Footy ponders which coach will find the secret sauce?
The Geelong Cats loom large in the race for the 2024 AFL Premiership with coach, Chris Scott headlining an experienced coaching field
The four remaining coaches each bring unique strengths to the table. Port Adelaide, the Sydney Swans, the Brisbane Lions, and the Geelong Cats expect their coach to deliver a premiership.
Ken Hinkley, the old-school 'Uncle Ken', relies on instinct and protection. John Longmire embodies Sydney's never-say-die spirit, earning his players' absolute trust. Chris Fagan, the 'Father', excels in building personal connections and explicitly trusts his charges. Chris Scott boasts an impressive record, strategic flexibility, and recruiting acumen. Each coach's distinct style sets the stage for a compelling finals series, but the question remains: which two will find the secret sauce to get through the 2024 preliminary weekend
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September in Melbourne, and it's difficult to avoid two unrelenting forces: south-westerly winds/gales, and Aussie Rules Football. My current location, Geelong, try times five!—I will state, football isn't really a disturbance to my space, I enjoy all that goes with it at this time of the year; that said, my primary team finished dead last and anyone who hasn't left is now trying to exit. Some believe footy works in cycles; at least, that's how the AFL (the gatekeepers) wants it—more on this later.
And on the QT, it should also be stated that I do barrack (support) remotely for the Geelong Cats; validation comes by way of view. As I stutter-type, two of the four GMHBA Stadium light towers loom large, standing tall over the South (Southie) Geelong landscape. It's fair to say that Geelong, as a whole, expects to see finals footy. And, they will.
The Cats are an outlier in the modern-day game. 2023 saw a blip on their trajectory line, with a significant drop, finishing 12th. Of course, they rebounded immediately to fourth this year. And now, another home preliminary final with Port Adelaide this Friday night.
Coach Scott was quoted in Tuesday's Melbourne tabloid saying—well, not directly quoted, but it's hardly a secret and Scott has his fingers all over it—"We're in to win every year, fu&k everyone else." To me, and I presume others, that's no surprise, right?
You (the club and coaches) recruit, develop, go through a rigorous pre-season, undertake parallel-planning, determine your floor and ceiling, and then go try to win a premiership. Makes sense, doesn't it? It does to me!
This has underpinned Chris Scott's tenure at Kardinia Park since he won the 2011 premiership in his first year. By most people's predictions and acknowledgement, Geelong should have fallen off the cliff long ago, resigning themselves to a period (years) of rebuilding. It's bonkers—you hear clubs openly admit that "their rebuild might take years!" Can you imagine what a Liverpool fan might say to that?
Standing Chris Scott out for a minute, let’s talk about the other three wise men—all seasoned tacticians in their own distinctive styles.
To me, Hinkley is Uncle Ken, likely to wear an anorak on his morning walk. He would rather move magnets than thumb his way around a tablet, there would be a heavy bias on subjectivity in his decision-making. He protects what he has—we’ve seen that first hand last weekend. I say, “good onya Ken!” Overall he’s a good man, and know’s his onions, just sometimes, he’s prone to sit on his hands when he could be directing. He has the most gain.
John Longmire has the best, and most evocative nick-name in the AFL. Horse is ‘old-school’ too. Whether he was the architect of the ‘Bloods’ never-say-die. mantra, it matters little, he has maintained this spirit throughout his time in Sydney. I’d say he has a mean ‘spray’ when required, and is universally respected by this players, That respect must be earnt and is often the most elusive ingredient for any coach to find.
‘Father’ Chris Fagan is just that. In stark contrast to the superfluity of AFL coaches who lean heavily into strategic facility, Fagan's hallmark lies in his engaging talent for forging profound, personal connections with his players. Fagan fosters brotherhoods, tribes, and fraternities, and is likely to be the most ‘in-game trusting’ of the four coaches.
I wrote a fair bit on Chris Scott in 2022, his win/loss record is outstanding, if you attribute recruiting to Scott, this also outstanding, and in recent seasons he has shown he can pivot in-game when required. There’s good reason Australian Men’s cricket coach, Andrew McDonald, has recently spent significant time with Scott.
Geelong and Chris Scott excel in picking value.
School did little for me, besides PE class, it was only Economics or Geography that sparked my interest. I remember reading about Warren Buffett, we were asked to profile his investment strategy, I recall looking at the price of Berkshire Hathaway, it might have been 90 odd USD a share, to me then, this was a fortune, so I proclaimed it over-priced. How foolish, I didn't see the value; Buffett buys in the bear market, and hardly ever sells. He buys value.
The approximate price today of a Berkshire Hathaway share is 300,000 USD, which would have realized a 3,000-fold return on your initial investment.
Chris Scott and Geelong follow similar principles. One has many premierships the other has a fortune for eternity. Me, I'm still looking.
Coaching has many layers and shouldn't be trivialised. When I poke fun, it's meant just as that. As a coach, I've lived the frustrations and, some successes and everything in between. This would be my summary if asked to strip away as many layers as possible.
Trust is the foundation. Earning players' trust starts with first impressions, being genuine, and maintaining consistency in your message. Then comes negotiation, which I initially thought of as deception. Essentially, it's convincing players to do something they instinctively don't want to do - this is paramount to piecing the winning puzzle together. Delegation follows; have faith in those around you and resist the urge to micro-manage.
Lastly, there's the brand - a 'wanky term', I know, but you'll only ever be as good as 'your team'. Invest 70% of all your internal and external resources in having the right players in your locker room. Second to that, surround yourself with the best coaches possible.
This distillation of coaching principles, drawn from my experiences, forms the bedrock of successful team management. A delicate balance of human connection, strategic thinking, and resource allocation separates the good from the very good in the coaching world.
In a wildly unpredictable season, why wouldn't I confidently say that Geelong will face Sydney in next week's grand final?
As always, thank you for making it this far.
Nick
