http://www.theage.com.au/news/rfnews/co ... 42736.html

We want to surround Ratts with the best Assistant Coaches and keep bringing in new people with new ideas. One criticism around our coaching staff has been that there are too many ex-Carlton players (despite the presence of Harris, Harvey, Montgomery and Riley!).

According to the above article by Caro, the following Assistant coaches will be on the move at season's end - Justin Leppitsch, Chris Johnson (Bris), Darren Bewick, Daniel Daly (NM), Jade Rawlings, Brian Royal and David King (Rich).

Without being privy to the inner-workings of the football department, it's very hard to say who would be the best fit for us. However, I doubt very much that recruiting anyone from the Tigers coaching staff would have much appeal to us. But there's some well-credentialed individuals amongst the other four -

Leppa : 227 games, 3 x premierships, 2 x AA, Assistant coach (to Matthews & Voss) since 2007;
Johnno : 264 games, 3 x premierships, 2 x AA, Development coach since 2008;
Boris : 238 games, 2 x premierships, coached NT U-18s, Assistant Coach at NM since 2005;
Daly : former forward scout at Collingwood under Malthouse, has been with NM since 2003 as player welfare and development manager, forward scout and opposition coach.

Playing experience/achievements isn't everything, but anyone involved in premierships as a player or coach has to have an advantage. On that score, you'd think the club would be interested to speak to Leppa, Johnno and Boris. Having said that, Daly has a great reputation at NM on the game-day/tactical side of things.

IMO, from an outsider's point of view, Leppa is the one that appeals most - even if no other reason than because our coaching staff currently does not include anyone with experience as a KP player. Unfortunately, Caro's article suggests that Leppa might be on his way to the Dawks. The club might be interested in Johnno - if he's any good, you'd think he would be a sought after commodity by a club, like ours, that has young Indigenous players it is looking to develop.

However, we want the 'best' not the 'best available'. So I'd love to think that we could target a key Assistant from a top 4 team. Ken Hinkley? Leigh Tudor? Gavin Brown? Leon Cameron?

Or do we need another recently retired player like Adam Simpson?

I'd be interested to know what other posters think. Which Assistant Coaches should we target? Which ones should we let go? Or should we leave the coaching team as is?

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

silvagni

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NG
S M C , S F L

kouta?

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Three reasons for an assistant coach to take a job:

1. To work under a coach who'll look good on their CV.
2. To work with a club that looks likely to be involved in a Premiership, also great for the CV.
3. To work, period.

So on what criteria are we attractive to candidates? Probably not No.1, definitely No.3, and a better chance than many of No.2.

To be brutally realistic, Carlton wouldn't be on the top of anyone's dream-list, in terms of being an assistant. If you could pick any job in Victoria, it'd be Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn: you're learning from a premiership coach, at a club that's likely to challenge seriously for the flag in the next two seasons. That makes you very employable in three, four years time.

Carlton is more of a leap of faith. So are we genuinely able to attract "the very best"? I think we have to be realistic and say it's a longshot.

Geelongs premiership window will close after this year. I think we are a better prospect than Geelong for assistant coaches. You don't want to be there when they start sliding irrespective if you are working with a premeirship coach.
Hawthorn, I would question how hungry the players are to succeed? They have tasted success prematurely and although they had a bad run with injuries this season has been ordinary at best.
Collingwood, well between Malthouse, Bucks and Eddie nobody else will exist.
If I was looking I'd be looking at us, Essendon*, Melbourne and West Coast.

4. To work under a coach who might not be around too long

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Essendon*? You'll be learning from Matthew Knights. No-one knows yet whether that'll be a good thing or not. They may taste success, but they may not.

Melbourne? Good young players, but you'd be walking into an extremely volatile coaching environment. Riley won't survive beyond 2010, so you'll have a new guy wanting to bring his own people in.

West Coast, sure. I'd go Adelaide too.

Hawthorn? They'll be back up there, hangover this year, but the quality and structure is still there. Geelong still have currency - why was Hinkley chased? Because he worked in that environment, under a premiership coach. Same as Hardwick. The cats will be thereabouts for a while yet I think.

Collingwood? Why wouldn't anyone want to learn under Malthouse for one or two years, then be part of the Buckley team for another year or two, with a team that's clearly strong... in a well-resourced club? It's not about the current job when you're an assistant... it's your NEXT job.

No way does Carlton give you a better grounding for your next job than Collingwood in 2010.

But at Collingwood next year you won't have a lot of responsibility.
You have a senior coach who has 2 more seasons to win a flag and a senior assistant who needs to learn quick to take the senior job.

Potentially at Carlton, someone like Hinkley can take a leading role in player development and match day planning

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T E A M

2010?
He didn't survive beyond 2007!!!

FWIW, Melbourne is the place to be if Dean Bailey recieves the mooted 1 year extention. They have some excellent up and coming KPP's and plenty of young midfielders coming through. Guys like Blease will be new players for them next year and when you add Scully (bonafide AFL player from day 1), pick 2 and another pick inside the first 20, their list is looking first class. They just need 24 months of stable development time which Baileys contract extention will provide and they'll be off and running.
Players like Morton, Warnock, Grimes, Frawley, Martin and co. will provide plenty of good times for their supporters.
They're the pick of the bunch IMO.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Flat out no to Bewick and King; they've got nothing to show for from their coaching careers. And from what I've heard about Laidley's tenure at North Melbourne, opposition coach was a pretty soft job, so no to Daly too.

Rawlings would be a very good target. Not enough information to make a rough call on the rest.

The traditional model of selecting tactical coaches are the absolute creme de la creme players who could clearly read the game, or players renowned for being quality despite lacking athletic attributes; the kind who got everything out of themselves on the field. Rawlings strikes me as that kind of player.

Leppistch was more of a physical talent, as was Chris Johnson, but I would still cast an eye over Johnson as he transitioned from forward to defender over his career. Royal is another who checks the aforementioned boxes, but his status as a Wallace regular doesn't read well.

Moving onto our mob, Lappin is definitely first one on the chopping block. Riley has shown plenty in his role, so he's a keeper. All the other alumni are in minor roles, although Bradley as skills coach deserves further scrutiny.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

I think Carlton should be an attractive proposition for the best of the Assistant Coaches. Why wouldn't you want to jump on board of one of the power Victorian clubs on the way up? Well resourced, politically stable, talented list.

And some of the Assistants that have been at the same club for a number of years (eg. Leppa, Gavin Brown) will want to move on and get experience elsewhere.

I hope we go all out to get one or two of the best Assistants around this year...

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Adam Simpson would definitely be worth a look if the Port offer falls through.

wayne brittain?

Wants to concentrate on his sprinkler business, according to Caro...

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.