AFL in coaching crisis after Rhyce Shaw takes indefinite leave

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has exposed an issue the AFL can’t ignore after Rhyce Shaw left the Kangaroos on personal leave.

Senior coach Rhyce Shaw has taken an indefinite leave of absence.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has revealed a shocking list of coaching “casualties” as the incredible strain on senior coaches was again revealed through Rhyce Shaw’s decision to take an indefinite break from the game.

Clarkson spoke passionately as he opened up on the AFL’s coaching crisis that has driven so many senior figures out of the game.

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North Melbourne last week announced Shaw had already left the club at the end of the 2020 season due to personal reasons.

The club has already begun to find a replacement coach for 2021 and reports claim Shaw will not return to the Roos in the senior coach role.

He joins a disturbing, extensive list of senior AFL coaches to have suffered personal issues while trying to deal with the incredible pressure that comes with being a senior coach.

“I’m a bit concerned for our profession,” Clarkson told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Monday night.

“Especially my 17 peers in the roles that we’ve got.

“Hirdy (James Hird), Bomber Thompson (Mark Thompson), Bails (Dean Bailey), Walshy (Phil Walsh), Laids (Dean Laidley), Spud Frawley (Danny Frawley), Pykey (Don Pyke) and now Rhyce Shaw — and there’s probably others too who have done it tough.

“In our industry in our country because it’s a small fishbowl, it’s not a large fishbowl, any coach that does it particularly tough has to carry that in his public life more so than a coach would have to do in a much bigger market like in America or Europe. That carries an enormous strain for many in our industry.

Coach Rhyce Shaw speaks to his players.

“I’ve got concerns because of the high quality of all those lads I’ve mentioned. Some have lost their lives — not directly as the result of coaching — but some of it is stress-related and it’s sad to see what happens to such decorated people in our game.

“Brett Ratten, Michael Voss, Matt Primus, Hirdy, these types of guys who were such decorated players ... and then had a go at coaching and it didn’t work for them.

“Ratts fortunately got another opportunity but the other three haven’t and may never get one.”

He says the AFL community has to start doing more to protect the health and wellbeing of coaches.

“I’m concerned and the game should be concerned. It’s an enormous burden to carry and we need to be doing something, both clubs — and coaches too,” he said.

“We’ve always looked after everyone else in the club and put everyone else in the club before ourselves. It might be time for us to take stock ourselves of just what our workflow is and our schedule because it’s now getting to a point where we’re seeing some real casualties out of our industry. And I don’t think that’s a good thing.”

It comes as Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge suggested 2020 has been a particularly tough season for the coaching fraternity as a result of the coronavirus turbulence.

Alastair Clarkson is the longest-serving coach left in footy.

Beveridge said the additional strain of clubs being forced to slash their football department budgets as a result of the pandemic has added further anguish to an already taxing job.

Football clubs have been forced to slash more than a third of their budgets for 2021 — with the league implementing a soft cap of just $6.1 million, a drastic reduction from the previous $9.7 million cap.

It has cost many staff and even senior assistant coaches their jobs.

“There’s plenty of highs but there’s many, many downs and to navigate through the really tough parts of this caper you do need to lean on others — and you do need intense support,” he said.

“I think more than ever with the cuts to the soft cap, with the extra strain around decision making and how it’s affected people. It’s knocked a lot of people around and as a result it has a flow on effect on individuals around and I’m sure Rhyce Shaw has felt a lot of that. I just hope Rhyce Shaw is OK.

“It’s just been a nightmarish year for so many.”