Paul Roos says John Longmire is the perfect coach to lead Sydney through a rebuild
Sydney is about to enter one of the biggest challenges in the game. But the big question is, will John Longmire lead the Swans through their rebuild? For former coach Paul Roos, it is an easy decision.
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Paul Roos has declared that the man who will this week eclipse him as Sydney’s longest serving coach will make the Swans take flight again — if he wants to.
John Longmire heads into his milestone match, recognising nine-years of consistent excellence, having just conceded the Swans are now entering their biggest evolution phase of the past 25 years.
Football clubs can take years to rebuild, but with Longmire’s contract set to expire at the end of next season, is the record-breaking 202-game coach the man to lead the charge into a brave new world through to its conclusion?
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Longmire started at the Swans as an assistant under Roos way back in 2002 and then succeeded him as head coach in 2011. Between them they have forged Sydney’s reputation as one of the benchmarks in AFL football.
Sydney royalty Roos praised his successor’s achievements over the best part of two decades and said the Swans should not even hesitate to back Longmire in for another term, with the one proviso being that the coach himself feels the fire still burns inside him for the massive assignment ahead.
“Coaches like John and Clarko (Hawthorn coach, Alastair Clarkson), if they’ve got the energy, they’ve got the capabilities. There’s no question about that,” Roos told The Daily Telegraph.
“I learnt that going to Melbourne. It’s (rebuilding) more frustrating. You know what the end result is, but the players are going to take time. Some evolve at different speeds.
“Only he can answer does he have the energy. If he does, well it’s an absolute no-brainer (and) it’s ticked off pretty quickly to be honest.
“He continues on and does what he’s done so well for the last nine years.
“If John wants to continue, which I presume he does, he’s more than capable of resurrecting the club. He did it from an 0-6 start two years ago. I think he’ll go on and probably coach for another three, four, five more years.”
In honouring Longmire, Roos said it was easy to overlook the fact the 2012-premiership-winner had nine years as an assistant at the Swans before taking over the top job, where he helped implement the values based behaviours system which gave birth to the Swans’ ‘Bloods’ culture.
He said Longmire possesses the gift of all the great coaches to make a complicated game sound simple.
According to Roos, Longmire is also much more than a champion coach: “he’s an ambassador for the game.”
Roos says he lost the energy after nine years at the helm of the Swans but had a natural successor in Longmire ready to go.
With Longmire’s former assistant Stuart Dew now in charge at the Gold Coast, there now isn’t necessarily a ready-made heir at the Swans.
“When I got to that stage it was more around the energy. The stage I got to was different to John’s. And it was only because my mindset was different. I no longer had the energy to be able to do it. So we did the succession plan,” said Roos.
“But I’m sure (then CEO) Andrew Ireland and (Chairman) Richard (Colless) weren’t questioning my capability. It was, ‘we’d love you to keep on doing it.
“If (now CEO) Tom Harley looks John Longmire in the eye and John says: ‘I’ve got the energy’, it’s an absolute no-brainer. Because you’ve got a high quality coach already, you don’t have to go looking for someone else when you’ve got them in front of your eyes.”