The sacking of SANFL coach Ron Fuller highlights South Adelaide's five-year folly

THE five-year deal South Adelaide gave to Ron Fuller was a risk they didn't need to take, writes Jai Bednall.

Signing up Ron Fuller for five years was a risk South Adelaide didn't need to take, says Jai Bednall.

IT could only happen to South Adelaide.

Make what at the time appeared a solid appointment of one of the most successful coaches of the SANFL modern era - and then watch as the game passed him by.

This is how the Ron Fuller era will be remembered at Pantherland.

Fuller arrived at Noarlunga in 2010 promising to introduce the hard-nosed, competitive attitude that had been a hallmark of his successful Woodville-West Torrens sides.

He delivered and led the Panthers to just their second finals appearance since 1992 in his second year.

But the SANFL was changing.

Nathan Bassett was leading a revolution at Norwood, introducing AFL gameplans and defensive strategies which rival coaches like Andrew Collins and later Roy Laird realised were the future.

An influx of former AFL players like Josh Francou, Ken McGregor and Kris Massie only sped up the trend.

In truth, Fuller never really adapted.

His fix-all solution of "going one on one" was easily exploited and the Panthers were regularly one of the easiest sides in the competition to score against during his tenure.

His in-your-face man management style also became outdated, rubbing a number of generation Y footballers the wrong way.

But this chapter of his career cannot erase what Fuller achieved with the Eagles - one premiership from five Grand Finals and an overall win rate of 64 per cent.

Outside of John Cahill and Roy Laird, he sits comfortably alongside any coach in the post-Crows era and given he was also a 200-game player his contribution to the SANFL can't be understated.

As for the Panthers, they find themselves in the same position they've spent most of the past 50-odd years.

You can't criticise them for failing to predict the changes Bassett would introduce, because no one at the time was.

But South must take some blame for the length of the Fuller deal. Five years was a risk they didn't need to take.

The positive is an ideal replacement has just come on the market in current West Adelaide coach Andrew Collins.

Collins has the blueprint for rebuilding a battler, having transformed West in to a strong unit with far more limited resources than he'll enjoy at Noarlunga.

But it won't be a quick fix.

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