Fagan, an industry veteran who arrived at Hawthorn from Melbourne where he was football operations manager, agrees that a hallmark of a good modern coach is his ability to determine when to spark the mind and when to call for some heart.

"Fifteen or 20, 25 years ago it was mostly about the rev up, 'get the boys going' sort of stuff. Motivational," he says.

"That hasn't gone completely, because there are probably times in a game when it's more about the mental side of things than it is about structures, and a really good senior coach will know the difference.

"So maybe at three-quarter-time what the team needs most is a bit of a 'rev', sometimes it might be about structure, or maybe it's a combination of both.

"And in the small time that you've got to get the message across, that's what you've got to decide."

That's an interesting point - the role of the coach as leader remains as important as ever.

Structures and systems might apply on the field, but the best coaches know which button to push, which lever to pull and when to make the right call.

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Quote from recently published article on afl.com.au about structures and coaching, mainly relevant to Malthouse, but am interested on other's thoughts in reference to DB.

Edited June 17, 201114 yr by mrtwister

After the Richmond game last year (Rd 19), I was told by a player who wasn't playing on the day that DB gave the boys a MASSIVE rev at half time. Richmond were up, and this player said he was in the rooms, and Bailey took the boys into another room. The door was shut and apparently he had absolutely no trouble hearing the bake the boys got. Obviously he has it in him, but tries to keep it under wraps publicly. Only trouble is I am just not so sure how effective his bake is compared to that of some other coaches.

Its the public v inside club face. Without being inside the club you don't really know what is going on. When in Public Bailey is all straight bat.

Maybe whats needed at the MFC, is a punishment coach .

Somebody who comes in and takes the raines, when the team lacks motivation and inspiration.

somebody they don't like or won't to see...

Somebody who pushes them and is a very hard jugde of them and their ability to play....

Somebody who really hurts them on the training track.....

At the very lest it would make me feel better after a loss .