Melbourne and Collingwood set to extend contracts of coaches Simon Goodwin and Nathan Buckley
It seems like only yesterday Nathan Buckley was on the verge of being sacked by Collingwood but now the Magpies coach is set for a new contract before Round 1, while Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin is also set to ink a new deal.
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Melbourne will start contract talks with senior coach Simon Goodwin in the coming weeks.
No AFL coach will officially come out of contract this season despite the unique contracts of St Kilda’s Alan Richardson and Carlton’s Brendon Bolton.
And 2018 was the first season since 2005 that no coach was sacked.
Goodwin will soon sit down with the club’s powerbrokers to discuss a contract extension beyond his current deal which expires in October.
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Collingwood is also on track to extend Nathan Buckley’s deal before the start of the season. The Pies have yet to set a date with Buckley’s management to work through a deal but the expectation is he will begin Round 1 with a fresh extension.
Melbourne is impressed with its entire coaching team and believes stability is important for a side that made the preliminary final but still needs significant growth.
The tenure of that extension has not yet been discussed, but a two-year extension would retain Goodwin until 2021, taking his time at the club to seven seasons — five as the senior coach.
For all of the excitement about Melbourne’s prospects, the club is aware its list is some time from maturing.
Clayton Oliver and Sam Weideman are still only 21, Jake Lever is 22 and Angus Brayshaw and Christian Petracca are 23.
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The AFL Coaches Association is buoyed by longer senior coaching tenures as well as the increased respect handed to sacked senior coaches.
Former senior coaches Michael Voss, Brendan McCartney, Matthew Knights and Brett Ratten are assistant coaches this year.
“We are thrilled this is the first year since 2005 there hasn’t been a change at head coach level,” AFLCA chief executive Mark Brayshaw said.
“As a coincidence, the average tenure of AFL coaches across all job descriptions is now just over seven years, when in 2014 it was just under five years.”
Former Carlton senior coach Ratten has impressed over summer at St Kilda after six years and three premierships as an assistant with Hawthorn.
Melbourne is conducting a heat-based training camp on the Gold Coast to catch up on rivals after its late start to the pre-season. Post-season operations among Demons players tallied 14.
Braydon Preuss’s solid summer has emboldened Melbourne’s plans to trial two ruckmen early in the season, aware Max Gawn carried a massive workload last season.
Steven May has shed 4kg since arriving at the club, but it will take time for the backline to gel.
Jake Lever, returning from a Round 11 ACL tear, is making solid progress despite needing more minor surgery to clear scar tissue from his knee.
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