Wayne Jackson and Rob Snowden the men to help SA clubs bounce back from disappointment of 2018
AFTER the disappointment of 2018 for SA’s two AFL clubs, it is time for clear, outside eyes to examine what went wrong and bring a fresh outlook in time for next season.
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ADELAIDE and Port Adelaide are 2018’s great underachievers.
What started with great promise, with the Crows striving to go one better and win their first premiership in 20 years.
While the Power appeared destined to shake the top four having bolstered their playing stocks with three big name free-agency acquisitions.
Fast-forward 22 weeks and we couldn’t have got it more wrong, with both Adelaide and Port set to miss the finals — they must be held to account.
No one should ever make excuses for missing September action, especially when both clubs have the players and resources for success. But why is it they’ve wilted under the pressure in 2018?
Forensic reviews must take place, but talk of internal reviews that rubber stamp minor change is rubbish.
Fixing it quickly can only happen if fresh, outside eyes are brought in to offer wise, experienced counsel and given the authority to find out the facts of what actually went on.
Two teams to have suffered similar fates recently are Collingwood and Richmond — funnily enough they’re the top two-favorites to win this year’s premiership.
After getting their houses in order, it is important both SA clubs spend time investigating how Richmond and Collingwood have turned around their once ailing on-field fortunes.
Two years ago, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick’s was on the verge of being sacked.
It took a calm and collected Richmond CEO Brendan Gale to task Craig Mitchell of Ernst & Young’s Sports Advisory Practice to review the Tigers from top to bottom.
Under the microscope was the club’s leadership, management, culture, coaching, training preparation, mental strength, infrastructure, systems and process, talent development and player list management.
Newly appointed, experienced football manager Neil Balme played a vital role implementing the football aspects of Richmond’s review, highlighting failings in the football operations and coaching departments.
Perhaps the most important finding was the recommendation to connect the football department and, in particular, players and coaches — enter the Tigers’ HHH program.
HHH standing for — hardship, highlight, hero, where all involved saw players, coaches and staff pour their hearts out to each other to build deeper connections.
Simple actions like players regularly going for coffee with teammates they generally didn’t mix with. A key moment was where the entire team hired a bus and travelled to Dan Butler’s 21st birthday in Ballarat, further building trust and affection among the group.
A very similar thing happened at Collingwood last off-season. Experienced football brain and newly installed football operations manager Geoff Walsh came in with fresh eyes and after a similar exhaustive review identified Nathan Buckley needed further coaching resources around him for success, the moves have paid dividends.
Fresh eyes are needed at Adelaide and Port to gain further understanding of what went wrong — and they must be from outside the club.
Two senior, well respected, independent, experienced SA footy heads are right now worth picking up the phone and asking if they’re prepared to help.
Former AFL CEO and passionate South Aussie Wayne Jackson is one, the other former Port Adelaide and Sydney football manager Rob Snowden; two experienced football people whose opinions are widely respected and listened to.
It obvious to all that Adelaide’s football department messed up the handling of the pre-season camp and they suffered far too many soft-tissue injuries killing their season — both warrant further external investigation.
Just because the club unsuccessfully tried to deal with the camp saga in the split round in a poorly executed press conference, they cannot sweep what happened under the carpet, key people must be held accountable.
Questions need to be asked how did the club find itself in this situation? And under whose decision was it to proceed when it was already flagged as being questionable for the playing group?
At Port — how can it win 11 of 15 matches yet fall off a cliff and miss the finals after losing 5 of their last 6 games — it’s unacceptable.
Port fans are filthy and calling for Ken Hinkley’s head as senior coach, they must understand it can’t and won’t happen.
Only 12 months ago Port’s board signed Hinkley to a generous three-year contract extension. Any potential sacking and resulting payout of his contract would mean a payout of approximately $3 million and Port would have to carry the entire fee in its football department soft cap.
And with Port president David Koch and his board backing Ken in, the club must surround him with more experienced coaching re-enforcements in 2019 — much like Hardwick and Buckley were given over the past couple of years to get the best out of them.
Collingwood and Richmond’s game style changes have been clearly evident since change was installed — something Port is also crying out for.
How can it be a team that bolstered its playing list with three talented free agents to improve scoring, fall from being the second-best scoring team in the competition in 2017 to 13th this year?
And why is the Power’s skill level so poor?
The playing group must also learn to deal with expectation and when the opposition challenges in games.
Vice-captain Ollie Wines revealed on Adelaide radio on Tuesday night “we drop our heads when things don’t go our way” — that’s embarrassing.
After underachieving so badly in 2018, both Adelaide and Port Adelaide have no other option but to bring in outsiders.
Experienced fresh eyes must shake the tree and get to the bottom of exactly what went wrong.
The fans deserve it.