SA Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney fears for Alan Richardson’s future at St Kilda
THEY worked together at the Western Bulldogs but Adam Cooney has now predicted Alan Richardson’s tenure as a senior coach at St Kilda is about to come to an end.
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SOUTH Australian Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney has predicted St Kilda coach Alan Richardson is about to enter his final year of senior coaching.
Cooney, who had Richardson as a development coach in his early days at the Western Bulldogs, predicted the recruitment of Sydney champion Dan Hannebery would not be enough to save the Saints’ senior coach from the axe.
Richardson, who previously worked as a senior assistant coach under Ken Hinkley at Port Adelaide, has been at St Kilda for five seasons without making the finals.
“My first development coach at the Western Bulldogs, he was, Alan Richardson” Cooney said on Adelaide radio Sportsday SA. “So I should be quite complimentary of him, because he did help me get a game early on in my career.
“I think he will last the season but I don’t think he’ll last the season after that.
“I just don’t see where the improvement comes from for the Saints.
“We talked about Dan Hannebery being their main acquisition in the off-season but again … I’ve watched him play pretty closely over the last couple of years (and) he does look banged up.
“Don’t see how much improvement he’s going to make unless he gets his body right, which would be ideal.”
Richardson is contracted until the end of the 2020 season but several reports have suggested there are performance-based clauses in his contract that will need to be met for him extend his tenure beyond next season.
Meanwhile, former Carlton captain and coach Brett Ratten, who has left his post as an assistant at Hawthorn to join Richardson at St Kilda, was more upbeat about St Kilda’s future.
He said he was looking forward to working with Richardson again.
“I’ve worked with Richo before, he is a very good operator when he was the senior assistant to me (at Carlton),” Ratten told Melbourne radio. “It’s like getting the old band back together but with a different instrument.
“It will be easy, we’ve known each other for a long time.
“We lived around similar areas for a long time, our kids played sport together.
“It’ll be pretty easy and we’ll just work pretty hard together and get some good success.”
Originally published as SA Brownlow Medallist Adam Cooney fears for Alan Richardson’s future at St Kilda
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