Essendon coach-in-waiting Ben Rutten has the makings of a great senior coach, says former mentor Neil Craig and past teammates
Essendon locked down its succession plan nice and early, committing to Ben Rutten. But a year later, a Hail Mary crack at Alastair Clarkson, or a call to Ross Lyon could have been on the cards. Have the Bombers made the right call?
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Neil Craig sees shades of Eddie Jones when he looks at Essendon’s coach-in-waiting Ben Rutten.
“Ben’s prepared to ask for help,” Craig said.
“I see that exact same trait with a guy I work with now in England, Eddie Jones.
“He’s coached in four World Cups and his capacity to seek better ways at doing things and ask for help is one of the key characteristics that stands out.
“Rick Charlesworth is the same. That’s one of the reasons they’re so good.”
Craig, Adelaide’s longest-serving coach, spent eight seasons coaching Rutten and has spent the past three years working under Jones at England Rugby.
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The comparison is a rich one for Rutten because Jones, 60, is a veteran.
The Tasmanian led the Wallabies to the 2003 World Cup final and returned to that stage with England last year after helping bring down the All Blacks.
He was an assistant at South Africa when it won the 2007 World Cup and has also coached Japan.
But Rutten is just 37 and still at least five games away from replacing John Worsfold in the driver’s seat.
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The man known as ‘Truck’ still has his training wheels on. That’s why his inquisitive and curious mind stands out to Craig.
“For a young coach, that (asking for help) is unusual,” Craig said.
“Because young coaches think they know it all or they don’t want to be seen as not knowing it all.
“For Essendon, that’s a great quality for your senior coach to have.”
Rutten opened his coaching career by reading from the ‘Book of Craig’.
While teaching Richmond’s team defence he would often remind players that they would not always be the one to “get a lick of the ice cream”.
“He was all about that – and team success was the lick of the ice cream,” ex-Tiger Steve Morris said.
“He encouraged being aggressive in defence, being able to read the play and backing yourself in.
“You certainly see that in Rancey’s (Alex Rance) game and Dylan’s (Dylan Grimes) game compared to the way they played early in their careers.
“Not so much in Dave (Astbury), but if Dave does what he needs to do then they get the lick of the ice cream – and he’s a dual premiership player.”
Richmond’s system has long been the AFL’s soufflé of desserts. But where did Rutten scoop the ice cream analogy from?
“That’s definitely Craigy,” former Adelaide teammate Tyson Edwards said.
The Crows found Craig’s endless list of sayings so funny that Edwards started writing them down.
“I kept them as a list in my locker, so when we needed a bit of humour we’d open them up and have a look at how many there were,” he said.
“We were going to get a shirt made up one year with all of his sayings on it.
“It was a fair list by the time I finished, and I handed it over to ‘Truck’ to carry on the mantle.”
Craig would also ask the Crows for “F1 starts” (Formula 1) and highlight the opposition’s “vulnerable players”.
If Rutten refers to Hawthorn forward Luke Breust as ‘No. 22’ as Essendon prepares for Thursday’s clash, then he might’ve gone all-in on following Craig.
“He was hopeless at remembering (opposition) players’ names. He used to call them by their numbers,” Edwards said.
“Some of them were quite well-known names, and he would just say No. 15 – because he was very much interested in us, not so much the opposition.”
Rutten’s rise in the coaches’ box is unlike his emergence as a player.
When Rutten was drafted, former Adelaide coach Gary Ayres remembers “a very big lad” with a knee injury walking through the West Lakes doors from West Adelaide.
Rutten was overlooked in 2000 and then, in the 2001 ‘Super Draft’, 118 players were selected before him, starting with No. 1 pick Luke Hodge.
It was a fruitful rookie draft for the Crows, securing Nathan Bock, Rutten and Marty Mattner with their final three picks.
Rutten booted three goals with his first three kicks on debut and was soon relocated to the backline, as undersized fullback Nathan Bassett struggled containing the likes of Alastair Lynch.
With Darren Glass and Matthew Scarlett entering their prime it was, according to Warren Tredrea, an era of star fullbacks.
But the Port Adelaide premiership skipper managed just six goals from his final nine Showdowns – all against Rutten – and said he belonged in that bracket.
“He was a super quick, super strong and a super disciplined player,” Tredrea said.
“He wasn’t the quarterback, but the general behind the play. He sat at the back of the zone barking instructions.
“It doesn’t surprise me one bit he’s gone down the coaching path.”
In 2005, and after just 33 games, Rutten was named All-Australian.
But Craig said the “hard road” walked before that would pay dividends at Essendon.
“He had to fight to get into the AFL,” Craig said.
“He got what I would call team security – but he earnt that, he wasn’t given it based on junior talent.”
Craig remembers Rutten peppering him with questions about Adelaide’s training.
Why are we doing this? Is it specific enough to our gamestyle?,” he recalled.
“They weren’t questions as in, ‘This is useless’ it was more about the ‘Why?’ and ‘Can we do it better?’
“Ben had a great feel for the game. I had great trust in going to him at any stage and asking for his thoughts.”
Edwards said Rutten spent the second half of his career “taking pride” in helping the next wave of defenders, such as Phil Davis.
“He was the type of guy that wasn’t yap, yap, yap, but when he spoke players listened,” Edwards said.
He would also pass on tips to Adelaide’s goalkickers after picking up clues from manning the likes of Tredrea, Barry Hall and Matthew Pavlich.
Rutten retired in 2014, wanting to preserve his body so he could have a kick with sons Jack and Bernie as they grew up, and that role as a quasi-assistant while playing left him in demand.
Richmond conducted two interviews and decided Rutten was ready to coach Damien Hardwick’s backline, bypassing a development role.
“He hasn’t just come straight out of playing and thrown his hat in the ring, he’s been working as a coach while playing,” Hardwick said when Rutten signed.
“There’s not many key defenders that come into coaching, so we’re really excited about what he can offer our key position players – not only backs, but also forwards and the rucks.
“We’re very fortunate to have him, and glad he picked the Tigers over a number of other suitors.”
Craig said Rutten’s willingness to relocate to Victoria highlighted “a real passion” for coaching.
After the 2017 flag Tigers football boss Dan Richardson crossed to the Bombers and 12 months later he poached Rutten, aware Worsfold was unlikely to be at the helm long term.
Last year Rutten could’ve taken his family home when the Crows came calling after splitting with Don Pyke.
But instead he stayed true to his word at Essendon, and now Bombers fans are eager to know if their new man is the right man.
This season has been sabotaged by injury, but the learnings have flowed.
Privately, Rutten is pleased they have exposed Mitch Hibberd, Brayden Ham, Tom Cutler and Andrew Phillips.
But Rutten is likely to be the only first-year coach handicapped by next year’s $3 million budget cuts and the doubters are alarmed at this year’s gamestyle.
The Bombers are a counterpunch team that is currently playing high-possession football and moving the ball slowly.
It is system, system system and they defend deep, a contributing factor to Richmond’s 66 inside 50s last week.
“You can have whatever offensive system you want, but if you have to start in your back 50m all the time it makes it pretty tough,” former assistant Rob Harding said.
Champion Matthew Lloyd was bemused that they let Dustin Martin roam free in Dreamtime, particularly with tagger Dylan Clarke in the team.
“They’re a system-based team and that means we won’t go and hunt anyone or tag anyone,” Lloyd said.
The Bombers rank 16th for contested footy and have been conceding 30 points from their back half recently, ranked 17th.
Those cautiously pragmatic have also wondered whether chief executive Xavier Campbell and Richardson committed to Rutten prematurely.
Could they have had a Hail Mary crack at Alastair Clarkson this year?
Was Ross Lyon worth a phone call, as former captain Brendon Goddard suggested last year?
Worsfold has requested patience, insisting Rutten and fellow assistant Blake Caracella are teaching a game plan that can deliver Essendon’s 17th premiership.
Both brains have come from Richmond, and the Bombers are the No. 2 team for metres gained by aggressive handballs this year – behind the Tigers.
“Ben’s got a good sense of humour, which is important. He can have a laugh at himself, but he’s also serious about performance,” Craig said.
“He’s got a nice blend in that area, and he doesn’t suffer fools.”
Rutten started ‘backs camp’ at the Tigers – where the defenders head to the bush for a weekend in pre-season – and that tradition lives on.
Morris said he ticked every box.
“He was a superstar, mate. He was sensational in developing the tall backs at Richmond, and he had a really good balance between coaching and having a connection with the players.
“I’m very confident he’ll get Essendon up and firing very quickly.”
Essendon football boss Dan Richardson shared the same views.
“Ben is a very high calibre person (and) is very clear on what makes a strong club and team. He also displays great empathy, highlighted by the relationships he has developed with staff and players wherever he has been,” he said.
“Despite the unique challenges of season 2020, Ben has grown into the role and will be well prepared to take over come 2021.”
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