Hawthorn assistant, former Collingwood captain Scott Burns has credentials to be next Crows coach, ex-colleague says
He was overlooked for the Crows job in 2011 but Scott Burns has emerged as a leading contender to replace Don Pyke. And an ex-colleague reckons he’d be a great fit.
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Scott Burns has emerged as a leading contender to become Adelaide’s senior coach with a former colleague lauding his football nous and ability to build connection with players.
The Crows will finalise the selection panel to find the club’s new coach in coming days following Don Pyke’s resignation last week.
Burns is Hawthorn’s forwards coach, has previously been an assistant at West Coast and Collingwood, and also captained the Magpies in a 264-game career.
The 44-year-old was right in the mix for the top job at the Crows in 2011 when the selection panel interviewed him but ultimately favoured Brenton Sanderson because of his premiership pedigree and list development at Geelong.
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At that time, Burns was an assistant with West Coast and Ricciuto — who was not on the panel and yet to become a Crows board member — endorsed the Norwood product as the “best credentialed” candidate.
“If I was chasing someone, I would be having a very good look at him,” Adelaide great Ricciuto said in 2011.
Burns also was understood to have narrowly missed out to Stuart Dew on getting the Gold Coast Suns post in 2017 and to Brendon Bolton at Carlton in 2015.
A former colleague of Burns described him as highly regarded in the industry, tactically astute and someone who could relate to players on a personal level.
“He understands you need to be able to coach everyone — blokes with flair, blokes who are down on confidence,” he said.
“He’s really worked hard on trying to learn to press a button of a lot of individuals.
“He’s done a lot of work on who he is, how he’d coach, the modern-day coaching methods and understanding the mental and psychology of it.
“He wouldn’t be a screamer … he’s a bit more even, has a bit of fun, can see the funny side to things but knows when you’ve got to be serious and hard.
“He’d drive standards and if you go against anything to do with the team, he’d be right on you.”
The ex-colleague expected Adelaide would likely need to approach Burns for him to throw his hat in the ring again, but believed Burns would be a good fit for the Crows.
“You’re going to need empathy — those boys have been through a bit these past few years,” he said.
“You need to actually work with them and understand them a bit more, and he’ll present that to a panel if he gets an opportunity that he rates it really highly.
“That’ll be really important with Adelaide to show who he is and what he’s going to stand for and what they need, getting the players back on side a bit, that caring.
“That genuineness and authenticity is really important, and I think he’ll have that.”
If Adelaide does appoint Burns, he will be the latest assistant to graduate from the Alastair Clarkson stable at Hawthorn following the likes of Damien Hardwick, Luke Beveridge, Chris Fagan and Bolton.
Essendon assistant and former Adelaide full-back Ben Rutten was the bookmakers’ favourite for the Crows job when markets opened on Thursday but Burns had replaced him in that spot by Monday.
Last week a report in Melbourne stated Rutten would remain at Essendon as part of a succession plan to take over from John Worsfold.
Others linked to the Crows job include Collingwood assistant Justin Longmuir, who is also believed to be on Fremantle’s interview list to replace Ross Lyon.
Longmuir, who played 139 games for the Dockers, is highly rated at the Magpies, particularly for his work with the backline and the mental side of game preparation.
He was at West Coast for seven years as a development and senior assistant coach.
On Saturday, Adelaide chairman Rob Chapman said the club would not make a move on any coach still in the AFL finals.
Port Adelaide assistant Michael Voss has made no secret of his desire to return to senior coaching and last month interviewed for the Carlton role that later went to David Teague.
Voss, who has been responsible for strengthening relationships and building connection among players and coaches at Alberton this season, was in Brisbane’s hot seat from 2009-13.
The Power’s forwards mentor, ex-Crow Nathan Bassett, is also viewed as a senior coach in waiting after winning two SANFL flags with Norwood and being an assistant at Essendon.