No, this is not an announcement.

But we may as well speculate.

Saw this on afl.com in the article about Mick Stinear luring North assistant (mids) Ryan Pendlebury to Geelong:

"A series of clubs have been expected to target North Melbourne's successful AFLW program for roles across this coming off-season, with fellow Kangas assistant Rhys Harwood another seen as a senior coach in waiting. Harwood is expected to figure prominently in Melbourne and Richmond's coaching search in the coming weeks, as the clubs look to replace Stinear and Ryan Ferguson respectively."

Shae Sloane was present for the draft last night, which would be expected, but she's obviously another name out there. Hopefully she's going to provide continuity for us, either way.

Thanks so much @Dees_In_October and for all your great Dees women's program communication.

It would be respectful to the Dees women players, program staff and MFCW members to provide communication during the process for a new coach. For the men's program, we were informed by the club who the final five in consideration and the expectation of when the final head coach decision would be made.

As far as I'm aware, we've heard crickets 🦗🦗🦗

We have a brilliant team and player leadership. MFC administration, let's give them and members the respect they deserve.

3 hours ago, Dees_In_October said:

"A series of clubs have been expected to target North Melbourne's successful AFLW program for roles across this coming off-season, with fellow Kangas assistant Rhys Harwood another seen as a senior coach in waiting. Harwood is expected to figure prominently in Melbourne and Richmond's coaching search in the coming weeks, as the clubs look to replace Stinear and Ryan Ferguson respectively."

Shae Sloane was present for the draft last night, which would be expected, but she's obviously another name out there. Hopefully she's going to provide continuity for us, either way.

I don’t know if targeting Nth Melbourne coaching group is the way to go. I am an old, fat bloke who has never coached before but if I was given their list (and a new Mazda!) this year I reckon I could have got them into the top 4.

Personally I’d be looking at the coach’s who have taken an inferior list and overachieved. I know there is some woman (can’t remember her name) in WA who has taken her side from perpetual cellar dwellers to finals in the space of a couple of years. I’d be targeting someone of her ilk.

Edited 22 hours ago22 hr by FarNorthernD

3 hours ago, FarNorthernD said:

I know there is some woman (can’t remember her name) in WA who has taken her side from perpetual cellar dwellers to finals in the space of a couple of years. I’d be targeting someone of her ilk.

Surely she has to move home for family reasons...

8 hours ago, FarNorthernD said:

I know there is some woman (can’t remember her name) in WA who has taken her side from perpetual cellar dwellers to finals in the space of a couple of years. I’d be targeting someone of her ilk.

A season or two too early. Also, I don't know that she wouldn't be looking eventually to step in to the men's game?

The word amongst our W devotees is that Matt Brewer (former VFLW coach) is a good chance. At the VFL/VFLW B&F he said he wants to move on to something “bigger.” But then at the MFCW B&F rumours were swirling around about BBB having been approached. The general vibe is that it won’t be Shae.

9 hours ago, rjay said:

Surely she has to move home for family reasons...

Well, we are her family, right? 🤗

16 hours ago, Dees_In_October said:

No, this is not an announcement.

But we may as well speculate.

Saw this on afl.com in the article about Mick Stinear luring North assistant (mids) Ryan Pendlebury to Geelong:

"A series of clubs have been expected to target North Melbourne's successful AFLW program for roles across this coming off-season, with fellow Kangas assistant Rhys Harwood another seen as a senior coach in waiting. Harwood is expected to figure prominently in Melbourne and Richmond's coaching search in the coming weeks, as the clubs look to replace Stinear and Ryan Ferguson respectively."

Shae Sloane was present for the draft last night, which would be expected, but she's obviously another name out there. Hopefully she's going to provide continuity for us, either way.

I hope we keep some continuity @Dees_In_October. Hope Shae stays in one form or another.

Ben Brown? He'd be great to lure back

I think we could do with some more defensive structure. building a better structure from within 40m out might be a priority too. Then we can rebound fast.

Nev Jetta? He's still in Melbourne and coaching at Fitzroy I think.

Ryan Davis from the lions would have been a good option but he's coaching the crows next year.

Would be great to see more women getting the top roles. Embarassed I can't think of anyone outside of Daisy and Shae off the top of my head.

In some ways, the field should be wider as there may be good candidates from the second tier competitions across the country. Vfl, WAFL etc

We've built the best culture in the competition I reckon. We need someone who can maintain and keep building it.

So. Mark Neeld is probably out of consideration

Savvy move by Mick to start poaching from the North benchmark.

Wonder if he's got ford lined up 😜

57 minutes ago, Ghostwriter said:

The general vibe is that it won’t be Shae

Interesting. A lot of the (very little) stuff I hear from the club on the women's team is that X, Y or Z (often a player) "suits the way we play". I would have thought a new coach would bring a new way to play... unless it was Shae Sloane who has been part of the Stinear programme for so long.

43 minutes ago, Brownie said:

Nev Jetta? He's still in Melbourne and coaching at Fitzroy I think.

I'd love Nev Jetta to come back to Melbourne.

He did indeed coach Fitzroy, but not the amateur team - the Fitzroy Stars, who play in the NFNL. He coached them to their first flag in a very long time: https://www.afl.com.au/news/1448112/neville-jetta-nominated-for-coach-of-the-year-at-national-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-sports-awards

He still has a role at Collingwood.

7 hours ago, Ghostwriter said:

The word amongst our W devotees is that Matt Brewer (former VFLW coach) is a good chance. At the VFL/VFLW B&F he said he wants to move on to something “bigger.” But then at the MFCW B&F rumours were swirling around about BBB having been approached. The general vibe is that it won’t be Shae.

Brewer hasn't been particularly successful at VFLW level, taking over a team that had finished 10th in a twelve team comp, lifting them to 8th, but then dropping to wooden spooners this year. I know he's been part of the AFLW coaching team, but I hope it's not going to be a case of an "experienced" man, irrespective of the level of success he's had, getting the gig over a woman who's been equally impressive at the assistant level.

20 hours ago, FarNorthernD said:

I know there is some woman (can’t remember her name) in WA who has taken her side from perpetual cellar dwellers to finals in the space of a couple of years. I’d be targeting someone of her ilk.

Fairy tales like that rarely seem to work out in sport, but if there's anyone who I can imagine it happening for, it's her (not naming the name is contagious!).

7 hours ago, Brownie said:

Ben Brown? He'd be great to lure back

Maybe you're biased there "Browny" haha. But yeah, definitely saw BBB barracking for the Dees at a few finals games along with his family. It was a shame to lose him from our coaching ranks.

6 hours ago, The Taciturn Demon said:

Interesting. A lot of the (very little) stuff I hear from the club on the women's team is that X, Y or Z (often a player) "suits the way we play". I would have thought a new coach would bring a new way to play... unless it was Shae Sloane who has been part of the Stinear programme for so long.

Perhaps more a matter of tweaking for a new coach? I guess it depends how they view our ability to actually beat Brisbane and North with the current style - have we gone as far as we can with that, or is there a need for either big changes or tweaks to go that step further. Like you said, certainly the players we recruited don't deviate from what's been valued in the past.

Just now, Craig T said:

Brewer hasn't been particularly successful at VFLW level, taking over a team that had finished 10th in a twelve team comp, lifting them to 8th, but then dropping to wooden spooners this year. I know he's been part of the AFLW coaching team, but I hope it's not going to be a case of an "experienced" man, irrespective of the level of success he's had, getting the gig over a woman who's been equally impressive at the assistant level.

Agree completely.

At the very least, with either Sloane or Brewer, they both have "experience" in dealing with the specifics of the W context, rather than someone "parachuted in" for their coaching "experience" but lacking that other element of understanding what a W program is realistically working with. Not that someone from outside the W system can't work, just that it needs to be a consideration.

All of which makes the comment at the AGM that we're looking for an "experienced" coach not that straightforward to interpret!

After 10 years of competition you would hope there is a sufficiently strong pool of women coaches to select from now. Obviously I want the best person for the job, and if that’s a man then so be it, but I would like to think as one of the trail blazers in women’s footy our preference would be to hire a female.