Coaching Staff Former Coach Ben "Truck" Rutten - Sacked for real this time - 21/8

I thought you guys were lining up for Blake Caracella to take over.

apparentley doesnt want a senior gig.

at least that what i heard on big footy - must be true
 

CBombers17

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Sounds like we s**t the bed when Don got sacked and started trying to make everyone happy. Rarely works imo.

I like Woosha but he's not performed well enough to guarantee his final year so let him go. If Rutten is the man then they should have given him the job. None of this would have anything to do with XC and others standing by their man would it?

Blah blah family considerations. If your family leaves you either go with them or deal with yourself. John's not 18. What a load of crap all that is.
 
Jun 8, 2014
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2020: fail to make finals, no worries it was a transitional year after all.
2021: fail to make finals, it's okay it was Truck's first year in the hot seat, give him a break etc.
2022: get pumped in an elimination final, young list etc. still adjusting to the game plan
2023: club releases a 4 year plan to be top 4 by 2027.

So on and so forth.
 
2020: fail to make finals, no worries it was a transitional year after all.
2021: fail to make finals, it's okay it was Truck's first year in the hot seat, give him a break etc.
2022: get pumped in an elimination final, young list etc. still adjusting to the game plan
2023: club releases a 4 year plan to be top 4 by 2027.

So on and so forth.
And most of us will still support the club by that time too. How dumb are we really
 
2020: fail to make finals, no worries it was a transitional year after all.
2021: fail to make finals, it's okay it was Truck's first year in the hot seat, give him a break etc.
2022: get pumped in an elimination final, young list etc. still adjusting to the game plan
2023: club releases a 4 year plan to be top 4 by 2027.

So on and so forth.

the funny thing is this is quite literally odds on to happen.
 
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Sorry for way long post.

tl;dr
  • Worsfold may still be at the club in 2021
  • They've been putting things in place for this scenario ever since Worsfold's family moved back to Perth and his future in Melbourne became uncertain
  • Developing Rutten to become a senior coach was part of our pitch to get him out of Richmond
  • imo Rutten may have been approached about some of the other senior gigs going around, which explains the timing of this particular announcement


Finally had a chance to watch the announcement/speech/press conference videos on the club website, and it looks like they're pushing the angle pretty strongly that they want Worsfold next year, but that Worsfold wasn't prepared to commit beyond the end of his contract in 2020.

Worsfold's family situation has been known for some time, he and his family moved to Melbourne when he took the job at the end of 2015. By 2018, his family had moved back to Perth without him. That on it's own isn't at all difficult to believe, since we already knew about that. He loves football and coaching and wants to be involved in it, he was approached by Xavier Campbell when we were in that black hole, and given his experiences and interests he had something to offer to our playing group which had basically had its soul torn out during the saga. Made a couple of references to hearing Jobe speak and so on, wanting them to be able to enjoy football again the way he had had the opportunity to. He also said something about not believing that the Essendon job was right for a young coach to take over as their first senior coaching gig at that point, but felt that with his experience it was a challenge he could take on.

So far, yep.

The thing that I wasn't completely buying for a while there was the whole 'have to go home for family reasons' thing. It's almost a cliche at this point, and most especially in this industry where players get this homesick so often it seems like it's contagious.

Watching the press conference video, i.e. the actual question and answer part not the speeches, he elaborated more on that. Not only that they'd gone home just after the last contract extension he signed, but also that at the end of the current contract his decisions about re-signing with us would have to take their needs into consideration.

Both John and Xavier spoke about the ongoing discussions they had had since his family had moved back, with Xavier seeking assurances that Worsfold still wanted to stay on as our coach even for 2019. With Worsfold's home situation somewhat uncertain, it was evidently something that the club had to have an each way bet on, and put something in place in the background in case Worsfold does go home. That way, we would have someone to catch the fall and not end up with the break in continuity that sometimes happens when a coach leaves and someone new takes over. Clearly that idea of stability was paramount, and the board of the club are still trying to transition us away from the saga as a whole.

Xavier also spoke about the recruitment of Ben Rutten at the end of 2018, noting that the commitment to Ben's development towards his goal of becoming a senior coach was necessary in order for us to get Rutten to commit to leaving Richmond. There is also a hint there that Worsfold and Rutten may have had a pre-existing relationship before Rutten started at Essendon, perhaps from Worsfold's brief stint at Adelaide? Rutten also obviously had links to us through Dan Richardson as well.

Xavier then goes on to speak about Worsfold's future at the club. He makes it very clear that Worsfold may still be at the club in 2021. Depending on Worsfold's family situation, which is STILL uncertain, he may stay on in a different role after 2020, possibly as a director of coaching or something similar. That sounds like the kind of role that would potentially enable Worsfold to fly home a bit more often as well, which could be mutually beneficial. Worsfold also spoke to this points saying he still feels like he has a lot to offer from his experience as a player, captain, coach, whether that's in a more auxiliary role or whatever. Presumably if a job like that came up out west he'd be applying for it, but he hasn't walked away from the possibility at Essendon either.

The questioning then pivoted back to Rutten's position at the club with Xavier being asked to comment on how the appointment came about. Sean Wellman (who is a board member and our director of football operations or something like that) and Xavier made the recommendation together to the board about appointing Rutten to a senior assistant role to transition to senior coach. Xavier said that the key plank in their discussions about appointing Rutten were around John Worsfold's professional opinion of Rutten. Worsfold believes that Rutten is ready, so they're putting all of that in place now (kind of 'duh Fred' but yeah). Worsfold clearly still held in high esteem, at least by XC.


I think the real push here is actually probably to do with keeping Rutten. We clearly brought him in with the possibility of developing him into a senior coach, but with Don Pyke jumping (or being pushed) at Adelaide, they would surely be sniffing around Rutten (the media certainly seems to think so). With Worsfold's situation hanging by a thread, having a plan for continuity makes sense, and Rutten appears to be the best man for the job with that in mind. It wouldn't do for us to get to the end of 2020 and have Worsfold decide to leave (very real possibility), or be offered a gig as director of coaching at West Coast or something, and for us to be left with a gaping hole in our coaches box and no plans beyond that.

That potential situation becomes even more of a problem if Rutten has already been poached, and we are then forced to go externally to fill the gap. That would mean an entirely new approach, new game plan, rebuilding the relationships in the coaches box, and the trust between the coaches and the players, the players and the management of the club, etc etc. As much as bigfooty likes to throw the baby out with the bathwater, there is probably quite a bit of merit to having continuity in most of those areas. The general view from the club is that we only need to change the pilot, perhaps alter the course a little... but no need for an emergency landing in the middle of the Atlantic.
If only I read this much in high school.
 
If only I read this much in high school.
Sounds like you had some pretty boring reading material back then. Or perhaps you just preferred the kind with pictures.
 

Eleven 38

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2020: fail to make finals, no worries it was a transitional year after all.
2021: fail to make finals, it's okay it was Truck's first year in the hot seat, give him a break etc.
2022: get pumped in an elimination final, young list etc. still adjusting to the game plan
2023: club releases a 4 year plan to be top 4 by 2027.

So on and so forth.


As bad as that is and probably will happen the board is in a no lose situation, because it will still be a better start to the decade than the start of this one was.
 
It’s funny, for me the only thing unexpected about this is that it didn’t happen sooner.

My expectation was that Worsfold would come in, give it maybe a year to get the lay of the land with the footy department and then there would be a big overhaul. There has been a big overhaul but it’s been more gradual and the impression I get is that it has been driven more by Richardson than Worsfold anyway.

What Richardson has essentially done is recreated the same coaching structure that brought Richmond success. Rutten running the system without the ball, Caracalla running the system with it and Worsfold/Hardwick in the high chair.

Given that pre Caracella/Rutten Hardwick was tactically wooden and could barely coach his way out of a brown paper bag and that Wellman (who is quite close with Hardwick) was one of the main drivers of this and most importantly, Worsfold seems to be buying in completely I’m very comfortable with this move.
 
Brief article gives a little bit of inside story...

 

CBombers17

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So the narrative is that Worsfold was brought in more as a leader than a coach and he's been really successful at that so it's good he hangs around for another year plus Rutten can have a fall guy for any poor performance - and it's ok we aren't any sort of finals.threat yet because of the saga and we will be ok down the track after a few more "tweaks".

And we definitely didn't do this as a knee jerk reaction over Don getting the sack because we had already started the process a few days before....

Honestly whats the message from all this crap to the playing group ? You are still paying for the saga, even though you likely weren't there, because the coach you have had isn't really a cutting edge coach... and by the way he's around next year. The new coach isn't really responsible for next year either - have a good one!
 
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Bunch of sooks on here. Get over yourselves. Our club has made a bold decision in going down this path and have clearly thought long and hard about it. Now we want to knock them down for being calculated and prepared for the future? Spare me...
The bold decision would have been to actually get rid of Woosha following our finals trashing and appoint someone else for day 1 of the pre-season.

Putting in this succession plan is just a fence sitting exercise and before you know it another 12 months passes by and the club goes nowhere.
 
Out of all the options out there, this is the best. Glad there's not been the destabilising and brutal coach sacking that 5 other clubs have faced this season. Good management to effect transition as smoothly as possible.
 
Brief article gives a little bit of inside story...

Could've done without the unplanned pregnancies and delivering an infant coach analogy, but interesting enough other than that.

For some reason I now have the image of Rutten's head on an infant's body in my mind. :(
 

ghostdog

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Classy move, good timing.

I like that the club has taken decisive and proactive action rather than follow the sudden emotional Monday morning sacking route, on the back of a pantsing.

I'm also mentally prepared for the whispers to "just bounce Worsfold immediately" to become a roar by about Round 6 after we slump to 1-5.
I agree. The carousel of sacking coaches isn't good for the club or the players. They get forced to endure media speculation on the coach's job security, then media speculation on who will coach, the inconsistency of having an interim coach as well. At least now two of those destabilising issues are removed. So glad we did this in a considered and rational way. FWIW, I reckon we'll see more clubs implementing succession plans.
 

Matthew_Lloyd

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Bunch of sooks on here. Get over yourselves. Our club has made a bold decision in going down this path and have clearly thought long and hard about it. Now we want to knock them down for being calculated and prepared for the future? Spare me...
The club takes a risk and people sook. The club doesn't take a risk and the same people sook.

I'm happy with this move, as it shows the club is trying something new. Classic Essendon would have been to hire a favourite son, or take the cheap option and promote an unknown spud from within.
 

Fin ice Smuggler

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Sounds like we s**t the bed when Don got sacked and started trying to make everyone happy. Rarely works imo.

I like Woosha but he's not performed well enough to guarantee his final year so let him go. If Rutten is the man then they should have given him the job. None of this would have anything to do with XC and others standing by their man would it?

Blah blah family considerations. If your family leaves you either go with them or deal with yourself. John's not 18. What a load of crap all that is.

We more or less have changed coaches without paying out a million dollars.

Had nothing to do with Don Pyke, Richo identified Truck a couple years ago at tigers during premiership year and then targeted him last year as senior coach replacement.

As pointed out by others we have stability in our coaching ranks at least. this will be Ruttens team but he'll have the experience of Worsfold In a director of coaching role to guide him.
 
It is almost like all we need to do is snap our fingers, throw some salt over our shoulders, turn Laverde into an inside mid and the premierships will come.
 
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