem - and Roos recently said once the siren goes it's more about putting your head over the ball and getting it - and will take joint captains into his second Grand Final!

So we leave the devil we do know to the devil we don't.

Longmire seems to be flavour of the month, but will his coaching style suit the squad we have?

His credentials are pretty good ..."Longmire has coached the Sydney reserves in most of their games this season. He was a Kangaroo for 12 years, a 200-gamer, a Coleman Medallist and a member of the 1999 premiership team. He has worked in sports management for IMG and also in the media"

But I just wish for once we didn't have to experiment - and we could have the most experienced, dedicated , and best qualified person - at least let us not take the media coach as in Jeasalenko, only made better by Watson, only made better by Blight....!

 

[Ausgard]

Just out of Interest ...

Who was the last Coach for St Kilda that came through the Assistent Coach route rather than the other routes ?

I mean who are the top coaches as of today ?

Craig, Worsfold, Roos I would have thought

they have done the same thing that Longmire has done. (done the assistent coach thing)

I also noted that StKildadon wanted a free flowing exciting risk taking brand of football yet you all want an experienced "done it all before" "no risk" coach.

All Dynasties have to start somewhere so perhaps the first risk you should take would be with the coach

 

[Kildonan]

"...so perhaps the first risk you should take would be with the coach."

So Grant Thomas wasn't risky enough for you?

This era of (relative) success may well see a dynasty develop.
A dynasty like the successful era Hawthorn had, where numerous players schooled under the best coach of the era and many went on to coach at the highest level. With regard to on field performance, only the sixties and seventies era in St Kilda's history surpasses this current era. Such is the poverty of our success. We have had a few good coaches, but sustained success has evaded us in the past.

We need to grasp this opportunity while we are able to.

The club's administration has realised the need to improve, in order to keep pace with the interstate clubs. If the coach they eventually choose comes from our current group of assistants, then he is the one they believe can take us to the top. I don't think the club believes that one of our current assistants is the man for the job. We are aiming to get the absolute best available. Maybe then the natural progression of assistants will begin to occur. Even so, most will likely end up coaching at other clubs.

 

[Zondor]

I don't want to adopt the Roos style game.
I want to have the exciting game style.
In 2004 when we won the preseason comp and the next ten in a row, we showed that the exciting style can also bring consistency.

Will Longmire bring the disciplined Roos game style to St Kilda or will he adapt to the available resources (players) and develop our exciting style in his own manner.

Yes, I am too of the school that believes that being proactive and defeating your opposition with skill and flare far outweighs trying to negate your opposition to win matches.

Remember Longmire played under Pagan and one would hope that Longmire would have the sense to realise that if he coached a club like StKilda that he would have them play to their strengths. Gehrig and St Nick.

Gee had Hamil and Kosi been right and provided that extra dimension to the StKilda forward line this year, Thomas might still have a job. Such is life. Will these 2 be right next year? If Longmire takes over with all 4 of the above mentioned players up and firing I don't your forward will look 1 dimensional any more and I feel confident that the game plan would revolve around getting the ball quickly to these guys.

As for Longmire the person. Well he is intelligent and speaks well and thus will be able to commutate his message and planning to the players.

FWIW I hope you don't appoint Longmire cause I'm certain our club will by the end of next season.

 

[Kildonan]

Thanks Zondor for your input.

"... being proactive and defeating your opposition with skill and flair far outweighs trying to negate your opposition to win matches."

Yes. That and the entertainment value of that style of play.

The possession approach is a cancer on our game.
It has been adopted because it is successful.
It may be successful to some degree, but it definitely is not beautiful.

Many coaches have tried to beat the flood but no-one has consistently been successful. Eventually even Grant Thomas had to concede that in order to beat the possession game, we had to use it ourselves.

From Sydney's perspective (the most guilty of all clubs for this cancer), surely as other clubs tried to combat their game, there were tactics that were in part or wholy successful. These pieces of knowledge would be valuable.

P.S. I understand your reluctance for us to get JL if you think he will wait until next year for a possible appointment at the Roos, but look at it from his point of view.

 

[Tas]

I think what is important is from a coaching aspect is to see a variety of different styles.

As a player he was coached by Blight briefly I believe, a few years under Schimmer and for the bulk of his playing days under Pagan. He has been an assistant at Sydney under Roos, not sure if he was there under Eade.

He seem to have a very good technical mind, understand how the game plays, how it flows and changes. The ability to read the play is a vital aspect of coaching and I think that will be a strength. I think GT was slow to react to the ebb and flow of games.

One of the negatives is that he is bound to adopt parts of what he has learnt at Sydney, the good news is that he will work on the defensive side of the Saints, you will probably see a harder tackling, more accountable side which rebounds a lot more out of defense than it currently does but on the negative side I think you will lose a bit of that flare the side currently has... possibly.

The question is will he see parallels between the Saints who failed to get the most out of a strong list of players and the North side back when Schimmer was given the arse. If he adopts some of the Pagan-like plan he will open the forward line up, give Reiwoldt and Gehrig a lot of room to move in and he will probably have the flanks push into the middle of the ground. St Kilda often flooded their own foward line under GT more than the opposition did with too many fringe players crowding the space the big key forwards should be leading into.

I think he would have a lot to offer, I dont know if he will make a good coach or not but he seems to have valuable experience as both a player and as an assistant and seems to be very well regarded by the players and the Paul Roos.

Mind you, Malthouse had a lot of praise for Laidley so I am sure there is a lot of bias involved.

Of the other candidates I think Mark Harvey would be someone worth looking at, a few of the eagle boys currently holding assistant jobs might also be worth looking at.

 

[Fehring]

One of the negatives is that he is bound to adopt parts of what he has learnt at Sydney, the good news is that he will work on the defensive side of the Saints, you will probably see a harder tackling, more accountable side which rebounds a lot more out of defense than it currently does but on the negative side I think you will lose a bit of that flare the side currently has... possibly.

The Saints were actually very negative this year. We may not have employed an uber-flood, but we emphasised tackling and accountability and had our best wins that way. We rarely opened it up and played 2004-style. This was part of Thomas getting us to play footy that wins finals (in reality it sort of worked - we absolutely smashed Melbourne, but then we ran out of players and I had to spend the next week reading about the "brave Dees" - talk about choke on your weeties).

 

[Kildonan]

Hall talks-up Longmire
27 September 2006
Paul Gough in Sydney
Sportal for afl.com.au

John Longmire's credentials as a senior coach in waiting continue to grow with Sydney's Barry Hall describing the 1990 Coleman Medalist as the biggest influence on his career.

Hall said if Longmire, the favourite to be appointed the new senior coach at St Kilda, were to leave the Swans next year it would be a "massive loss" for the club.

"But I also understand that John wants to make a career out of it (coaching) and he would be really good at it, but it would be a big hole for us to fill," Hall said here on Wednesday as the Swans continued preparations for Saturday's Grand Final re-match against West Coast.

Hall has played the best football of his career since Longmire was appointed as the Swans' chief assistant coach and forward coach by Paul Roos once Roos took over as senior coach from Rodney Eade in the second half of the 2002 season.

And Hall admitted Longmire's affect on him since becoming the Swans' forward coach has been massive.

"He has had the most influence on me on the footy side of my career, definitely," Hall said.

"He is always finding me ways to improve and showing vision of where I can do better and what I am doing well, so he certainly keeps me on my toes."

"Sometimes it is easy to get in a rhythm and a routine, but he changes it up a fair bit, which is great."

"John has been great not only for me but for the Sydney Football Club and he has guided me along here really well."

Longmire is expected to be interviewed for the St Kilda coaching position left vacant by the shock sacking earlier this month by Grant Thomas, as early as next week once the Swans' playing commitments for this season are over.

 

[Kildonan]

Longmire all class in likely swan song
Jenny McAsey
September 28, 2006

IT could be John Longmire's last week as an assistant coach at the Swans. But if Longmire is the leader-in-waiting for St Kilda, that is not stopping him from doing all the little things to help Sydney get over the line in Saturday's grand final.
Longmire left home early yesterday to be at the club's Moore Park headquarters before 8am. The all-important final match committee meeting of the year was scheduled for later, but Longmire wanted to squeeze in some extra touch work with ruckman Darren Jolly before he takes on West Coast's Dean Cox.

Despite being touted as a frontrunner for the Saints' vacant job, Longmire, who on Tuesday was named assistant coach of the year by the AFL coaches association, has refused to discuss his future until the Swans' season is over.

No-one at the club would expect anything less from the man they call 'Horse'. At 35, he is fit and strong, his build more draught horse than thoroughbred and he has a no-nonsense manner and solid work ethic to match.

Ask the players he guides in his role as Sydney's forwards coach, such as All-Australian Barry Hall, and they say Longmire never stops working to help them improve and find an edge.

Longmire, who kicked 511 goals in a 200-game career with the Kangaroos, has been at the Swans since 2002 after retiring in 1999 with a premiership medallion around his neck. In five seasons with Sydney, he has taken the considerable but varied talents of Hall, Michael O'Loughlin, Ryan O'Keefe, Adam Schneider and Nick Davis, and crafted them into the competition's most dangerous and disciplined forward line.

In this year's finals series, the teamwork and fluent movement of Hall, O'Loughlin and O'Keefe has been sublime and stretched the opposition's defence to breaking point.

Hall has kicked 11 goals in the two finals against West Coast and Fremantle, while O'Loughlin has contributed eight and O'Keefe four, and each has praised Longmire for sharpening their communication and structure.

When Hall runs on to the MCG to take on All-Australian full-back Darren Glass on Saturday, Longmire's words of wisdom will be ringing in his ears.

"John has been great for not only the Sydney Football Club, but my career, he has guided me along really well," Hall said yesterday.

He believes Longmire has been his greatest influence. Under the Swans' coaching system, Longmire is directly responsible for Hall's performance and they speak almost daily.

"He is always finding ways for me to improve, showing me vision, what I could do better and what I am doing well. He certainly keeps me on my toes because sometimes you do get relaxed and you get in a rhythm and a routine and he changes it up a fair bit which is great."

When Hall came to the club as a wild, aggro forward from St Kilda in late 2001, he had a single-minded ambition - to kick one goal a quarter, four goals a game. Where Hall came from, that was the job description.

But Longmire, who won the Coleman Medal with 98 goals in 1990, had other ideas and set about re-educating Hall. Having played alongside Kangaroos champion Wayne Carey, Longmire believed a forward's first aim should be to chase, tackle and apply forward pressure.

From relentless defensive work, goals would follow, and even if they didn't, Hall would be making a contest and a contribution, bringing others into the game.

Hall took it on board with gusto and has been transformed into a team-orientated superstar. When he ran out to play West Coast at Subiaco Oval three weeks ago, Hall's aim was not goals but to "chase with intent", and that will be his focus again on Saturday.

"That's what we drum into every forward, things will happen off that pressure - that's your starting point," Hall said, echoing Longmire's ethos.

Schneider has also given Longmire a glowing endorsement. "He gets on with the players very well and you have no worries approaching him with an idea because he listens," Schneider said.

Hall would be sorry to see Longmire go, but believes he is ready for a senior coaching role. "It'd be a huge loss for the club but we also understand that John might want to make a career out of it, which I reckon he'd be really good at, but it would be a big hole for us to fill," he said.

 

[evertonfc]

The best of a bad bunch.

I hope we take him.

 

[Dingster]

Just a couple of points to add on top of what has already been mentioned. Horse was a strong leader in his playing days and had a high standing amongst the playing group, so he's always that leadership attributes. On the concern side, he comes across as a great bloke. Can he take the next step of being the head coach which requires different communication roles? I think he can, but it remains to be seen.

As for the game plan, I think that with any former assistant coach, the proof of the pudding will be in the tasting. They all take the style of what they've been used to and add their own recipe for "improvement." Personally, I didn't rate GT as a match day coach, so Horse might be a pleasant surprise for Saints fans.

 

[Ausgard]

So Grant Thomas wasn't risky enough for you?

to be honest it was in house so therefore they knew exactly what they were getting. It made it look like a "Jobs for the Boys" decision rather than one done on merit.

I recall Grant Thomas stating that if a better coach came along he would step aside and yet the very next year Denis Pagan came on the market. Now Denis may be a crap coach of a developing list but he was damn good when his team was a powerhouse.

St Kilda not even investigating Denis was seen very poorly in the eyes of the rest of the AFL community

This era of (relative) success may well see a dynasty develop.
A dynasty like the successful era Hawthorn had, where numerous players schooled under the best coach of the era and many went on to coach at the highest level. With regard to on field performance, only the sixties and seventies era in St Kilda's history surpasses this current era. Such is the poverty of our success. We have had a few good coaches, but sustained success has evaded us in the past.

We need to grasp this opportunity while we are able to.

The club's administration has realised the need to improve, in order to keep pace with the interstate clubs. If the coach they eventually choose comes from our current group of assistants, then he is the one they believe can take us to the top. I don't think the club believes that one of our current assistants is the man for the job. We are aiming to get the absolute best available. Maybe then the natural progression of assistants will begin to occur. Even so, most will likely end up coaching at other clubs.

Time will tell. I am hoping that St Kilda will actually get there act together if only to provide SOME Victorian input of note into the AFL finals.

 

[skipper kelly]

Re: John Longmuir

I would value your input, Skipper.

I understand that if Longmire is selected, that would be to Sydney's detriment, but if he is as good and ready as is being touted, then it is inevitable that he leaves to coach another club. It might as well be us. I can't imagine that there would be a better setup for a first year coach than at St Kilda at the moment.

The club is restructuring the whole football department to achieve at least an equivalency with the highest standards of the best run clubs.
One of the reasons that they sacked Thomas was that he had control of too much (in the eyes of the board). His departure leaves an expertise vacuum in several critical areas. These areas are being given personnel and structure so that the same thing wont happen again. What it means though, for a new coach is that his role will be very well defined and documented and there will be no grey areas. He will be the coach and he will sit on these committees full stop.

Sorry I missed this earlier.

Honestly I dont know that much about Longmire the coach, but you only ever hear positive comments. He seems to fit the role though. Premiership player, apprenticeship at a premiership club.