North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw says Don Pyke’s cry for help on coaching’s pressures resonated
North Melbourne’s Rhyce Shaw has only had a brief taste but knows the role of an AFL coach can be addictive. As he prepares for his first full season in charge, the words of one former peer are still ringing in his ears.
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New North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw says football must confront the crushing pressure and lack of work-life balance for AFL coaches.
Shaw is only months into his tenure as Kangaroos coach and admitted he was addicted to his job and unable to find that work-life balance.
INSIDE NORTH: READ JON RALPH’S FEATURE ON RHYCE SHAW RAISING THE BAR IN THE SUNDAY HERALD SUN OR ONLINE
He listened in September as Adelaide coach Don Pyke bemoaned the unique pressure of coaching. Pyke left the Crows with two years left on his contract and said he feared for “people’s genuine love of the game”.
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Shaw, 38, who has two young sons, told the Sunday Herald Sun the topic needed further investigation only days after new AFL head of mental health Kate Hall said she would work to understand those stresses.
Former AFL coach Danny Frawley called Adelaide board member Mark Ricciuto to check on Pyke’s welfare only months before Frawley died.
Frawley admitted he felt a failure after his own coaching stint at Richmond.
Former Essendon coach James Hird also battled deep depression in the wake of his Dons tenure.
“I think that work/life balance is coming up,” Shaw joked when asked if he had found a way to reduce his massive workload.
“I am hoping Christmas. I love it and I know I have to get better away from footy. I understand that. I am as keen as mustard to get into it. I could spend every hour here. I know I can’t, but I would if I could.
“Me and my wife, Leah, have had numerous chats about it and I would be happy for you to write this because on the back of what Don Pyke said, it really has to resonate throughout the competition, how important it is.
“Because it’s a big job and the support those coaches need, the guys who have been there for a long time, we have got to make sure we look after our people and keep good people in the AFL.
“I just think he nailed it in terms of his feeling towards the job because it is a big job, it’s huge and I have seen that for only a fleeting moment. It’s engrossing and addictive. Sometimes you have to be saved from yourself.
“I have loved every moment of it. I love getting out on the track and being a part of it, but I have to get better as a dad and husband as well.”
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Shaw is determined to delegate to his assistant coaches and it also aware he needs to be told to pull back at times rather than work himself into the ground.
He has also had an enormous workload that will ease when new head of football Brady Rawlings joins the club on Monday, with new list manager Glenn Luff also appointed in past weeks.
“You have got to have a really good right-hand man, a really good support around you,” Shaw said. “And I have certainly got that.”
Originally published as North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw says Don Pyke’s cry for help on coaching’s pressures resonated