Caretaker coaches have had mixed results when given the full-time job

Carlton fans are all aboard the David Teague train, but not every caretaker coach has had the same success as Paul Roos after winning the full-time job. Check out the winners and losers.

Richmond coach Jeff Gieschen (right) and Paul Bulluss.

“Unleash the Giesch”.

That was the Richmond banner in the final round of the 1997 season.

It was a reference to caretaker coach Jeff Gieschen, who had taken the reins after the abrupt departure of Robert Walls with five rounds to go.

He had already led the team to three wins from four games before that clash against arch-rival Carlton at Princes Park.

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He made it four from five when the Tigers stormed home to pinch a two-point win (thanks to a late Ben Harrison goal) that knocked the Blues out of the finals.

After that, the voice of the fans was defeaning. Richmond powerbrokers listened and, after leading the reserves to a premiership, Gieschen won the full-time senior job.

People power won. Unfortunately, the move didn’t pan out for the Tigers with Gieschen gone two years later after taking the club to 9th and 12th on the ladder.

It’s a cautionary tale for clubs currently assessing candidates for coaching vacancies.

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Richmond coach Jeff Gieschen (right) and Paul Bulluss belt out the team song.

At Carlton, David Teague has a huge groundswell of support after turning around the Blues’ on-field form.

St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt says the pressure on Carlton’s board is mounting after players crossed the line to advocacy by backing Teague for the job.

“(The players) have crossed it now and that’s absolutely fine,” he said on SEN.

“The pressure really now defers to the selection panel because if they don’t appoint David Teague and they appoint someone else the players will, I think they will get over it pretty quickly. I really believe that. But then the ramifications for them if the new coach comes in and they are 0-5 next year is you had the bird in the hand and you let it fly away.”

Teague backers are quick to point to the case of Paul Roos, who recorded six wins from his 10 games as caretaker at Sydney in 2002, won the full-time job after a fan-led campaign then took the Swans to a premiership.

But, as Gieschen demonstrates, not every part-time coach works out that well.

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Since 2000 just eight of 20 caretaker coaches have won the full-time role, including North Melbourne’s new coach Rhyce Shaw (those to miss out include Jade Rawlings, Dean Solomon, John Barker, Garry Hocking and Todd Viney). The others have had mixed results after their “training wheels” came off. Here’s a quick review.

GRANT THOMAS — ST KILDA, 2001

Caretaker record: 7 wins, 1 loss

Full-time record: Hard to argue with that response after the sacking of Malcolm Blight, and the decision to hand Thomas the job full-time was vindicated when he took the Saints to 15th, 11th, third, third and eighth before getting the chop at the end of 2006.

PAUL ROOS — SYDNEY, 2002

Caretaker record: 6-4

Full-time record: Won the job on the back of a fan-led campaign after taking over from Rodney Eade mid-season. Roos won 14 games in his first full season and led the Swans to the 2005 premiership, breaking a 72-year drought. Handed the reins to John Longmire at the end of 2010.

PETER ROHDE — WESTERN BULLDOGS, 2002

Caretaker record: 1-0

Full-time record: Was appointed head coach after Terry Wallace left. Sacked after two seasons with a win rate of 18 per cent.

NEIL CRAIG — ADELAIDE, 2004

Caretaker record: 4-5

Full-time record: Took over after the departure of Gary Ayres and coached the Crows for seven seasons, finishing on top of the ladder in 2005 and making the finals five years in a row, but couldn’t get to a Grand Final. Resigned in 2011 after a 103-point loss to St Kilda.

Matthew Primus aced his coaching audition in 2010, but couldn’t repeat that success.

MARK HARVEY — FREMANTLE, 2007

Caretaker record: 4-3

Full-time record: Coached the Dockers for four years, with a 13-win season in 2010 his best result, before being blindsided by the appointment of Ross Lyon. Also stepped in as interim coach at Brisbane after Michael Voss was sacked in 2013 (1-4 record) but Justin Leppitsch won the full-time job.

BRETT RATTEN — CARLTON, 2007

Caretaker record: 0-6

Full-time record: The Blues wisely ignored the win-loss record above and Ratts coached the club to 10 wins in his first full season and finals in his second, third and fourth. Stiff to cop the axe after a 10th-placed finish in 2012.

MATTHEW PRIMUS — PORT ADELAIDE, 2010

Caretaker record: 5-2

Full-time record: After being appointed full-time coach when Mark Williams stepped down, the former Power captain won just eight games in the next two seasons and was sacked in 2012.

Originally published as Caretaker coaches have had mixed results when given the full-time job