AFL coaches 2021: D-Day approaches for future of Collingwood’s Robert Harvey

Collingwood stand-in Robert Harvey is unsure of his future as assistants at a rival club make major sacrifices to make sure none of them are axed.

Brisbane’s entire coaching staff accepted a 20 per cent pay cut to save the club axing coaches this year as the August 1 deadline approaches for clubs to inform assistant coaches of the futures.

The Herald Sun can reveal Chris Fagan volunteered to take an even bigger cut to help the club stay under the football department despite already taking a cut of up to $100,000.

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Magpies interim head coach Robert Harvey says he is just doing his job he was instructed to do for the nine games.

The Lions decided that rather than slash their football staff numbers they would all take pay cuts which have allowed Brisbane to have an extra coach compared to every other team.

Some staffers on less pay in medical and conditioning took lesser cuts of only five per cent but the Lions senior staff were all happy to stay but on 20 per cent cuts.

The Lions are one of many clubs considering how they will spend what is expected to be a $250,000 rise in the $6.3 million football cap next year, with hopes of a bigger rise dashed by the most recent Covid cases and cost to the league.

Carlton and Collingwood are among the clubs which will have to make emotional and difficult decisions on their staff, with a new Pies coach likely to bring in some of his own support staff.

Collingwood stand-in-coach Robert Harvey will have rival interest from clubs including West Coast, while Brenton Sanderson, Hayden Skipworth and Scott Selwood are part of his assistant coaching battery.

Selwood was only promoted from the development team when Nathan Buckley moved on, while Skipworth moved from Essendon as the club’s head of academy in 2020 then became a line coach this year.

Carlton’s John Barker has already moved on to chase opportunities in the corporate world, while Dale Amos, Brent Stanton and Cam Bruce are part of David Teague’s support staff.

The AFL Coaches Association tells assistant coaches that if they have not been told by August 1 they are part of a club’s plans for the next season they should start assessing their options.

Harvey says he is really enjoying the role but would love a few more wins.

Across the league clubs are hoping to add extra staff rather than lose them but have lost hope the extra cap space will exceed $250,000 next year.

Pies stand-in Harvey said yesterday he wasn’t sure if he was a contender for the Pies job next year.

But it is understood he could still undergo the formal interview process later in the season that has seen Michael Voss and Adam Kingsley have several interviews with the Pies selection committee.

“I just haven’t even gone there. I have been really happy with the communication around all those things. From my point of view the information I will get at the right time and have those conversations at the right time,” Harvey said of whether he was in the process.

“I am just doing my job as I was instructed to do for the nine games, so I have ongoing conversations with Graham Wright around my situation.

“At the moment I am just doing my job and as we get closer to the end of the year, those conversations will take place and we will see what happens.

“I am really enjoying it and would like to get a few more wins on the board and get us playing absolutely good footy in the last four games.”