Brendan McCartney hits out at reports of tension in Melbourne’s coaching ranks after mid-season role change
Former Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney has dismissed reports of tension in Melbourne’s coaching ranks and clarified the reasons behind a mid-season role change.
Melbourne
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Brendan McCartney says he volunteered to step away from coaching Melbourne’s backline for a development role, angrily denying there is tension between him and Simon Goodwin.
The former Bulldogs senior coach yesterday broke his silence after growing increasingly frustrated at mistruths around the club’s midweek coaching revamp.
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He told the Herald Sun he had volunteered to move from his backline role into a mentoring and development role, adamant it maximised his skills teaching young players.
And McCartney described he and senior coach Simon Goodwin as “like brothers”, adamant he was only at Melbourne because he was lured by the former Adelaide captain.
The Demons’ decision to tip their coaching structure on its head after a 3-9 season start is radical, with Jade Rawlings leaving the VFL team and now coaching the backline.
But McCartney said he believed in this Melbourne team, which had suffered the “triple whammy” of a summer of injuries, tough draw and inexperienced team with growing pains.
“I am portrayed as the hard guy but I have gone the other way at Melbourne. Yet its portrayed as me being too hard,” he told the Herald Sun.
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“Goody and I get on famously well. It’s important for people to understand we get on incredibly well. We are like brothers and when I read there is tension, it’s just not true. I couldn’t be stronger on anything in my life. We get on like a house on fire. I am at Melbourne because of Simon.
“Your job is to say it as it is but Goody and I get on famously well and to be honest I am moving into a stage of my life (at 58) where I am not going to coach for ever and I want to do some other things but my passion is to help Melbourne get where they want to go.
“There was no angst (in the change of roles). I thought I could pick up the slack with players who aren’t playing their best footy because at any one point in time you have six or seven players out of form so I get back to helping them getting back to playing their best footy, to oversee young players because you know what works for them.
“In the end we are trying to build great Melbourne people. And it’s me doing what I do best at this time in my life.”
Demons chief executive Gary Pert backed McCartney’s view there was no tension between him and his fellow coaches.
“Internally, I have only heard positive things about him,” Pert said.
“I am hearing on the radio about their being issues with him and ‘Goody’ (Simon Goodwin).
“Seven or eight of the coaches have changed their roles including Goody … all of them have happily said here is the feedback, tell me what I have to do in the next ten weeks to get the best out of this time.”
Pert said McCartney had changes roles because it was where he was best suited in the club’s new set-up.
“Macca was the one identified as the perfect person to do it because he is the great mentor of coaches and players,” he said on SEN.
McCartney was lauded on Thursday by premiership heroes Cameron Ling and Cameron Mooney, adamant he was one of football’s best development coaches.
Goodwin said the decision to change roles was about fast-tracking changes that would have been made anyway at season’s end.
“We asked our players, similar to what we spoke about with Neale Daniher, to take responsibility and look at the opportunities,” he said.
“They’ve looked at their opportunities individually and collectively as a team, as have we as a coaching group as have we as a high performance team and a management team.
“We’re 3-9 and we’re not happy with where we sit and we want to make sure we maximise the next 10 weeks to get better.
“We’re not wasting time and waiting until the end of the year to reset and get better.
“We’ve tried to use the break as an opportunity to reset and look at how we can improve and get better.
“We’ve implemented some things and the proof will be in the pudding.”
McCartney believes in this group but said a combination of factors had hurt the Demons despite expectations they would challenge for the flag.
“Every club has a year where you don’t quite deliver on what you hope. Sometimes it’s a combination of tough draw, injuries, young group. And it’s s triple whammy and we probably had the triple whammy. Our midfield and forward group are incredibly young.
“There is nothing harder in footy than bringing together a young group.”
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