Assistant Coaches 2021

[dazzledavey36 54,212]

I can't remember where I have read it, but apparently Justin Plapp is one of the coaches who's been let go?

[Jaded No More 68,855]

With the exception of our backline, all other areas on the field this year were not great in terms of strategy or selection. I have no idea anymore who is responsible for what, but no doubt the midfield and forward coaches need to go. I believe our ruck coach is also our goal kicking coach... which worked out a treat... not.

We have to invest big money in getting top quality assistants, because god knows this current group headed by Goodwin, leave a lot to be desired in terms of strategy, selection and execution on matchday. 

If we are sticking with Goodwin for 2021, we have to give him the best support possible, so he either succeeds, or he fails and we can make an easy call that he isn't the right guy, even with top quality support around him. 

[Dee tention 616]

Yze is a must get!
We should move mountains ⛰? to get him on board. 

[Dr. Gonzo 24,131]

On 8/1/2020 at 4:25 PM, Lord Nev said:

We've done the Goody discussion to death. Don't think there's much doubt he'll see out the year and probably more likely than not to be there next year. So thought it might be time to discuss the current assistants and potential targets for next year. A football department review will no doubt be starting soon, and the assistant coaches will be seen as the main area we can improve and afford to change.

This is just opinion.

Alan Richardson - Safe. Contract and experience will keep him there.

Troy Chaplin - Probably safe. Backline has been a strength this year despite the chaos around it. Only thing might be his relationship with Mahoney given Mahoney is a high chance to not be at the club next year.

Justin Plapp - Gone. Have always liked him, but can't defend how poor our midfield has been both in skills and connection.

Ben Mathews - Probably gone. Highly rated in AFL circles, but feel like if we don't lift in his areas then he'll be moved on or he may just feel it's time for a change.

Matthew Egan - Gone. Couple of his mates in McCartney and Jennings gone, players either not developing or going backwards.

Max Rooke - Gone. Was told he was gone last year but somehow survived. Almost identical to Egan in his KPIs surely not being met and his mates now mostly gone.

Sam Radford - No idea tbh. Probably safe purely from the Casey connection.

(Have I missed anyone?)

That would leave us with a lot of holes to fill. So who do we realistically go for?

My opinions below

Alan Richardson - not really sure what he adds - still am yet to see his position be adequately described. Personally I'm not a fan but hard to see him leaving one year into a 5(?) year contract.

Troy Chaplin - Gone. Backline has been good based on personnel and team defence. He's been around too long and hasn't offered much in the way of individual development of players. We still see the same mistakes made (3 up none down) and we still get killed by small forwards out the back. Hasn't been able to develop OMac or Smith but maybe sometimes it's just what you have to work with. Hasn't really developed Lever beyond what he already brought to the club for mine.

Justin Plapp - Gone. Forward coach now apparently but comes with limited experience, and have seen no evidence of his ability to coach our forward structure, leading patterns or ability to work in space. Weideman still underruns the footy, our small forwards are really in correct position (front and centre) and our mid-small forwards don't apply enough pressure. 

Ben Mathews - Mathews has a good pedigree and came in with a good reputation with Roos. Our mids have stagnated though in terms of clearance work and congestion. With Gawn, Petracca, Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw etc we should be dominating the clearances like we did a couple of years back but we seem to have been worked out and lost the clearances in most games in the second half of this year. We still see the "bees to a honeypot" at times though this is improving but we don't have embedded structures around the contest. Maybe that only comes with experience and repetition but after 6 or 7 years you would think it is long enough. Watching the best teams they work there way out of clearances and congestion with set play triangulation handballing with players knowing exactly where there teammates are around the contest without needing to look for the handball opportunity. We still don't have that and our mids tend to play well based on individual brilliance (Petracca, Oliver & Viney in particular) rather working as a team within a structure. Possibly survives to ensure some continuity with the midfield group but really the club should probably be looking at who else is available.

Matthew Egan - Gone. Development is still a major issue at our club. Egan has been around for a long time as well yet we have seen minimal development in any players other than Petracca and May who you would say is mostly off the back of working harder in pre-season and being individually driven to get the best out of themselves. Hannan, VDB, Hunt, ANB etc still get 6 or 7 touches a game, our small forwards don't get to the right positions and don't pressure, Brayshaw can't play off a wing, Harmes can't play off half back, Melksham has gone backwards, Tomlinson couldn't play off a wing, OMac and Smith are still the same defensively as they were when they were recruited, Weideman still underruns the ball and gets pushed off the ball too easily, Fritsch misses too many set shots and doesn't get to the right positions etc Where is our player development???

Max Rooke - Gone. Similar to Egan except Rooke has the added ignominy of being a failed line coach so was shifted sideways into a "development" role.

Sam Radford - Will survive based on the cancellation of the VFL season. Have no idea on him one way or the other.

Edited September 24, 2020 by Dr. Gonzo

[Dr. Gonzo 24,131]

On 8/2/2020 at 8:03 AM, Lucifer's Hero said:

Has everyone forgotten we had a major football department review and overhaul a mere 9 months ago? 

"Major football department review" undertaken by Josh Mahoney who basically just reshuffled the deck chairs. All our current coaches were there prior to the review with the exception of Richardson who basically replaced McCartney. Don't think anyone replaced Jennings.

[Cheesy D. Pun 1,762]

I notice there's a fair bit of love for Yze here.

What is he bringing to the table that we are missing or is just the fact that he's a former Dee?

[Dr. Gonzo 24,131]

On 9/22/2020 at 9:27 AM, Lucifer's Hero said:

Adem Yze to Essendon??:

adem-yze-essendon-coaching-staff

Foxfooty.com.au understands Yze, who is contracted at Hawthorn for 2021, is weighing up his options.

Adelaide was also keen to lure him across to South Australia as recently as a few weeks ago but is now looking at other coaches around the league to assist Matthew Nicks.

It’s understood Melbourne is also eager to bring Yze back to the club where he played 271 games and kicked 234 goals, but it’s unclear whether these discussions have resulted in a formal job offer.

Looks like we are still in the race.  But given he didn't join last year will he be tempted this year?  He would be third in line to Goodwin and Richo so not sure an assistant coaching role at the dees would be as attractive this year. 

Would love to have him back at the club.

 

Footnote:  Not sure about his contract with Hawthorn to 2021 is correct.  Think it could be 2022. 

I thought Yze wanted to come to us last year but Hawks refused to let him go as he was still contracted? Wouldn't make sense for them to let him go to Essendon while still contracted for 2021.

[Lucifers Hero 39,504]

10 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

"Major football department review" undertaken by Josh Mahoney who basically just reshuffled the deck chairs. All our current coaches were there prior to the review with the exception of Richardson who basically replaced McCartney. Don't think anyone replaced Jennings.

That was my point.  Everyone calling for another review says that lasts year's review didn't work. Terrible management

Nor did they replace Rawlings.

[Dr. Gonzo 24,131]

1 minute ago, Lucifer's Hero said:

That was my point.  Everyone calling for another review says that lasts year's review didn't work. Terrible management

Nor did they replace Rawlings.

Wasn't Rawlings moved from Casey to forwards coach to take over from Rooke who was relegated from the forward coach to a development coach? Or Chaplin was moved from forwards to defense to cover Rooke and then Rawlings was brought in as forward coach to cover Chaplin.

[Lucifers Hero 39,504]

12 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

1) Wasn't Rawlings moved from Casey to forwards coach to take over from Rooke who was relegated from the forward coach to a development coach?

2)Or Chaplin was moved from forwards to defense to cover Rooke and then Rawlings was brought in as forward coach to cover Chaplin.

Both are correct.

1) Rawlings was brought back mid 2019 as part of last year's mid year review.

2) Rooke replaced Chaplin as fwd coach at end of 2018.  

Deck chairs.  

No fwd coach in 2020 until Plapp was given the gig.  More deck chairs.

And our fwd line is still like Brown's cows who have little connection with mids.  Surprise! Surprise!

Edited September 24, 2020 by Lucifer's Hero

[Dannyz 2,682]

Realistically, none of us have any idea on the performance of Assistant coaches at the club. We aren't aware of any of their performance measures. 

[Laughing Goat 308]

On 8/1/2020 at 3:55 PM, Lord Nev said:

We've done the Goody discussion to death. Don't think there's much doubt he'll see out the year and probably more likely than not to be there next year. So thought it might be time to discuss the current assistants and potential targets for next year. A football department review will no doubt be starting soon, and the assistant coaches will be seen as the main area we can improve and afford to change.

This is just opinion.

Alan Richardson - Safe. Contract and experience will keep him there.

Troy Chaplin - Probably safe. Backline has been a strength this year despite the chaos around it. Only thing might be his relationship with Mahoney given Mahoney is a high chance to not be at the club next year.

Justin Plapp - Gone. Have always liked him, but can't defend how poor our midfield has been both in skills and connection.

Ben Mathews - Probably gone. Highly rated in AFL circles, but feel like if we don't lift in his areas then he'll be moved on or he may just feel it's time for a change.

Matthew Egan - Gone. Couple of his mates in McCartney and Jennings gone, players either not developing or going backwards.

Max Rooke - Gone. Was told he was gone last year but somehow survived. Almost identical to Egan in his KPIs surely not being met and his mates now mostly gone.

Sam Radford - No idea tbh. Probably safe purely from the Casey connection.

(Have I missed anyone?)

That would leave us with a lot of holes to fill. So who do we realistically go for?

Funny.....

I rate Egan, Rooke & Plappy way ahead of Goodwin & Richardson.....Only my opinion.

I've heard around the traps that most of the players love these guys & communicate more with the assistants than the 2 head coaches.

Maybe that's just how it is these days.

[Little Richard 6,261]

54 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

My opinions below

Alan Richardson - not really sure what he adds - still am yet to see his position be adequately described. Personally I'm not a fan but hard to see him leaving one year into a 5(?) year contract.

Troy Chaplin - Gone. Backline has been good based on personnel and team defence. He's been around too long and hasn't offered much in the way of individual development of players. We still see the same mistakes made (3 up none down) and we still get killed by small forwards out the back. Hasn't been able to develop OMac or Smith but maybe sometimes it's just what you have to work with. Hasn't really developed Lever beyond what he already brought to the club for mine.

Justin Plapp - Gone. Forward coach now apparently but comes with limited experience, and have seen no evidence of his ability to coach our forward structure, leading patterns or ability to work in space. Weideman still underruns the footy, our small forwards are really in correct position (front and centre) and our mid-small forwards don't apply enough pressure. 

Ben Mathews - Mathews has a good pedigree and came in with a good reputation with Roos. Our mids have stagnated though in terms of clearance work and congestion. With Gawn, Petracca, Oliver, Viney, Brayshaw etc we should be dominating the clearances like we did a couple of years back but we seem to have been worked out and lost the clearances in most games in the second half of this year. We still see the "bees to a honeypot" at times though this is improving but we don't have embedded structures around the contest. Maybe that only comes with experience and repetition but after 6 or 7 years you would think it is long enough. Watching the best teams they work there way out of clearances and congestion with set play triangulation handballing with players knowing exactly where there teammates are around the contest without needing to look for the handball opportunity. We still don't have that and our mids tend to play well based on individual brilliance (Petracca, Oliver & Viney in particular) rather working as a team within a structure. Possibly survives to ensure some continuity with the midfield group but really the club should probably be looking at who else is available.

Matthew Egan - Gone. Development is still a major issue at our club. Egan has been around for a long time as well yet we have seen minimal development in any players other than Petracca and May who you would say is mostly off the back of working harder in pre-season and being individually driven to get the best out of themselves. Hannan, VDB, Hunt, ANB etc still get 6 or 7 touches a game, our small forwards don't get to the right positions and don't pressure, Brayshaw can't play off a wing, Harmes can't play off half back, Melksham has gone backwards, Tomlinson couldn't play off a wing, OMac and Smith are still the same defensively as they were when they were recruited, Weideman still underruns the ball and gets pushed off the ball too easily, Fritsch misses too many set shots and doesn't get to the right positions etc Where is our player development???

Max Rooke - Gone. Similar to Egan except Rooke has the added ignominy of being a failed line coach so was shifted sideways into a "development" role.

Sam Radford - Will survive based on the cancellation of the VFL season. Have no idea on him one way or the other.

Is Richardson really on a 5 year contract? That's ludicrous if true.

[BScotti 178]

On 9/22/2020 at 9:27 AM, Lucifer's Hero said:

Adem Yze to Essendon??:

adem-yze-essendon-coaching-staff

Foxfooty.com.au understands Yze, who is contracted at Hawthorn for 2021, is weighing up his options.

Adelaide was also keen to lure him across to South Australia as recently as a few weeks ago but is now looking at other coaches around the league to assist Matthew Nicks.

It’s understood Melbourne is also eager to bring Yze back to the club where he played 271 games and kicked 234 goals, but it’s unclear whether these discussions have resulted in a formal job offer.

Looks like we are still in the race.  But given he didn't join last year will he be tempted this year?  He would be third in line to Goodwin and Richo so not sure an assistant coaching role at the dees would be as attractive this year. 

Would love to have him back at the club.

 

Footnote:  Not sure about his contract with Hawthorn to 2021 is correct.  Think it could be 2022. 

I understand he is keen to get to dees.  Whether he can from hawks is another thing.  Bombers are also keen apparently.

 

[Demons11 6,906]

2 minutes ago, BScotti said:

I understand he is keen to get to dees.  Whether he can from hawks is another thing.  Bombers are also keen apparently.

 

All teams are going to have to cut staff, so getting a coach in contract should be easier this time around.

[BigMacjnr 283]

37 minutes ago, BScotti said:

I understand he is keen to get to dees.  Whether he can from hawks is another thing.  Bombers are also keen apparently.

 

Do you have any intel BScotti on what it would look like with the Dees? With Burns gone, sounds like he would be the no.2-3 guy behind Clarkson and Brendan Bolton within the coaching team...

Does your intel suggest that there is a large coaching shakeup in the works at the Dees where Yze will come in as either the head coach or lead assistant? Or possibly that he would be the Head Coach of Casey with other duties to build up his coaching resume?

[Rednblueriseing 824]

1 hour ago, Laughing Goat said:

Funny.....

I rate Egan, Rooke & Plappy way ahead of Goodwin & Richardson.....Only my opinion.

I've heard around the traps that most of the players love these guys & communicate more with the assistants than the 2 head coaches.

Maybe that's just how it is these days.

Love to know how you head that 'around the traps' come on mate??

[darkhorse72 1,901]

On 9/23/2020 at 10:38 AM, Lucifer's Hero said:

One out of left field:  How would folks feel about Daisy Pearce as an assistant coach?

Has an excellent footy brain regarding game plans, strategy and opp analysis and highly respected.  She was assisting with coaching the AFLW team while waiting for her twins.

Whether we could prise her out of the media who knows.

Never met her in person based I what I have seen on tv/media (Limited),   her insights during games on tv, leadership for the women and her interviews, i would rate her highly.  

[DeeSpencer 25,437]

With less games and no opportunity to watch live it's harder than ever to work out where the problems are. That said:

Forwards:  I actually think we did a pretty good job creating space, pushing up for the outlet kicks and getting sustainable pressure and corridor coverage. There were games we struggled to score in but I saw that as more when the ball use up the ground fell apart and when we lacked forwards who can create goals from slower entries. Overall I had no issue with the forward coaching.

Backs: The game plan seemed improved. We managed to get good representation down the line for slow plays as well as keep the backline deep enough to not get exposed out the back. The ball use out of the backline was pretty solid too. May was great. In the games where the pressure was on up the field Lever had chances to be great. My biggest concern is the lack of development of the lesser defenders. Apart from Rivers coming in we saw a cycling through of Smith, Oscar, Tomlinson, Harmes, J Wagner, Jetta and Lockhart. Chaplin strikes me as a coach who's good on paper but lacks the ability to hone the basics. Smith, Oscar and Tomlinson in particular had bad habits of zoning the pockets rather than staying corridor side and didn't seem to have the ability to spoil with both arms. 

Midfield: This is my biggest worry. Gawn was often way off base with the mids. There was little team work between the mids and there were big lapses in basic set up at times too. Why did it take weeks to get Viney to look up and choose his targets? Why did it take weeks for Oliver to start using his legs? It even took a while to start finding and using Langdon on the wings when he was clearly wide open. Given the amount of experienced, mature and settled talent available I thought the midfield coaching was the poorest group.

[DemonOX 8,779]

1 hour ago, Dannyz said:

Realistically, none of us have any idea on the performance of Assistant coaches at the club. We aren't aware of any of their performance measures. 

True but we can look at how the team is going on the field and that can give us some idea of how it’s going and tbh that ain’t great at all. 
 

Changes need to be made and if goody survives (god help us) then he needs to listen to his new assistants otherwise it’s pointless changing unless they replace goody himself. 

[wattsindawes 57]

Interesting chat about Yze.. hard to argue against coming from the school of Clarkson. Watched a clip of him being interviewed after a nab cup game definitely presents better than Goodwin (link down bottom) not that it really counts for much. As others have said it's pretty hard to get a good handle on how good assistant coaches are. Dean Solomon would be another one that would be worth looking at as an assistant or even Knights from the Cats.. or Mark Williams?

 

 

https://www.hawthornfc.com.au/video/470973/press-conference-adem-yze?videoId=470973&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1455796783001

[DeeZee 7,361]

The players speak highly of Benny Matthews , Petracca and Oliver have said he helped them a lot.

[Lucifers Hero 39,504]

39 minutes ago, DeeZee said:

The players speak highly of Benny Matthews , Petracca and Oliver have said he helped them a lot.

Interestingly, he came to the club with Roos and the only one left from Roos' days.  He learnt his trade from a master and good to see he is still delivering and the players think highly of him.

Edited September 24, 2020 by Lucifer's Hero

[Demon_spurs 1,831]

After today's news can we get jack Watts as a Goal kicking coach?

[Supreme_Demon 3,737]

I think a big clean out of our assistant coaches is absolutely necessary.

If we didn't have to deal with the "soft cap" restrictions then these would be my suggestions.

1) Senior Assistant and Midfield Coach - Michael Voss or Robert Harvey (who I think has been at Collingwood for far too long and probably wants a change)

2) Backline Coach - Justin Leppitsch or Matthew Scarlett

3) Matchday Strategy and Skills Coach - Adem Yze

4) Head of Development - Mark "Choco" Williams (he is the main person I would like to see the Demons recruit)

5) Specialist goal kicking Coach - Brad Green

6) Midfield Development (part-time) - Jordan Lewis

7) Development and Tackling Coach - Lenny Hayes

8) Ruck and Stoppages Coach - Dean Cox

9) Development and Field Kicking Coach - Brent Harvey

10) Leadership and Culture Manager - Brett Kirk

11) VFL Coach - Dean Solomon

 

Obviously this isn't a very realistic list. But it would definitely be of great benefit if we could get good quality football people like this to be part of the Melbourne Demons coaching department.