Nope. but it’d be such a coup. Richmond don’t look like getting rid of hardwick any time soon, caracella must have ambitions of a senior position soon. would be a good opportunity for both parties (us and him), plus its not another boys club appointment, hes proven himself at 2 clubs now.
Most coaches get a year to assess entire list (before culling) and teach game plan & go from there.
This whilst it’s his 2nd yr contracted is technically only his first in reality with the whole list, and there were challenges with the returning players that no other coach has had to deal with.
And he actually did a terrific job all things considered. It’s far too premature to be calling for his head and thinking succession plans.
Fwd line has been overhauled already, now for the midfield. Parish ready for full time inside mid, Langford having done his apprenticeship in VFL & McGrath into mid rotation helps that immensely.
He will be a major reason we are in position to land and may land a big fish or two. I fully expect us to improve again next year with that in mind and natural progression of our young players and him to get recontracted.
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I dont think its controversial to suggest that Woosh isnt going to win us games with overly tactical setups. He seems an excellent people manager and figurehead who has a clear picture on the overall requirements to be a good side. He clearly has an adaptable game from season to season, last year he set us up to stay in games defensively where possible, this year it shifted to more attacking with the full list back together. But it seems he believes in keeping it relatively consistent and stable across a season, even when not going well at times. That’s admirable in the figurehead, you need consistency and predictability, especially given everything he had to tie together, particularly outside the 2 hours of matchday and arguably even then.
Given that, I think the focus needs to be firstly on 1st-4th year player development. We will sink or swim on getting the maximum return from the likes of the two L’s, Francis, Redman etc. Whatever it costs, find the best development (from a footy viewpoint) guy/girl/people and get them to the club. Its vital that we not squander what we have. I used to see Goodwin and McCartney at the VFL huddles, instructing and coaxing, adding input. I found it impressive. Do we still have that type of involvement? (Its tough with AFL v VFL timeclashes, I know) Maybe we do, but I have a nagging feeling that we aren’t at the cutting edge of getting our kids to play as needed. That’s not a shot at Corrigan either, I think he’s quite impressive from the bits I’ve seen. I’m also not convinced that selection policy always helps either, or at least hasn’t this year.
Secondly, find tactically adept minds to put in the gameday box alongside Woosha. I can only judge it from the outside of course, but I didn’t see a whole lot of flexibility in matchday moves or selection risks when looking at the season as a whole. Eg- I didn’t like the midfield setups at all at times, that’s partly a personnel issue (a bit one paced as a group) but also a philosophical outlook re going with negating roles and if so, when.
Viewed entirely from without and with little to no inside knowledge, Woosha stays and i’m more than content with that. I think he’s the man to change the mental frailty that we keep tripping ourselves up on for a decade or more because that’s a management and psychological matter. But i’d like to see things changed up around him. New kids should get a better look at opportunities onfield, and I’d hope we see a different outlook in the coaching department too. If that means new minds looking at the problems, I’m all for it.
All of this could be totally off beam of course. Neeld might be a tactical genius, McKenna a midfield whisperer, etc etc and the problems are just a question of time to sort out. But I wouldn’t bet on it. Particularly Neeld, whose record can at least be viewed over a longer term.
Anyway, that’ll be my sole input to this thread now. Because only those within can really know. I hope the Club make the right calls.
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I never spoken a word with John Worsfold, but have watched his post match stuff all year and he seems in touch and have a clear direction.
I have spoken a lot with Mark Harvey, and while he gets some criticism from his time at Freo, I have always found him very interesting to talk with, is passionate about his players and talks in terms of tactics and strategy.
I really have tried to like Skippy and McKenna, but they are far from convincing and while the forward line was good, it was due to the make-up and ability of the group, not the tactics. To be fair to McKenna, he had less to work with but I did not see any tactics to account for our weakness in speed at the centre bounce.
Harvey and Woosha were both aggressive players, see no aggression in the rest of the coaching group. McKenna has been a senior coach and Skipworth has been around now coaching for a few years; think they need to move on. I would bring in Dustin Fletcher to teach a bit about defence and maybe try for some-one like Hodge for pure mean-ness. I want us to be hated again for what we do on the field.
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Has anyone given any thought to the idea that perhaps our game styles last year were in part, strategic to maximise fan engagement?
Winning is a better engager than game style.
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Where do you live? Maybe get to some EFC functions and and ask him. He is very approachable, straight forward and will gladly answer your questions. And unlike Sheeds will typically answer it straight as opposed to Sheeds who goes around the block before getting there (that’s if does at all)…Sheeds very entertaining though!
I’d like to see a change is message which would hopefully reflect a change in approach. No more softly, softly we’re learning and growing. Now is time for expectations, demands and consequences. Do or do not, there is no try.
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I’d rather not give that any thought. At all.
Horrendous if true.
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Every club where he has been as a player and a coach, he has been part of a premiership (or finals) except Richmond. The word is, he has really made a big difference and changed the way the team plays. Probably saved Dimma’s job.
Dimma was prepared to change things and so has the club That’s the difference.
Horrendous how?
Last year was always going to be a hard sell to the fans. Why is developing a game style to minimise huge losses so horrendous?
Woosh believes high scoring is vital part required to win. If you arent potent up forward and with your ball movement that won’t happen.
Where we fall down is we can’t win enough ball/ pressure enough from midfield often enough (personnel) and generally always forced to try win it back in defence and transition whole ground. Which is difficult and affects amount of inside 50’s. And puts defence under the pump all the time.
The games we belted WC & Port we were completely on top in midfield however.
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The game style isn’t, provided it’s a base for where you see your team the year after, and the year after that.
Doing it for “fan engagement” though? Really?
If fan engagement was a priority then the hundreds of people who travelled to Sydney on Saturday from all over the place might have got some acknowledgement.
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Coaching these days seems to be about collating stats at the end of each quarter to see where the problems are and then making the necessary changes. This is all well and good but as in last Saturday the horse had well and truely bolted before half time.
It seems to me that we need someone beside Woosha in the box who can be more proactive who can make immediate adjustments before it is too late Woosha to me should be more a director of coaching putting in place things like the overall game plan and leaving the game day coaching to a subordinate.
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Wishful thinking. But the club hierarchy aren’t that smart
Like you would know. You have an axe to grind and you consistently do so.
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If you were going to hire anyone, hire N Balme.
I’m referring to last year.
If we spent a year teaching our players to play a style that did not somehow build into the style we wanted to play going forward… then we are fools.
Fan engagement better have nothing to do with onfield decision-making or we can truly consider ourselves an entertainment provider and leave the winning of premierships to the clubs that understand they are still football clubs.
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If that was the case I hope it wasn’t expressed to the players. The players can’t be going out there to put on a show instead of going out there to win. That would be a horrible precedent to set for the bunch off young guys we had. Going out to win should be the show.
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