Coaching Staff Mark "Bomber" Thompson - Will present the Jock McHale Medal for 2023 - 4/9
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What a great presser. Every Bomber fan should watch this.
bombermick
Norm Smith Medallist
I love how calm Bomber is and we've got someone who is in the top two coaches in the comp. But, I doubt he'd have the fire in the belly to this extent if he knew he was coaching for the long term.
The bloke hates loosing only knows how to win.
A good write-up on Bomber in todays Age.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/bomber-thompson-and-the-mark-of-history-20140405-zqqtb.html
Bomber Thompson and the mark of history
Bomber Thompson looks like he hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep since he stopped playing. His Tolkienian face is seared with lines. He blinks, fidgets, talks in fits and spurts, goes off on tangents and is prone to the occasional mid-sentence whoop or whistle. Sometimes, he resembles a morose basset hound. Sometimes, he cuts a figure of the utmost self-assurance “Hmmm” or “Yeah” is how he punctuates his sentences.
Bomber didn’t really want this job. At times, he has seemingly teetered on the edge of a total breakdown. But he appears to be enjoying himself again. Against all odds, he and his tainted team are making footy fun again.
You wouldn’t have picked it late last season. OnFooty Classified, he turned in one of the more extraordinary TV performances. Exasperated, dog tired, thinking aloud and at various stages looking as though he might throw a Molotov cocktail into the entire situation, he managed to check himself and save his career. “Should be good TV,” he said half under his breath, as they cut to a break.
It sure was. And so is he. As a footballer, Bomber was as unobtrusive as they come. As a coach, however, he has always been a different cat. Driving along the Geelong highway, he would get random club members on the speaker-phone. “How’ya going mate?” he would ask. “Howd’ya reckon we’re tracking?” He would scoff salad sandwiches in the coach’s box. He would sit twirling a pencil, his chin in his hand, pondering heaven knows what. Sometimes, he seemed on the verge of nodding off.
Before he’d really proven himself as a coach, the game was blighted by flooding and tanking. Clubs were drafting athletes and lurkers who had no idea what they were doing. Thompson preferred pure footballers. But they needed time and patience, two things that were at a premium in the modern game. He was bagged mercilessly. On radio, Sam Newman called for his head every week. By the end of 2006, he looked finished. “I would move him on,” said Garry Lyon on Triple M. “In the end, sometimes your time is up. The ability to get through to your players isn’t there any more.”
The following year, with his team still sending its supporters spare, he strolled around the Etihad Stadium boundary line sporting a knowing grin. The Geelong faithful looked on sourly. That day, he unleashed his players and in many ways helped change the game. His side vivisected Richmond in as close to a flawless performance as a football team can manage. At quarter-time, the Cats fans gave him a standing ovation. They barely lost a game for the next three years.
Thompson wasn’t the perfect coach. He didn’t always have a Plan B. But when he was playing with a full deck, he was hard to top. For Geelong or St Kilda fans, the 2009 grand final was impossible to watch in anything other than a fractious state. It was positively slimming. But Thompson’s head was the coolest on that freezing September day. He was flanked by a crack team of assistants but he coached out of his skin. “To be totally honest, today I found it really easy,” he said at the press conference. “I just felt we were going to win ... there you go.”
David Parkin once said that coaching attracts “aggressive, dominant, autocratic pricks”. But AFL coaches are a different kettle of fish these days. The younger brigade are short-back-and-sided, meticulous and collaborative. They process information, present impressively in front of the camera and articulate well. They meditate, mediate and delegate. Many look fitter than their players.
Then there’s Bomber. If he turned up to the standard AFL job interview - with the PowerPoint presentations, personality profiles and 5-year plans - chances are he would be ushered out by men in white lab coats. He doesn’t bother much with euphemisms, doesn’t humiliate rookie reporters, doesn’t mix military metaphors, doesn’t deflect blame.
“I know the system. I know how to coach ... hmmm,” he said at Essendon’s AGM last year. Whether you’re a fan or player, that’s all you really want to hear from your coach. His teams are predictable to one another and to the supporter base. When it comes to developing players and cultivating an aesthetically pleasing, free-wheeling style of play, there are few better. He makes football fun. And he wins.
In some ways, he reminds you of those geezers coaching EPL and Championship teams - a little bit batty, occasionally all over the shop, but shrewd as a restroom rodent. Of course, there’s a lot of Kevin Sheedy in him as well. There was always something a little bit unknowable about those great Essendon teams of the mid-1980s, as there would be with the Eagles a decade later. Their players rarely gave interviews. They came with a hint of menace. They were farmers from the bush and tradies from the suburbs. They were Sheedy men. And Thompson certainly fits the mould - titanium tough, mad as a cut snake and something of a walking contradiction.
These days, we analyse football, break it down, tear it asunder and do our best to drain it of all its colour. TV reporters interrupt normal programming with a solemnity usually afforded to Sub-Saharan famines. It takes a man like Thompson, lolling back in the coach’s box like the birthday boy at a Gold Class cinema, to realise how simple the caper can be.
With more and more people disenfranchised by the game, Thompson is the ideal tonic. He has seen and done it all. He has nothing to prove and nothing to lose. An increasingly intriguing individual, he is in serious danger of becoming a cult figure. He may end up becoming the football story of 2014. He has the smell of history about him.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/bomber-thompson-and-the-mark-of-history-20140405-zqqtb.html
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/bomber-thompson-and-the-mark-of-history-20140405-zqqtb.html
Bomber Thompson and the mark of history
Bomber Thompson looks like he hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep since he stopped playing. His Tolkienian face is seared with lines. He blinks, fidgets, talks in fits and spurts, goes off on tangents and is prone to the occasional mid-sentence whoop or whistle. Sometimes, he resembles a morose basset hound. Sometimes, he cuts a figure of the utmost self-assurance “Hmmm” or “Yeah” is how he punctuates his sentences.
Bomber didn’t really want this job. At times, he has seemingly teetered on the edge of a total breakdown. But he appears to be enjoying himself again. Against all odds, he and his tainted team are making footy fun again.
You wouldn’t have picked it late last season. OnFooty Classified, he turned in one of the more extraordinary TV performances. Exasperated, dog tired, thinking aloud and at various stages looking as though he might throw a Molotov cocktail into the entire situation, he managed to check himself and save his career. “Should be good TV,” he said half under his breath, as they cut to a break.
It sure was. And so is he. As a footballer, Bomber was as unobtrusive as they come. As a coach, however, he has always been a different cat. Driving along the Geelong highway, he would get random club members on the speaker-phone. “How’ya going mate?” he would ask. “Howd’ya reckon we’re tracking?” He would scoff salad sandwiches in the coach’s box. He would sit twirling a pencil, his chin in his hand, pondering heaven knows what. Sometimes, he seemed on the verge of nodding off.
Before he’d really proven himself as a coach, the game was blighted by flooding and tanking. Clubs were drafting athletes and lurkers who had no idea what they were doing. Thompson preferred pure footballers. But they needed time and patience, two things that were at a premium in the modern game. He was bagged mercilessly. On radio, Sam Newman called for his head every week. By the end of 2006, he looked finished. “I would move him on,” said Garry Lyon on Triple M. “In the end, sometimes your time is up. The ability to get through to your players isn’t there any more.”
The following year, with his team still sending its supporters spare, he strolled around the Etihad Stadium boundary line sporting a knowing grin. The Geelong faithful looked on sourly. That day, he unleashed his players and in many ways helped change the game. His side vivisected Richmond in as close to a flawless performance as a football team can manage. At quarter-time, the Cats fans gave him a standing ovation. They barely lost a game for the next three years.
Thompson wasn’t the perfect coach. He didn’t always have a Plan B. But when he was playing with a full deck, he was hard to top. For Geelong or St Kilda fans, the 2009 grand final was impossible to watch in anything other than a fractious state. It was positively slimming. But Thompson’s head was the coolest on that freezing September day. He was flanked by a crack team of assistants but he coached out of his skin. “To be totally honest, today I found it really easy,” he said at the press conference. “I just felt we were going to win ... there you go.”
David Parkin once said that coaching attracts “aggressive, dominant, autocratic pricks”. But AFL coaches are a different kettle of fish these days. The younger brigade are short-back-and-sided, meticulous and collaborative. They process information, present impressively in front of the camera and articulate well. They meditate, mediate and delegate. Many look fitter than their players.
Then there’s Bomber. If he turned up to the standard AFL job interview - with the PowerPoint presentations, personality profiles and 5-year plans - chances are he would be ushered out by men in white lab coats. He doesn’t bother much with euphemisms, doesn’t humiliate rookie reporters, doesn’t mix military metaphors, doesn’t deflect blame.
“I know the system. I know how to coach ... hmmm,” he said at Essendon’s AGM last year. Whether you’re a fan or player, that’s all you really want to hear from your coach. His teams are predictable to one another and to the supporter base. When it comes to developing players and cultivating an aesthetically pleasing, free-wheeling style of play, there are few better. He makes football fun. And he wins.
In some ways, he reminds you of those geezers coaching EPL and Championship teams - a little bit batty, occasionally all over the shop, but shrewd as a restroom rodent. Of course, there’s a lot of Kevin Sheedy in him as well. There was always something a little bit unknowable about those great Essendon teams of the mid-1980s, as there would be with the Eagles a decade later. Their players rarely gave interviews. They came with a hint of menace. They were farmers from the bush and tradies from the suburbs. They were Sheedy men. And Thompson certainly fits the mould - titanium tough, mad as a cut snake and something of a walking contradiction.
These days, we analyse football, break it down, tear it asunder and do our best to drain it of all its colour. TV reporters interrupt normal programming with a solemnity usually afforded to Sub-Saharan famines. It takes a man like Thompson, lolling back in the coach’s box like the birthday boy at a Gold Class cinema, to realise how simple the caper can be.
With more and more people disenfranchised by the game, Thompson is the ideal tonic. He has seen and done it all. He has nothing to prove and nothing to lose. An increasingly intriguing individual, he is in serious danger of becoming a cult figure. He may end up becoming the football story of 2014. He has the smell of history about him.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/bomber-thompson-and-the-mark-of-history-20140405-zqqtb.html
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Not really. He has said that he may coach elsewhere in the future. It's not like he can say "I want the job full time" in public because that would be putting the club in an awkward situation, even if he really does want it.
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I think Bomber is enjoying his time back in the box, I also think he is the right man for the job this year.. and what a bonus that we had this man 'waiting' in the wings.. no doubt formed part of the thinking when the club pushed Hird to accept the penalties..
Having said that, Hird will be back next year and he will be our senior coach. I sincerely hope that Bomber stays on in the mentoring role.. and that he wins a premiership this year.. would be just perfect.
From what little I know of Thompson (mainly from his Geelong days).. he was enjoying the mentoring role and seems quite happy to go back to it still..
Having said that, Hird will be back next year and he will be our senior coach. I sincerely hope that Bomber stays on in the mentoring role.. and that he wins a premiership this year.. would be just perfect.
From what little I know of Thompson (mainly from his Geelong days).. he was enjoying the mentoring role and seems quite happy to go back to it still..
- Banned
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hird will be a good coach, he was a smart footballer, captain, and a smart businessman out side of football.(excluding the supplements saga)I think Hird is going to be a very good coach.
Oh and it is easy to forget in the hysteria.. but we were a pretty good footy team last year too...
In fact Hird had a better winning record after two rounds last year than Bomba does this year... just saying
I have no doubt that Hird can coach and as Bomba himself said "this is Hird's team".. the tweaks being made this year.. were always in the plan and it is a plan that I think both Hird and Thompson worked on together.
Maybe if Hird was coaching we wouldn't have lost.. I seem to recall a couple of close ones last year that we were on the other side of the coin....
the immediate difference between bomber & hird coaching is experience, and that is something you cannot buy. bomber did a coaching apprenticeship at north Melbourne and coached geelong for 8 or 9 years, where as hirds first coaching job is leading essendon. hird will become a good coach but it will take time. so far he has started building a young talented list with kids who can play.
my ideal would be for thompson to lead essendon for 2015 with hird as an assistant so he is given a bit of time in the coaching box watching thompson at work, then hird takes the lead again for 2016 on wards with Thompson on as an assistant
The Prosecutor
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******* LOL, even the "hmm" gets quoted now.
I just want him to coach out the year and we can decide and worry about what happens next year in October.
TheGreatBarryB
Hall of Famer
It would be pretty tough decision if we make the GF. Less disruptive if we keep Bomber on. Hopefully both will still be at club next year. To me there are signs that Bomber would like to stay on, and I think as we get more into the season the more he's going to want it.
Strategically everything Hird did would have been consulted with Bomber and vice versa this year. I mean people mention Hurley back and Carlisle forward but that's no huge surprise, Hird probably would have gone the same way. We were taking on parts of Geelong game even under hird with Bomber's influence no doubt.
Strategically everything Hird did would have been consulted with Bomber and vice versa this year. I mean people mention Hurley back and Carlisle forward but that's no huge surprise, Hird probably would have gone the same way. We were taking on parts of Geelong game even under hird with Bomber's influence no doubt.
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Agree GreatBarry.. I think this plan was developed from the start and we are seeing the results now.
Thompson will take us to the GF this year.. and I have no doubt that both men will be at the club to celebrate #17!!!
Thompson will take us to the GF this year.. and I have no doubt that both men will be at the club to celebrate #17!!!
dubber
Anvil's death stare
I watched Bomber on 360 a few nights ago and as always he was full of insight. He was saying that he is doing things normally a coach wouldn't do, such as playing so many kids etc etc. Chappy also came out to say that all the players for bomber the way he wants them to.
Having been in a similar situation with Malthouse/Buckely hand over I know full well how easily the supporters can turn if things are not going well. I think it will be very interesting to see how it all unfolds when Hird returns.
Having been in a similar situation with Malthouse/Buckely hand over I know full well how easily the supporters can turn if things are not going well. I think it will be very interesting to see how it all unfolds when Hird returns.
As well as the 'there you go'.
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It depends entirely on what actually happens, if anything, in Sept.
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Why would he leave when Hird returns?
I dont think their is any ill feelings between the 2 and both can certainly operate with each other and smooth over any issues.
Surely he just goes back to his old role when Hird returns and acts as almost a 2nd coach.
I wouldnt mind seeing him trying to be the next coach of Melbourne but im not sure hed put his impressive track record at such risk. Maybe his old role at Melbourne before taking over. If i was Melbourne hed be the first one id be throwing a fair bit at.
I just dont see the reason why he has to move on after this year? is ti a media driven thing or something our fans think will genuinely happen.
I dont think their is any ill feelings between the 2 and both can certainly operate with each other and smooth over any issues.
Surely he just goes back to his old role when Hird returns and acts as almost a 2nd coach.
I wouldnt mind seeing him trying to be the next coach of Melbourne but im not sure hed put his impressive track record at such risk. Maybe his old role at Melbourne before taking over. If i was Melbourne hed be the first one id be throwing a fair bit at.
I just dont see the reason why he has to move on after this year? is ti a media driven thing or something our fans think will genuinely happen.
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I think the fire under his backside has been well and truly lit again.
We're playing the best footy we've played in a long, long time. I don't want him to leave. If we, say, made a preliminary final and he was still raring to go, why risk that?
We're playing the best footy we've played in a long, long time. I don't want him to leave. If we, say, made a preliminary final and he was still raring to go, why risk that?
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All I know is that judging by Caro's jocular "Isn't Bomber tho wacky and fun?!" routine last night is that the AFL very much want him to be a senior coach next year by hook or by crook.
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I reckon thats almost planned, sore or not. I dont think many other states will get to see Fletcher playing this year. If Mayne doesnt play they could simply just have a ruck/forward and Pavlich as main forwards as they dont really have anything else like Mayne - Sylvia will be closest thing. So a Hurley, Hooker combo will do just fine if Pears is injured?
dubber
Anvil's death stare
Same questions were being asked by us during the succession plan. The thing is you can see how much Bomber is enjoying his new role, he still seems to have the fire in the belly to be the senior coach.
I suppose the question is that if Essendon go deep into finals this year with him in charge but struggle next year with Hird what would the Board do?
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Transparent as glass at times aren't they? Just not when you want or need them to be.
There is no way I would choose Hird over Bomber IF there was a choice. Why anyone would give up a two time premiership coach for an unproven coach is beyond me.
All emotions aside, this is the reality. If he says that he doesn't want to coach at the end of the year, that's fine. Hope he stays as a senior assistant. But to let him slip from our fingers to another club is going to annoy me a lot. If at the end of the year, Bomber puts his hand up and says that he is available, I would want Hird to move down to an assistant role with Bomber given the spot.
I'm not saying that I don't want Hird to coach, but Bomber has more experience than Hird. It's a no-brainer.
Regardless of what happens, I want Bomber at Essendon next year, even if it means that Hird becomes an assistant for a couple of years. I reckon that if we want a premiership, then Bomber is the way to go.
Plus we are playing awesome
All emotions aside, this is the reality. If he says that he doesn't want to coach at the end of the year, that's fine. Hope he stays as a senior assistant. But to let him slip from our fingers to another club is going to annoy me a lot. If at the end of the year, Bomber puts his hand up and says that he is available, I would want Hird to move down to an assistant role with Bomber given the spot.
I'm not saying that I don't want Hird to coach, but Bomber has more experience than Hird. It's a no-brainer.
Regardless of what happens, I want Bomber at Essendon next year, even if it means that Hird becomes an assistant for a couple of years. I reckon that if we want a premiership, then Bomber is the way to go.
Plus we are playing awesome
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Personally, I would prefer Bomber. But I want whoever the players want to play for, without any distractions of a power struggle. The players need to be motivated by their coach to get us to 17. It may be that they are equally inspired by both men, which should be regarded as a good problem to have.
I'm enjoying footy more than I thought I'd be able to so soon, and Bomber is one of the catalysts. I'm going to enjoy the season with his leadership, and then we'll see what happens.
I'm enjoying footy more than I thought I'd be able to so soon, and Bomber is one of the catalysts. I'm going to enjoy the season with his leadership, and then we'll see what happens.
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