Mark Bickley: Why Adelaide Crows need to connect dots to select new coach to replace Don Pyke
The recent transformations of Damian Hardwick and Nathan Buckley and the success that has followed for Richmond and Collingwood are what Adelaide should be looking at when searching for a new coach, writes Mark Bickley.
Mark Bickley
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Late last week Don Pyke decided his future and the Adelaide Football Club’s were no longer heading in the same direction.
The immediate focus was on Pyke and how and why he had arrived at this decision. However most supporters move on quickly, the focus now is on who will be the new coach.
Ross Lyon, Scott Burns and Sam Mitchell’s names are just a few of the possible replacements being tossed around.
But any such discussions at this early stage are almost pointless.
In fact until the findings of the external report are tabled, how do the Crows know exactly what type of coach is required?
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Often it’s the technical and tactical abilities of the applicants that wins them the position, but mostly it’s the failings of the interpersonal skills that see them leave.
Building relationships, communication, empathy and emotional intelligence all fall into this category and have never been more important than they are right now.
Coaching at AFL level is in a state of transformation, as evidenced by the record number of coaches replaced this year, five in all. The recent transformations of Damian Hardwick and Nathan Buckley are the best examples of this. Both had been coaching for seven years with modest levels of success, to the point where both looked unlikely to hold their jobs. After club reviews both were reappointed, and focused more on having stronger connections with their players and staff.
Before the Tigers’ 2017 premiership season, Hardwick introduced the Triple H sessions, where players shared a “Hero, Hardship and Highlight”. Designed to strengthen relationships within the group, the responses were honest, raw and enlightening.
Captain Trent Cotchin thought he had good relationships with people in the club before this exercise, he thought he knew what that meant, but he didn’t. He described it as going to a whole new level.
Nathan Buckley also made the realisation that he needed to stop worrying about what everyone else thought and start concentrating on the people that mattered most.
The people inside the four walls of the Collingwood Football Club, highlighted recently in the documentary, Collingwood: From The Inside Out .
A fly-on-the-wall insight into the Magpies rise from 13th in 2017 to the grand final in 2018, including the agonising emotions of its narrow loss.
The most compelling part for me though was the transformation of Nathan Buckley and the strength of connection between coach and player.
It would be fair to say that neither Buckley or Hardwick suddenly improved their playing stocks or tactics, but with a closer understanding and a total alignment of coaches and players, both teams went from well outside of the top eight into a grand final, with Richmond going all the way.
And both teams are favoured to make the big day again this year.
So when the panel charged with selecting the next Crows coach gets together, the first thing they must do is make a list of the personal skills the new coach must possess, with characteristics like empathy, care and warmth high on the list.
The life of an AFL footballer has never been more consuming or challenging, and the coaching group that best helps their players navigate those challenges both on the footy field and in life looks set to have the best results. That coaching group will need a leader to guide the way, which is what Adelaide seeks.
I hope the Adelaide Football club is bold in its search and chooses someone with the right set of skills for what the club requires now and into the future.
And don’t forget Hawthorn and how they selected a 36-year-old Alastair Clarkson ahead of past champions of the club in Gary Ayres, Terry Wallace and Rodney Eade. It upset many at the time, but there isn’t a Hawk fan alive who isn’t grateful now.
Jason Dunstall was on the selection panel for the Hawks back in 2004 and has spoken of the standout characteristics of a young Clarkson during the selection process.
With Dunstall chairing the external review it now has a broader context. Not only will he be reporting to the board the deficiencies of the football department, he now will inadvertently also be supplying a template of the skills required by the Adelaide Football Club’s next senior coach.
It is then up to the Crows coaching selection panel to go and find that person.