New assistant coaching appointments

[sainter]

Anthony Rock looks to be the first assistant coach appointed to the club with Silvagni, Elshaug and Prescott tipped to fill the remaining positions.

Rock joins Saints
6:43:20 PM Fri 20 October, 2006
Sportal for afl.com.au

Melbourne will appoint a new assistant coach following the departure of Anthony Rock to fill a similar position with St Kilda.

While the Saints have yet to confirm Rock's appointment – the club is in the process of hiring several new assistant coaches to work under new senior coach Ross Lyon – the Demons confirmed his departure on Friday evening.

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Rock leaves the Demons after two years as an assistant coach under Neale Daniher. He played 222 games for the Kangaroos and Hawthorn between 1998 and 2001. He coached the Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup for three years before joining the Demons.

http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=303928

Bradley rejoins Blues
Emma Quayle
October 21, 2006


-----------------

Meanwhile, Anthony Rock yesterday became the first official addition to the new St Kilda match committee. The former Kangaroo rover quit his job at Melbourne to join the new team at Moorabbin, which is expected to soon swell in number with the likely additions of Stephen Silvagni, Pagan's former deputy Tony Elshaug and respected former Tiger Ashley Prescott.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/10/20/1160851139190.html

Saints add Rock to coaching staff
21 October 2006 Herald-Sun

ST KILDA will announce on Monday that it has lured Demons' assistant and Roos premiership player Anthony Rock to its coaching staff headed by Ross Lyon.

While Rock refused to confirm the move last night, it is understood he handed in his resignation to the Melbourne board yesterday.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,20616557%5E20322,00.html

 

[Bourky23]

Re: New coaching appointments

i'm happy enough with those appointments, i hope we chase vossy tho

 

[Kildonan]

Re: New coaching appointments

Anthony Rock.

Joined Melbourne for the 2005 season after spending three years coaching the North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup from 2002 to 2004. A tough, hard working midfielder that achieved the ultimate with a premiership as a member of the 1996 Kangaroos side, Rock went on to play 222 games of AFL football for the Kangaroos and Hawthorn. Rock was also a member of the Roos 1995 and 1998 pre-season flags. He represented Victoria in state-of-origin on three occasions.

Rock was Melbourne's midfield coach

 

[panthers]

Re: New coaching appointments

Who is Prescott????

 

[Kildonan]

Re: New coaching appointments

Rock keen as mustard
21 October 2006
Alistair Hogg
Sportal for afl.com.au

Former Kangaroos and Hawthorn star Anthony Rock has told of his anticipation as he prepares to leave the Demons to take on an assistant coaching role with St Kilda.

Rock said he was sad to leave Melbourne, but it also marked an important step in his career.

"It's an exciting time for me," he told SEN.

"In terms of a three-year deal, to have that sort of security in football is just a real win for me in terms of my development and where I want to go and St Kilda look like they're a very good club on the way up, so we'll see how we go."

Rock was assistant coach at Melbourne for two years and the sharp improvement of the team under his guidance was one of the factors that made him such an attractive target for St Kilda's new coach Ross Lyon.

"I'm not totally responsible for our improvement," Rock said.

"We're working as a team but I suppose in terms of clearances and you know we're a lot tougher and all that sort of stuff and he said he liked what he saw and basically when we spoke, his philosophies matched up with mine and I suppose that's where the fit came."

No official announcement has been made by the Saints but Rock is expected to seal the deal early next week.

"I'm going to see them Monday and we'll sit down, sign the contract, there will obviously be an announcement of some sort and then I'll probably need a little bit of time off," Rock said.

"We don't start until the 13th but as I said, it's been a bit of a whirlwind, I need to gather my thoughts and hopefully get a few days off and get back in to it."

Rock played 222 games for the Kangaroos and Hawthorn between 1998 and 2001. He coached the Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup for three years before joining the Demons.

 

[bluesfan]

I think that St Kilda are doing a terrific job in revamping their coaching panel and I think they should go as far as doing the same to their football department. Review the football department and refresh it. I think they need a new president, but then again thats just my view. I believe that the appointments of Silvagni, Elshaug and Prescott as assistants to new coach Ross Lyon will be beneficial and is needed to get the club a second flag. Another 2 assistants put onto the coaching panel should be appointed as well, I think anyway. Daryn Cresswell is a candidate for an assistant's role.

 

[Kildonan]

It also appears as if Tony Elshaug has been appointed as a development assistant coach at the Saints.

Tony played with the Bombers in the 80's. He was drafted by St Kilda after being delisted by the Bombers - upon which he then promptly retired rather than "play for the wooden spooners!" Was a competent footballer and since has become a very good assistant coach. He was Pagan's right-hand man at North Melbourne joining them in 99 and then went with Pagan from the Roos to Carlton at Pagan's request. Before his alliance with Pagan in 99 he worked through the junior system with much success.

Link - Saintsational

 

[Bartram_Class]

Rock will be a decent pickup for you guys, i dont think he was tremendous with the Demons midfield but we certainly didnt want him to leave so he must have been doing something right.

 

[Darkhour]

Okay it's all well and good to be naming names etc.. but has anyone actually officially been named?!.. Press conference? Paper actually confirming so?

 

[sainter]

Okay it's all well and good to be naming names etc.. but has anyone actually officially been named?!.. Press conference? Paper actually confirming so?

You're right but until any official announcements have been made all we can do is report the speculation and everyone can make their own minds up on what is true and what isn't.

Here's some more:

Saint Barker
25 October 2006 Herald-Sun
Mark Robinson


ST KILDA is fast approaching filling its assistants roster, with former Hawk John Barker believed to be the final cog.

Barker, who retired this year after 167 games at three clubs under eight coaches, is poised to be named forwards coach. Barker, 31, was a teammate of Saints coach Ross Lyon in their Fitzroy days.
It is believed Barker will join Anthony Rock, who was recently named an assistant, Stephen Silvagni and former Carlton assistant Tony Elshaug at Moorabbin.
Lyon, who has been staying with Silvagni since his appointment to the Saints job, will this week return to Sydney where he will officially end his ties with the Swans.
He will return for a three-day lock-up with the Saints starting on Monday.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,20639841%255E19772,00.html

 

[panthers]

I just heard a radio interview with danny frawley who said that steven sylvani is a assistant coach at the saints

 

[sainter]

Saints announce new structure
2 November 2006
St Kilda Football Club

Further to the recent appointment of Ross Lyon to Senior Coach, the St Kilda Football Club is pleased to confirm the structure of their football department for 2007:

Ken Sheldon, General Manager Football
Tony Elshaug, General Manager Football Development
Craig Starcevich, Elite Performance Manager
Anthony Rock, Assistant Coach
Steven Silvagni, Assistant Coach
John Barker, Assistant Coach

St Kilda Chief Executive Officer, Archie Fraser said of the completed football department setup; "We have been working over the past two months to put together the best possible group of proven football experience to take the St Kilda Football Club to the next level.

"The Saints' new football department has been involved in 10 of the past 16 AFL Grand Finals, including seven premierships. The final piece of the puzzle is now complete with these announcements and we are looking forward to the players returning in a week or so to begin their pre-season training."

The worst kept secret has finally been made official with the appointments of our new football department.

It's hard to comment on our new acquisitions before we see how they work together and how the players respond to their fresh ideas but it seems like we've got the balance right. We've not only got a good mix of experienced coaches and recently retired players but with Silvagni, Rock and Barker we have an ex-defender, ex-midfielder and ex-forward.

I believe pre-season training starts on November 13 so hopefully the players can enjoy their last 10 days of freedom before getting stuck in. A big year ahead.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

you lot also have our favourite son in JB as a forwards coach next year, he should really help riewoldt with his accuracy.

 

[Kildonan]

SOS raring to go
12:30:13 PM Sun 5 November, 2006
Matt Burgan in Dublin

Silvagni, an icon of the game whose football CV is rich with achievements, will become a full-time assistant for the first time when he returns from Ireland, where he is on the coaching panel for the Australian International Rules team.

He will be in charge of the St Kilda defence....

Link to whole article above

 

[JeffDunne]

"St Kilda has participated in the last three finals series, but hopefully we can take them a couple of steps further and that's our aim, but there is a lot of water that needs to go under the bridge and sometimes things don't work out all that well initially, but there is a lot of hard work ahead."

Why is this bloke not filling me with much confidence?

 

[Kildonan]

There is a worrying element to his making excuses before he even starts.

 

[Darkhour]

Give him a break.. He has the chance and the ability to impart his knowledge and skill of the game to our players.. Anything negative can be attributed accordingly in time, although I dont know how that reflects on an assistant coach.. ? Everyone in the backline goes backwards next season?

 

[sainter]

I don't think it's anything to worry about.

He isn't a great commentator and his first comments as an assistant coach don't exactly inspire like an Alan Killigrew quarter time address but his fantastic record as a player and his reputation as a part-time assistant is second to none. He'll be great for our young defenders and even a veteran like Max could pick up a thing or two.

 

[Kildonan]

I'm not knocking him.

I suppose it is that he is remote from all the enthusiasm of the new coaching group being in Ireland when he made these statements, but...

"I'm just going to see how I go," Silvagni told afl.com.au when commenting about his senior coaching aspirations.

and

"St Kilda has participated in the last three finals series, but hopefully we can take them a couple of steps further and that's our aim, but there is a lot of water that needs to go under the bridge and sometimes things don't work out all that well initially, but there is a lot of hard work ahead."

He doesn't seem to have his head in the right groove yet.
All these "but"s and negatives in what was his first media representation of the St Kilda football club. A person of his quality and experience (especially media experience) should have been able to recognise when to put a positive spin on it.

I do like this bit though:

Silvagni said his part-time assistant coaching position for the Bulldogs last season whet his appetite to pursue a full-time role.

"It did. Basically having done that role brought to light that if you're going to be involved, it needed to be full-time, because obviously you're not part of every process when you have a part-time role, so I realised then that if I was going to do it - that I needed to be full-time to do it any justice," Silvagni said.

 

[sainter]

You can probably interpret what he's had to say in a number of ways. When I read that I just see someone saying that we have a good list but need to put in a lot of hard work to take the next step.

I suppose none of us will know how the players will adapt to the new coaches and the way they want the game to be played. I'm going to enjoy the off-season but I'm really looking forward to seeing how we go because I honestly have no idea what will happen.

 

[Kildonan]

It does look to be a good bunch that we've put together:

Ken Sheldon, General Manager Football
Tony Elshaug, General Manager Football Development
Craig Starcevich, Elite Performance Manager

Ross Lyon, Senior Coach
Anthony Rock, Assistant Coach - Midfield
Steven Silvagni, Assistant Coach - Defence
John Barker, Assistant Coach - Forwards

Next steps: recruit a few potential stars in the draft and hit the training track for a brand new preseason.

 

[Otiman]

Has John Barker been quoted in any articles since his appointment? I'd like to hear his opinion on things.

 

[Kildonan]

Has John Barker been quoted in any articles since his appointment? I'd like to hear his opinion on things.

I haven't seen a press release yet, but I am looking forward to it.

Each of these guys will get better (at public speaking etc.) as they gain more exposure. I am interested in seeing their first attempts to see what level they are starting at.

 

[Kildonan]

Saintsational has a thread which alludes to the recruitment of a new coaching position:

Rookie Development Coach

Apparently there are three candidates being interviewed on Monday for the position.

I'd like to see the job description. It would be interesting to know just how much this position involves interacting and working with our affiliate Casey Scorpions.

It seems that the club is acting to strengthen all the areas that we have underperformed in.

 

[Kildonan]

Elshaug talks up Saints13 November 2006
Jason Phelan
Sportal for afl.com.au

The former Kangaroos and Carlton assistant coach's brief takes in a wide range of areas...[snip]

..."It's mainly about designing and implementing development and welfare programs for the younger players in particular, but it also needs to be tailored to the older players as well," Elshaug explains.

[snip]

...Elshaug has had to hit the ground running with the impending arrival of up to 10 raw recruits via the NAB AFL National and Rookie Drafts, but he's committed to making sure the next bunch of newcomers are welcomed with open arms.

"Specifically you can talk about things like accommodation, their education, what their plans are work-wise or what they want to do with their lives and just make sure they feel like they've been embraced by the football club," he says.

"We need too make sure they have a good understanding of what their requirements are and make it an easy transition from wherever it is they've come from. It's a big step for a lot of people and that's important."

[snip] I like this bit

Elshaug also pledged to continue to work hard at cementing the relationship the club has with VFL affiliate the Casey Scorpions, will do some opposition research in-season and will 'manage' the coaches box on matchdays - basically taking more of a back seat and making sure that everything is working how it should be.

And this bit confirms the previous post

"We'll also be putting on a development coach in the near future and that person will be able to work on the nuts and bolts of football with them."