SWANSBEST
2nd April 2003, 05:02 PM
Coached in the art of words, sense and sensibility rare
April 02, 2003
COACHES do say the oddest things. Take Cornflakes Thomas down at St Kilda.
First he says his Saints are keen to win the Wizard Cup. Yet when the Saints lose he says the competition is not much chop and that pre-season matches should be scrapped.
Then after losing to the Kangaroos in the first match of the premiership season, he says his boys were underdone because they didn't have enough matches under their belts. No-one can make sense of that.
They have their own little drum down at St Kilda and they beat away at it very differently from everyone else. Chief executive Brian Waldron tells us Jayco has been confirmed as the Saints' shorts sponsor again only to have AAP report hours later Jayco had quit. Talk about being caught with your shorts down.
And the president Rod Butterss says the competition has to be careful how it manages money spent on coaches. Butterss, you remember, flew half the team to the Gold Coast, threw a million big ones at Malcolm Blight and sacked him 15 games later. Undeterred, he is flinging a reported $450,000 at Cornflakes, who has managed to win six games out of 30.
It is a very different drum pounding away at St Kilda, indeed. Bang, bing, bong, bung. But back to coaches and their quirks. Our favourite remains Kevin Sheedy. Yesterday Sheedy managed to blame Essendon's performance on and off the field directly on Tony Lockett and the Swans, Carlton, Brisbane and the AFL commission.
Apparently, it has nothing to do with the Bombers themselves. They do everything beautifully, never miss a beat, recruit perfectly, prepare meticulously and play astonishingly well. Just such a damn pity somebody is always conniving behind the scenes to rip them off.
Sheedy blames an AFL salary cap concession for the Bombers' loss in the 1996 preliminary final to the Swans. Lockett scored with a kick after the siren to put Sydney into the grand final by one point. Sheedy argues Lockett left St Kilda for Sydney because the Swans had the extra salary cash. Lockett, of course, was signed, sealed and almost delivered to Collingwood until the Woods committee blocked the move. More fool them. In 1997, Essendon finished 14th. Bloody Lockett.
Sheeds also blames Carlton's cheating ways for the Bombers' one-point preliminary final loss in 1999. Nothing to do with Mark Mercuri missing a goal from dead in front in the dying moments of the game. No, it was Carlton breaking the salary cap that did it.
Conveniently forgotten is Essendon's win in the 1993 grand final. Carlton's former president John Elliott declared Essendon should have handed back the flag because investigations proved Essendon were significantly in breach of the salary cap.
The coach laments that Essendon had to part with five premiership players this summer to comply with salary cap regulations. In fact, had Essendon better calculated their salary cap position the club would not have been forced to cull so heavily.
The fact Blake Caracella is playing for Brisbane this season has everything to do with the Bombers' poor reading of the salary cap changes and nothing to do with any special assistance Brisbane gets for player retention. Simply, Essendon stuffed up.
And Brisbane's recent domination of Essendon on the playing field is hardly due to salary cap concessions. Brisbane are tougher ? much tougher ? a lot quicker and more skilled. They have a mid-field rotation that leaves Sheedy and his coaching staff dizzy.
Sheedy says his blood boils when people say Essendon have underachieved. Fair enough. Sheedy's point that the AFL is a tough gig is well made. But when Essendon won the 2000 premiership it was widely debated whether we had seen the best team in history. Well, the best team in history won one premiership before falling apart. Brisbane are going for three in a row.
Finally, if money is the key to success, why isn't Sydney the dominant AFL club? The Swans get 5 per cent more room to move than Brisbane and 15 per cent more than the rest of the competition.
Sydney's greatest result since 1990 when they finished 13th was a grand final appearance in 1996. The best they have done since is finish fifth in 1998. Last year they had three coaches if you throw in Terry Wallace and finished 11th.
Finally, Sheedy says the AFL commission has to be more alert because the rugby World Cup is coming and that spells danger. But where? Hardly in the AFL heartland of Victoria. Surely, the most vulnerable areas will be up north where rugby is actually played. Like Brisbane and Sydney.
The coach should take a deep breath and accept Leigh Matthews has a better football side and worry more about beating Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday. Still, we know who to blame if the Demons win.
Bloody Plugger. Carlton. The Swans. The AFL commission. Salary cap concessions. Plugger. Carlton. The Swans. The AFL commission. Salary cap concessions. Bloody Plugger.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6223520%255E12270,00.html
April 02, 2003
COACHES do say the oddest things. Take Cornflakes Thomas down at St Kilda.
First he says his Saints are keen to win the Wizard Cup. Yet when the Saints lose he says the competition is not much chop and that pre-season matches should be scrapped.
Then after losing to the Kangaroos in the first match of the premiership season, he says his boys were underdone because they didn't have enough matches under their belts. No-one can make sense of that.
They have their own little drum down at St Kilda and they beat away at it very differently from everyone else. Chief executive Brian Waldron tells us Jayco has been confirmed as the Saints' shorts sponsor again only to have AAP report hours later Jayco had quit. Talk about being caught with your shorts down.
And the president Rod Butterss says the competition has to be careful how it manages money spent on coaches. Butterss, you remember, flew half the team to the Gold Coast, threw a million big ones at Malcolm Blight and sacked him 15 games later. Undeterred, he is flinging a reported $450,000 at Cornflakes, who has managed to win six games out of 30.
It is a very different drum pounding away at St Kilda, indeed. Bang, bing, bong, bung. But back to coaches and their quirks. Our favourite remains Kevin Sheedy. Yesterday Sheedy managed to blame Essendon's performance on and off the field directly on Tony Lockett and the Swans, Carlton, Brisbane and the AFL commission.
Apparently, it has nothing to do with the Bombers themselves. They do everything beautifully, never miss a beat, recruit perfectly, prepare meticulously and play astonishingly well. Just such a damn pity somebody is always conniving behind the scenes to rip them off.
Sheedy blames an AFL salary cap concession for the Bombers' loss in the 1996 preliminary final to the Swans. Lockett scored with a kick after the siren to put Sydney into the grand final by one point. Sheedy argues Lockett left St Kilda for Sydney because the Swans had the extra salary cash. Lockett, of course, was signed, sealed and almost delivered to Collingwood until the Woods committee blocked the move. More fool them. In 1997, Essendon finished 14th. Bloody Lockett.
Sheeds also blames Carlton's cheating ways for the Bombers' one-point preliminary final loss in 1999. Nothing to do with Mark Mercuri missing a goal from dead in front in the dying moments of the game. No, it was Carlton breaking the salary cap that did it.
Conveniently forgotten is Essendon's win in the 1993 grand final. Carlton's former president John Elliott declared Essendon should have handed back the flag because investigations proved Essendon were significantly in breach of the salary cap.
The coach laments that Essendon had to part with five premiership players this summer to comply with salary cap regulations. In fact, had Essendon better calculated their salary cap position the club would not have been forced to cull so heavily.
The fact Blake Caracella is playing for Brisbane this season has everything to do with the Bombers' poor reading of the salary cap changes and nothing to do with any special assistance Brisbane gets for player retention. Simply, Essendon stuffed up.
And Brisbane's recent domination of Essendon on the playing field is hardly due to salary cap concessions. Brisbane are tougher ? much tougher ? a lot quicker and more skilled. They have a mid-field rotation that leaves Sheedy and his coaching staff dizzy.
Sheedy says his blood boils when people say Essendon have underachieved. Fair enough. Sheedy's point that the AFL is a tough gig is well made. But when Essendon won the 2000 premiership it was widely debated whether we had seen the best team in history. Well, the best team in history won one premiership before falling apart. Brisbane are going for three in a row.
Finally, if money is the key to success, why isn't Sydney the dominant AFL club? The Swans get 5 per cent more room to move than Brisbane and 15 per cent more than the rest of the competition.
Sydney's greatest result since 1990 when they finished 13th was a grand final appearance in 1996. The best they have done since is finish fifth in 1998. Last year they had three coaches if you throw in Terry Wallace and finished 11th.
Finally, Sheedy says the AFL commission has to be more alert because the rugby World Cup is coming and that spells danger. But where? Hardly in the AFL heartland of Victoria. Surely, the most vulnerable areas will be up north where rugby is actually played. Like Brisbane and Sydney.
The coach should take a deep breath and accept Leigh Matthews has a better football side and worry more about beating Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday. Still, we know who to blame if the Demons win.
Bloody Plugger. Carlton. The Swans. The AFL commission. Salary cap concessions. Plugger. Carlton. The Swans. The AFL commission. Salary cap concessions. Bloody Plugger.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6223520%255E12270,00.html