Glenn’s 10: Glenn McFarlane looks at some VFL-AFL coaches whose time in the box was short lived

IN a week in which we are celebrating coaching longevity, we take a look at some of those who weren’t as lucky.

D/I Football coach Malcolm Blight talking to the media at his home after St Kilda sacking 20 Jul 2001. p/

IN a week in which we are celebrating coaching longevity, with Mick Malthouse about to pass Jock McHale’s long-standing record, we take a look at some of the famous short-lived coaching stints (excluding the caretaker coaches).

1. BERVIN WOODS (1950)

Jock McHale coached Collingwood for 714 games across almost 14,000 days. His successor lasted less than four days. McHale had originally been appointed for the 1950 season, but announced he was retiring just before the start of the season. There had been a pre-arranged deal among sections of the club that former player and seconds coach Bervin Woods would take over. He was appointed, despite a backlash from fans and dissent from sections of the playing group who wanted Phonse Kyne. Woods coached in one practice match at Victoria Park, but copped a backlash from fans on the day. He resigned the following day and paved the way for Kyne to coach Collingwood, and the new coach took them to two flags in 1953 and 1958.

A Charlie Clymo stare would get the message through to his players. Picture: Supplied

2. CHARLIE CLYMO (1931)

One year coaching in the VFL for one premiership. As ridiculous as it sounds, that was what happened to Charlie Clymo in 1931. The one-time St Kilda player had already coached Golden Point and Ballarat to a number of premierships when he was appointed coach of Geelong for the 1931 season. The Cats won 17 of their 21 games for the season, and easily accounted for Richmond to win the VFL premiership. It was naturally assumed he would coach the club the following year, but a few weeks before the start of the season, he was not one of the eight applicants chasing the position. Reg Hickey took on the role, and Clymo faded into folklore.

3. MALCOLM BLIGHT — MARK I (2001)

It was the $1 million coaching gig that Malcolm Blight just couldn’t knock back. St Kilda chased so hard to bring Blight out of retirement after his two flags with Adelaide, that it was prepared to give him the coaching deal of a lifetime. When Blight took over as coach for the Saints in 2001, he said it would be some sort of ride. The ride though would last only 15 games and would end in acrimony. Blight was sacked after recording only three wins and 12 losses, one of those losses he famously kept the team out on the ground after the game. The Saints would claim Blight’s heart was not in it; he would say that was totally wrong and that he didn’t give a “rat’s toss bag” about the Saints’ claims.

Malcolm Blight, seen here calling the shots during North Melbourne training in 1981, had his ups and downs as a coach.

4. MALCOLM BLIGHT — MARK II (1981)

Twenty years earlier, Blight had his first foray into league coaching, when he took over as playing coach of North Melbourne after Ron Barassi decided to leave. It was 1981, and the Kangaroos were expected to feature prominently. But he was replaced after six successive losses after Round 16, with Barry Cable named as his replacement. Blight responded by kicking 11 goals the next week. He would re-emerge as a successful coach with Geelong and Adelaide before that ill-fated stint at St Kilda.

Peter ‘Percy’ Jones took over the Blues’ top role after Alex Jesaulenko (left) quit in protest.

5. PERCY JONES (1980)

A bitter political fight which ousted president George Harris followed Carlton’s 1979 premiership and saw the club’s captain/coach Alex Jesaulenko quit the Blues in protest. That thrust the unlikely figure of Peter ‘Percy’ Jones into the role for one season. On face value, Jones didn’t do a bad job, taking the team to the finals before losing a semi-final to Collingwood. But internally the club believed it should have done much better. In fact some insiders still lament the club’s 1980 season as ‘the one that got away”, given the team won the 1979 as well as 1981-82 flags. Jones was sacked after one season, with David Parkin coming in as his replacement.

Ian Stewart and the Blues’ board didn’t see eye to eye.

6. IAN STEWART (1978)

The gifted triple Brownlow Medal winner had a solid start to his coaching career with South Melbourne, taking them to the finals in 1977. He surprised some when he was appointed coach of Carlton in 1978. Stewart was a tough task master and he fell out of favour with a few of the back-room Blues. After three games, and with only one win, he quit after suffering a heart attack. He would re-emerge the following year with South Melbourne.

West Coast Eagles’ inaugural coach Ron Alexander (centre) with John Annear and Chris Mainwaring celebrate a win against Hawthorn.

7. RON ALEXANDER (1987)

The former Fitzroy great has sadly become the subject of a trivia question — who was the inaugural coach of the West Coast Eagles? He was coaching East Fremantle when the Eagles were born, and beat a good list of applicants to take on the new team. He took his side to 11 wins and 11 losses in the club’s first season, and narrowly missed the finals. Ruthlessly, he was sacked after one season, and was replaced by John Todd.

Allan Jeans is a revered figure in coaching ranks but his return to Richmond in 1992 didn’t go well.

8. ALLAN JEANS (1992)

It was meant to be one of coaching’s greatest comebacks; in the end it was a sad farewell to one of the game’s icons. When he took over, the four-time premiership coach said: “All I wanted to do was coach the best team in the competition — and I believe I achieved that at the Hawthorn Football Club. And I hope that by the end of my time at Richmond I can say the same thing.” Sadly, it would not happen, and only five wins came in a very difficult season before the two parted company.

John Northey may have lacked the profile Dr Geoffrey Edelsten (right) wanted.

9. JOHN NORTHEY (1985)

Coaches are generally hired and fired on account of their win-loss record. John Northey’s record at Sydney in his only season there — 1985 — wasn’t flash (the Swans won only five games), but he was sacked for not having the charisma to sell the football club. Dr Geoffrey Edelsten simply wanted a more profile coach to market the team around, and he ended up choosing Northey’s former Richmond coach Tom Hafey. Northey would end up taking Melbourne to a Grand Final three years later.

Fitzroy star Bernie Quinlan (centre) went on to coach the club but lacked the personnel for his side to be a force.

10. BERNIE QUINLAN (1995)

There is such a thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time and that’s what happened to one of the greats of the game, Fitzroy’s Bernie Quinlan. He took over as coach of the ailing club in 1995. Without a real home, with a playing list lacking depth and having been plundered by rivals, and with doubt on the club’s future, not surprisingly Quinlan struggled in the role. The Lions won only two games of their first 19 that season before he was replaced. By the end of the following season, Fitzroy was effective gone.