AFL great Kevin Sheedy urges Crows to have patience in flag quest

WHY Kevin Sheedy believes the odds were stacked against the Crows this season.

Adelaide coach Don Pyke and Richmond coach Damien Hardwick pose with the AFL premiership trophy before this year’s grand final. Picture: AAP

MASTER coach Kevin Sheedy has suggested it was too soon for Don Pyke to win a premiership and has urged clubs to remain patient with coaches.

Sheedy, who won premierships as a player at Richmond and Essendon as coach, said it was unrealistic to expect a flag from a Pyke who had only been a senior coach for two seasons – especially when he was up against one who had taken eight years to build for a flag.

To Sheedy, the odds had been stacked against Pyke as the club was also reeling from off-field tragedies and the loss of important players in the years leading up to his appointment.

“How difficult it was for Pyke to get there in 45 matches ... and they’ve gone through some unbelievable landscape problems with Dean Bailey and Phil Walsh,” Sheedy said.

Adelaide Crows coach Don Pyke should be given time to achieve his goals, says AFL great Kevin Sheedy.

“And they’ve lost three or four excellent players like (Kurt) Tippett and (Patrick) Dangerfield and (Phil) Davis. They’ve lost all of those players, lost two coaches and in comes Pyke and in 45 games has got them in a grand final.

“That nearly says to me that I didn’t think they were going to win it.

“Because Hardwick had just built this unbelievable, no-matter-what-the-stats-are (approach): we’re winning it. It’s hard to judge all that stuff.”

Watching Hardwick succeed at Richmond and Mark Thompson at Geelong before reminded Sheedy of the virtue of patience for clubs.

It is why he backed Collingwood’s decision to stick with Nathan Buckley.

“It’s a difficult job and it’s got harder (to coach),” Sheedy said on Melbourne radio. “As you can see by the rate of coaches and how long it takes to win a premiership now.

“Like Hardwick — eight years. Bomber’ Thompson — seven or eight years.

“Probably Eddie (Collingwood president Eddie McGuire) did the right thing by holding on to Buckley – you might get some return in the end.”

Sheedy also attributed much of the Essendon supplements scandal to the inexperience of James Hird.

It had vindicated his long-held view that all coaches needed to undergo a rigorous training program to prepare coaches for all the potholes that could pop up in their journeys.

But the VFL-AFL great said the door should remain open for Hird to return to coaching.

“If he wanted to, yes (Hird could return),” Sheedy said. “He’s never been guilty of anything.

“All he did was – he was allowed by the AFL to coach – and I’ve never believed coaches should coach in the AFL without doing their credentials, or courses.

“Neale Daniher and I tried to get that through 10 years ago and we didn’t.

“But now they’re trying very hard.

“Because what’s happened after the Essendon supplements saga.

“I think his lieutenants let him down, to be honest.

“Personally, if I saw (Stephen) Dank walk into the house I’d say, ‘keep walking’ because that’s experience — and you need some experience in coaching.

“It’s very difficult to come straight out of the business landscape and go straight into being a footy coach.”