Tim Taranto set to put contract talks on hold as GWS searches for new senior coach
Tim Taranto is likely to put contract talks on hold as the Giants’ search for a new coach hots up. Get the latest on likely candidates to replace Leon Cameron and GWS list moves.
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Greater Western Sydney believes it will have significant interest in its vacant coaching position with a list that is capable of an immediate return to finals next year.
The Giants could be in the envious position of having their pick of the entire coaching market given St Kilda and Gold Coast now seem certain to extend the contracts of their existing senior coaches.
The Giants list has a stunning array of midfield stars, but out-of-contract midfielder Tim Taranto now seems likely to hold off on a new deal until late in the season as the club works on its coaching search.
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It will heighten speculation Taranto, a popular and talented member of the list, will eventually move back to Melbourne in a win-win for both player and club.
He would have vast interest as an inside midfielder, but the salary cap space would also ease the Giants’ position and allow them to consider a key-position replacement.
He is the sole inside mid out of contract at the Giants and would ideally stay, but circumstances might see him and Bobby Hill in Victoria next year.
A new coach would also have a significant say in rebalancing the list to help Toby Greene and Jesse Hogan, with the key tall also out of contract.
The Giants have decided against finding an outside expert for their coaching search and instead football boss Jason McCartney, CEO David Matthews, chairman Tony Shepherd and director Jimmy Bartel will head up the search.
They have been keen to support interim coach Mark McVeigh and his new team of assistant coaches in recent weeks with James Hird and Dean Solomon on board.
But now they can turn their attention to the vacant senior coaching position for 2023, aware they might be the only team to replace a senior coach.
Matthews told the Herald Sun the Giants were in no hurry to choose a coach, but were ambitious about their goals for 2023.
“Work is being undertaken but we are in a position where we are just settling. We are a stable club. We know broadly where our list is at, we know what the opportunity will be for an incoming coach, and we are just taking the time to make the right decision for the next three years,” he said.
“It is a very capable list and it’s got good depth. People can talk about the balance of the list a bit, but if you are a coach looking for an opportunity at AFL level, it’s a list you would want to coach.”
Port Adelaide is keen to retain the contracted Ken Hinkley, but a decision will be made at year’s end on whether he can extract a premiership from the current list.
North Melbourne is also publicly backing in coach David Noble and have stated he will be the Kangaroos’ 2023 coach.
The Giants will consider former senior coaches like Alastair Clarkson, Don Pyke or Hird, senior assistants like Adem Yze and Adam Kingsley or current AFL coaches like Adam Simpson or Hinkley.
The Herald Sun revealed mid-year Clarkson’s management had been contacted by seven or eight clubs as they assessed the coaching landscape.
But Gold Coast will retain Stuart Dew barring a catastrophic second-half of the season fadeout given his strong relationships with players and modern game plan.
St Kilda has also kickstarted talks with Brett Ratten that will see him asking for a three-season extension.
Why jury is out on Grundy mega deal
– Rebecca Williams
Former Collingwood recruiter Matt Rendell says the Magpies are yet to “see the fruits” of Brodie Grundy’s mega-deal as Darcy Cameron’s strong form sparks debate over the value of the club’s significant investment in its No. 1 ruckman.
The spectre of the two-time All-Australian ruckman’s seven-year multimillion-dollar deal has come into focus again as 26-year-old Cameron continues to shine in the ruck in the injured Grundy’s absence.
Grundy signed a massive deal, worth in the vicinity of $1 million a year, ahead of the 2020 season, tying him to the club until the end of 2027.
But Cameron’s impressive performances since Grundy injured his PCL against Essendon in Round 6 have raised discussion over whether the Magpies were getting the best value for the huge investment they made.
Rendell admitted he had concerns over the size of Grundy’s contract and the flow-on effect it could have in retaining other emerging talent at the club.
But he felt there was room for three talls, including Mason Cox, in Collingwood’s line-up and wanted to see them “cause havoc” against opposition sides in the charge to the finals.
Until this point, Rendell said it was too soon to say the Magpies’ massive Grundy investment had been worth it.
“It’s hard to say, they haven’t won anything. You’d like them to win something, if they won a flag you would say absolutely it’s worth the investment,” Rendell said.
“But if you’re looking at it from a successful club point of view, we’re yet to see the fruits of it.
“The fruits of the deal will be when he gets back this year, let’s see what happens. (They’re) 7 and 5, (if) they make the finals, cause some havoc with a three-pronged ruck, well then you say absolutely it was worth it and certainly into next year.
“If they keep on their projection they are going at the moment, if they finish in top four and their ruckmen are all going well, playing forward, rotating through and causing havoc in the forward (line), you’ve got to say it’s a big win.
“But it’s a big if because we just don’t know yet. At the moment, I don’t know if you can say whether it’s been productive or not.”
Cameron has seized his opportunity since Grundy’s injury.
From rounds 7-12, he has ranked first in the league for marks (six), third for score involvements (5.7) and fourth for disposals (16.5).
“He has surprised me,” Rendell said.
“I know (former Magpies list manager) Ned Guy was really keen to get him in there, I was less keen. I just didn’t think he was a necessity that we needed to bring into the club. I thought we were covered with Cox, Grundy, who never misses, and Lynch coming through.
“But as it’s turned out Lynch went … and Darcy has been better than I thought he would be, he has got a lot more competitive.
“The Swans were happy to trade him out because they didn’t think he was competitive enough. I admit when he got to the club I was a bit worried about that too.
“But he has got better and better and he has accepted that responsibility so that has been great for him.”
Rendell’s comments came as former Collingwood captain Tony Shaw said he wanted to see Grundy show that he had “more to offer” when he returned from injury other than “tapping the ball”, hailing the added offensive threat Cameron brought to the team.
“Brodie has got to come back in and if Darcy keeps going at this level then Brodie has got to work his way back in to show that he has got a lot more to offer than really just tapping the ball,” Shaw said.
“I have always rated Darcy Cameron … because I think offensively he has got a bit more to give than what Brodie has as a forward because he has never done it.
“I just love the way that he gets around the ground, too. I think he taps it, his palming is a little bit more, how can I say, inventive, than Brodie.
“I like to know a ruckman can go forward and be a danger, doesn’t always have to kick goals but be a danger in that area and I think Darcy does it probably naturally a bit more than Brodie because he has been a full forward.”
Shaw said he felt at the time Grundy’s seven-year deal was “way over the top” and hadn’t “done the test of time”.
Grundy’s deal came after back-to-back All-Australian jackets and club best and fairests in 2018 (equal) and 2019.
“I am very wary of offering seven (years) unless you have got an out and out superstar and Brodie had a good year but hasn’t done the test of time I didn’t think.,” Shaw said.
“You’re only one knee injury away with a ruckman jumping at the centre bounce, you’re one injury away from end of career and then having to have a massive pay out.
“I didn’t think it was worth that much but that’s what they did. You win the best and fairest and you do what you do and you’re All Australian and away you go so you can ask.
“But seven years to me was way over the top. I say that not just about Brodie Grundy, I say that about a lot of players in the game.”
Rendell said he hoped the size of the Grundy deal did not have implications for the retention of some of the Magpies young talent.
“The reason I was really worried about the Grundy deal was that I knew (Darcy) Moore was coming out of contract and would be around the same mark around $900,000-1m,” Rendell said.
“I knew (Jordan) De Goey was coming out (of contract) and would be the same and I was really worried from a recruiting point of view … that’s three players tied up for three million bucks over a long period of time.
“But there is a few others that they are going to have to really look after the clubs will come for like (Isaac) Quaynor, when (Brayden) Maynard gets out and Oliver Henry the way he is going, Jack Ginnivan, there is quite a few good young kids there that the opposition are going to come for and I hope they have allowed some space for to fit them.
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“That is my biggest worry about having three players at roughly a million each tied up for a long period of time. It makes it very difficult to bring in free agents and other players you might want to bring in as well.
“At the moment they haven’t lost anyone they want to keep.”
Rendell said how Collingwood managed three talls when Grundy returned would be interesting, but felt three together could do damage.
“It will be interesting to see what they want to do there and whether that makes them too cumbersome in the forward line,” Rendell said.
“It might be horses for courses but I would love to see the three of them play there one day and cause all sorts of havoc.
“Not many clubs have got two 200cm defenders.”
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