AFL 2022: Incoming GWS Giants coach Adam Kingsley to juggle Richmond finals commitments before focusing on new job

Adam Kingsley is Leon Cameron’s successor at Greater Western Sydney and it’s no surprise he plans to borrow some of the philosophies he saw work at Richmond.

Adam Kingsley is the Giants’ new senior coach. Picture: Getty Images

New coach Adam Kingsley plans to be involved in the Giants’ key list management discussions in the coming weeks as he prioritises his finals duties with Richmond.

The long-time assistant, who also worked at St Kilda and Port Adelaide, where he played in 170 games, including the Power’s 2004 premiership, was officially unveiled in Sydney on Tuesday.

After Alastair Clarkson pulled out of the race last week, Kingsley, Melbourne assistant Adem Yze and caretaker Mark McVeigh were the leading candidates to be Leon Cameron’s successor.

Kingsley narrowly missed out on a series of senior coaching jobs across the years, most recently at Carlton and Collingwood in 2021, but survived CEO Dave Matthews’ gruelling process to emerge as the chosen one.

“Having been through a few in the past and coming close but not quite getting there, I was really pleased and super excited to be able to finally get my opportunity to lead a club and take it to where I think I can take them,” he said.

New coach Adam Kingsley believes there is “enormous” potential at GWS. Picture: Getty Images

“It was just a wonderful phone call to receive.

“I felt ready for quite a while now (but) it’s just a matter of being able to get the opportunity, which I’m so grateful for the Giants that they’ve allowed me that to show that I can coach and try to lead this club and playing group to where we want to go.

“I think the potential we have here is really enormous and I can’t wait to get stuck in.”

Kingsley credited the Tigers’ triple premiership coach Damien Hardwick with helping him improve as a coach and ultimately score his shot at Greater Western Sydney.

But Hardwick, after offering his congratulations, made it clear he wanted Kingsley to finish what he started at Richmond first.

Adam Kingsley (left) will continue to work under Damien Hardwick until the Tigers’ finals campaign ends. Picture: Michael Klein

The seventh-placed Tigers have roared into September with 11 wins and a draw from their past 16 matches and are hunting for a fourth flag in six seasons.

“There are a lot of things at Richmond that are outstanding, whether it’s off the field, culture-wise or the connection of the group, so there’ll be a lot of stuff that we (Giants) do that is similar to Richmond,” Kingsley said.

“But there’ll be stuff that I have ideas around that we’ll do. On field, it’ll look similar. We’re trying to play that fast, attacking style of footy.

“I think that’s an attractive brand to play and it’s certainly great to watch and it’s fun to play.

“That’ll be the plan in the early stages, but once we’ve assembled our coaching group and put our brains together, we’ll come up with a plan that we think is going to work and be successful in finals.”

Giants chairman Tony Shepherd listens to new coach Adam Kingsley at his first public appearance for the club. Picture: Getty Images

Among the most pressing matters at GWS is the future of important quartet Tim Taranto, Jacob Hopper, Tanner Bruhn and Bobby Hill.

Only Hopper is under contract out of that group, while Taranto wanted to see who the coach was before making his call, with the Tigers and Magpies keen to lure him back to Victoria.

The Giants are, as usual, under salary cap stress, so may opt to clear the decks to fix the problem but they also hope to climb from the bottom four next year.

“I haven’t yet sat down with (football and list boss) Jason McCartney and worked through what the list looks like and those decisions – he’ll be fully across what his expectations are,” Kingsley said.

“At some point in time, we’ll have that discussion and try and work out where we both stand on it and what the plan is moving forward.”