Alastair Clarkson’s four flags means he’s been the greatest AFL coach of the 21st century
FROM the best coaches to the ultimate team, Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane have worked through the biggest moments and key players of the past 17 seasons. HAVE YOUR SAY
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THE AFL has never known a period so explosive and compelling as the years since the dawning of the new millennium.
There have been billion-dollar deals, seismic drug scandals, feuds turning one-time friends into foes, farewells to tug at the coldest of heartstrings, and through it all, some of the most intoxicating football ever played.
FOOTY SPECIAL: BEST INDIVIDUAL GAMES OF THE CENTURY
The game has changed like never before, and almost does so on a weekly basis now so that there is barely time for any of the participants or observers to catch a breath.
Herald Sun football reporters Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane have worked through every jaw-dropping, fist-pumping moment of the past 17 seasons — from 2001 to 2017.
They have come up with the definitive list of the 21st century so far ... the good, the bad, and the exceedingly ugly.
On Monday, they look at the best coaches and greatest individual games from 2000.
From the best grand finals to cult figures to the ultimate 21st century line-up, we hope you enjoy a great week of footy memories.
THE BEST COACHES OF THE 21st CENTURY
1. ALASTAIR CLARKSON
Four flags, including three-in-a-row, makes Clarko the best of the 21st century so far — and one of the greatest of all-time. Changed the way the game has been played, but has also been willing to reinvent himself and his strategies when circumstances demanded. Made Hawthorn a club opposition players wanted to join and one that rival clubs wanted to emulate. Never frightened to make the tough, sometimes unpopular calls. A combative character, his temper has occasionally dented coaches’ box walls, but that’s nothing on the lasting impression he has made as a coach and educator.
2. LEIGH MATTHEWS
Matthews galvanised the basket-case that was Brisbane at the end of last century into one of the most successful teams of this century. From the moment he uttered his Arnold Schwarzenegger line ‘If it bleeds, you can kill it’, he exposed Essendon’s vulnerabilities and inspired Brisbane to claim the first three flags of the 21st century (2001-03). Made a fourth Grand Final the year after, losing to Port Adelaide after being forced to play a prelim final at the MCG. Matthews’ flag-winning teams never finished on top of the ladder but he always had them peaking at the right time.
3. MARK THOMPSON
‘Bomber’ bucked the AFL trend of dour, defensive football in the mid 2000s, ushering in an attacking, attractive game style which swept the club to three successive Grand Final appearances. His risk-versus-reward strategy saw the Cats not only break a 44-year premiership drought in 2007 — by a record Grand Final margin of 119 points — but also won them a more tightly found 2009 clash with St Kilda. The 2008 loss to Hawthorn split those two triumphs. Left the club in a strong position following his departure at the end of 2010, providing the base for the club’s third flag in five seasons under his replacement Chris Scott.
4. MICHAEL MALTHOUSE
The VFL-AFL coaching games record-holder led Collingwood into five Grand Finals (for one win, one draw and three losses) in the first decade of the 2000s. He crafted a team of battlers mixed with a handful of stars to reach Grand Finals in 2002-03, losing narrowly in the first year before a blowout loss in the next. Then he rearmed in 2010 with a younger, better quality side to introduce a zone press and a swarming frontal assault which led to the club’s first flag in 20 years. For a time, it looked as if the Magpies would win back-to-back flags, but Geelong proved too strong in the 2011 Grand Final. Couldn’t recreate the success at Carlton a few years later.
5. PAUL ROOS
Wasn’t the coach the Swans wanted long-term (that was Terry Wallace) when Rodney Eade departed in 2002, but people power saw him go from caretaker to long-term senior coach. It seemed fitting in 2005 when he yelled “Here it is” after lifting the premiership cup, ending the longest drought in VFL-AFL history — 72 years. Came agonisingly close to more success the following year, only to go down to the Eagles by a point. Roos’ style wasn’t always pretty — then AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou famously called it “ugly” — but it was highly effective in his time at the club. Also helped to reshape Melbourne in recent years.
6. ROSS LYON
A contentious choice given Lyon is yet to win a premiership. But the fact remains he took two different clubs — St Kilda and Fremantle — to Grand Finals — and almost pulled off the ultimate. Some still doubt whether Lyon’s defensive mindset will ever be enough to kick a winning score in a premiership decider — his teams haven’t kicked more than 10 goals in a Grand Final. But if it hadn’t been for a toepoke in 2009, a bizarre bounce of the ball in 2010 or some errant third-term shots for goal in 2013, he might well be a flag-winning coach right now.
7. JOHN LONGMIRE
Was a part of a seamless coaching handover from Roos to John Longmire in 2011. Longmire not only won the flag with Sydney in his second season in charge (2012), but has made two other Grand Finals — an uncharacteristically poor loss to Hawthorn in 2014, and last year’s defeat at the hands of Western Bulldogs. Has a winning strike rate of 68 per cent. Changed the way the Swans played post Roos, was instrumental in the recruitment of Buddy Franklin and is still considered one of the better of the tactical modern coaches. Has lifted his team from a potentially disastrous 0-6 start to this season into a premiership threat again.
8. MARK WILLIAMS
People forget how good Williams was as a coach near the start of this century. Port Adelaide finished on top three seasons in a row (2002-04), but the coach and his side shook off the tag of being chokers when they stopped Brisbane’s run to win the 2004 premiership. Was it any wonder he grabbed at his tie and made a choking gesture to the crowd immediately after winning the premiership he had worked so hard to achieve. Had plenty of tricks tactically within and outside of games.
9. JOHN WORSFOLD
May not have as tactically adventurous as other elite coaches, but just as he was as a player, Worsfold was brutally effective. The Eagles endured mix emotions in his two Grand Finals at the helm — a shattering four-point loss to Sydney in 2005 followed by an exhilarating one-point win the year after. Has shown the capacity to unite people around him at Essendon, too, in recent years.
10. CHRIS SCOTT
Yes, he inherited a team full of stars who had won two of the past four flags, but Chris Scott had some challenges others forget about. He had lost the team’s best player, Gary Ablett, and had to remotivate a team that had won two of the previous four premierships. He achieved this, winning the 2011 flag in his first season as senior coach, and although he is still chasing that next success, he has missed the finals only once and has winning strike rate of 72 per cent. The club’s finals record hasn’t been as good in recent seasons, but he is on track to rectify that this year.
11. LUKE BEVERIDGE
Delivered a miracle premiership for the Bulldogs after a 62-year wait last year. In his second season he had to overcome a series of hurdles — injuries to key players, including captain Bob Murphy, finishing seventh on the ladder and having to face two interstate finals — to provide one of the game’s biggest fairytale successes. It’s been tougher this year, but you get the feeling he has plenty left in the tank to elevate the Dogs again.
Originally published as Alastair Clarkson’s four flags means he’s been the greatest AFL coach of the 21st century
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