Jaded No More

And much like Guerra, he can do work behind the scenes while still doing his job at Geelong. The fact that Geelong want him around still, shows how valued he is and why Geelong is so successful. They don’t begrudge their people success, and they don’t risk their own chance at success by playing petulant games. I have no doubt King has already spoken to a number of our players and is talking to potential assistants and other staff he might like to bring along. And no doubt he’s also chatted with Tim and Jason about his list strategy ideas. I wish Geelong nothing but failure, but likewise if King gets another flag under his belt it won’t be the worst thing either

Yep and like Jackson has real world experience of leading businesses. Yes Jackson had lots of footy experience, but he also had experience outside of football.

Pert and Schwab loved the sound of their own voice. Jackson leaves behind impossibly big shoes to fill, but I like that already Guerra has cut down on the leaks. That was something Jackson managed to control early on as well.

No mention of King being the best presenting coach he’s ever seen in 40 years? 🙄😂 Guerra has been in the role for a week, and in that time we appointed a coach with 0 leaks, and he’s told the negative buffoons in the media to put a sock in it. 10 stars for the first week in the role for mine.

Exactly. Speaks volumes that Guerra has said that we want a coach for the next decade. Buckley would have been one foot out the door if things didn’t go to plan at Melbourne, and the salary at Tassie kept increasing. I rather be left at the alter than go thru a messy divorce later.

Obviously we never were. If Buckley was our number one choice we would have pushed harder and waited for him. And if this was the boat race everyone said it was in the media, then we wouldn’t have paid an external team of people to join the search, nor gone thru a process. We would have spoken to Buckley, and given him the job if he was keen. That’s usually how experienced coaches go about getting their next job. Don’t think Clarkson or Hardwick or Brad Scott went thru anything like what we put Buckley through. At the end of the day Buckley would have been the easier choice, and definitely a choice for the now. Buckley would raise the club’s profile, and take care of the media noise. King was the long term choice with an eye on real sustained success. Doesn’t mean King will achieve that, but if you were after a great tactician with aggressive ideas around game plan, in the same mold as McRae, then you got what you were after. We wanted experience, we wanted a good tactical mind, we wanted a fresh new voice, and we wanted someone who understood the modern game. King ticked all those boxes. IMO Buckley did not.

Anyone who thinks King won’t be a hard taskmaster should remember that he currently works under Chris Scott, who is arguably the hardest taskmaster of all.

Just the small issue of Clarry not agreeing to go to SA King has been the midfield coach at Geelong, while Geelong chased and hosted Clarry in trade talks two years running. I think it tells you plenty about how King values Clarry.

Our track record with tall bald ruckmen is very strong. May this continue.

Chasing money has hardly worked out for players. Also there are 600+ list spots and only 18 senior AFL jobs. Being a senior coach is an extremely difficult, time consuming, all encompassing job that comes with enormous pressure. It’s not something you do for money, it’s something you do because you love it and are passionate about it and can give your whole energy to it. If money is your main motivation, you’re in the wrong job because ultimately it’s a short lived career. There are easier ways to make good money.

All this, but also he’s not a 45 point difference type player. Adelaide have [censored] the bed.

Anyone who calls himself The Wizard who is not legally named Jeff Farmer, needs to uppercut themselves.

If Merrett ends up at the Hawks I’ll spew.

This final series is a genuine nightmare

At the very least could have flipped him the bird

Sorry but if you’re coaching for the money, you’re in it for the wrong reasons. I’m glad we dodged that bullet

Just another reason to wish failure upon Geelong

Not only was this not announced by Tom Morris first, the club had both an email and press release ready to go immediately. Kudos Paul Guerra for sacking the media department and replacing them entirely between the B&F and today!

My god this place is unbearable. FFS if Buckley was not 100% committed he wasn't the right guy. There were lots of questions marks around him, both with his average coaching history, the time he spent away from the game, and his desire to do the job. But of course the usual suspects are bitching and moaning, because the media TOLD THEM Buckley is the man, and now that he isn't, it must be because we are a basket case and not because, wait for it, Buckley just wasn't that impressive or that committed to the job. If you hate this club and think everything we do is so bad, please just put yourself and the rest of us out of your misery and leave.

I think he pulled out of the West Coast job along with a few others

Very happy we have gone for a new and fresh voice. It is exactly the path taken by many of the recent successful sides / premiers (ourselves included with Goody). King has loads of experience across a number of clubs, was captain, won a flag, coached successful sides and been involved in the system for many many years. He comes from what I think is the best run club in the AFL in Geelong, both as player and coach. He definitely fits the profile of what you want in a coach. Fingers crossed he can be given the grace he deserves by our fans, but no doubt by next week there will be dozens of whingers on here calling him the wrong choice. And most importantly Buckley will never win a flag.

So West Coast, Carlton, Essendon and North are better to watch than we are? I think not

Not true. Look at other clubs who are playing rubbish football while simultaneously keeping or even growing their base.

There is no way that Judd has put pen to paper and we are just waiting to announce it. It makes no sense to wait, especially with other list decisions being announced. He is obviously waiting to see who the new coach is, and what they can give him, and perhaps we are also happy to wait and see what we can get for him at the trade table. I would be disappointed if a kid we plucked off the rookie list during Covid and made a permanent member of our best 22, chooses to leave, but it won't be the end of the world either.

Yeah at least last year our players kept their angst towards Trac behind closed doors. How does Merrett walk back from this? It's obvious he doesn't want to, and is hoping the scorched earth approach gets him what he wants. Didn't work for Trac tho.