Blight: Borrow wisdom of elders

BEING part of the fledgling Gold Coast Suns has been exciting and certainly challenging, writes Malcolm Blight.

Malcolm Blight, Ron Barassi

BEING part of the fledgling Gold Coast Suns has been exciting and certainly challenging, writes Malcolm Blight.

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The player voted best on ground in the AFL Grand Final is awarded the Norm Smith medal. It is a most prestigious prize, named in honour of the former Melbourne Football Club champion player and six times premiership coach.

Smith was also named Coach of the AFL Team of the Century and made a Legend of the game in 2007.

In 1972 I was fortunate to sit alongside him at the nationally televised North Melbourne Grand Final Breakfast. I took the opportunity to ask as many questions as possible about the game we both loved.

He was about to help the newly appointed coach of the Roos - another Legend in Ron Barassi. The former dual Carlton premiership coach was, to my amazement, seeking assistance from his former mentor at the Demons.

Barassi was already an experienced coach but placed enormous importance on the theory "I will not only use all the brains I have but also the ones I can borrow".

Sadly Norm Smith passed away in the July of the following year.

Nearly 20 years later I entered the coaching ranks. I had obviously forgotten my discussions with Norm Smith as I had no thought of enticing any previous coaches or mentors to assist me in my role.

I finished like many first time coaches - losing games and subsequently losing my job. Fast-forward to today and there is an emerging trend of first-time coaches engaging former AFL coaches as their assistants in a variety of job descriptions.

The much-publicised role at Collingwood, with Nathan Buckley at the helm, went to former Swans and Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade in a role as football and coaching strategist.

Last year dual premiership coach Mark Thompson left Geelong and joined Essendon as senior assistant to James Hird. Melbourne rookie coach Mark Neeld has engaged long-serving Crows coach Neil Craig as director of sports performance.

After being moved on by Fremantle, Mark Harvey was quickly appointed as an assistant to Michael Voss at the Lions. Similarly Brenton Sanderson at the Crows has former Demon Dean Bailey, and in the box at St Kilda Scott Watters has former North Melbourne coach Dean Laidley.

Another former Demons coach Neale Daniher holds the position of chairman of the match committee at the West Coast Eagles.

For a long time "sacked and retired" coaches were seen to be past their best. The truth is the knowledge they gained in the most demanding of roles was invaluable. The surge in their appointments reflects a much wiser assessment of their ability and football nous.

For the past three years I have been a board member of the Gold Coast Suns. Being part of a fledgling football club has been exciting and certainly challenging. The football department is generally a very young and keen group. When they were appointed most were first timers in their roles.

The club announced this week that I have stepped down from the board to take up a part-time advisory role similar to other former coaches mentioned previously. With a bit more time on my hands I am looking forward to this role. Hopefully, with all my experiences in the game, I can pass on some advice to assist their development.

Over the years I have had many discussions with young aspiring coaches just like I did with Norm Smith. One long conversation I had was with the then newly-appointed coach of the Glenelg Football Club.

He must have been a good listener! Coaching Port Adelaide to its first AFL premiership is on his list of credits. Mark Williams (now at Greater Western Sydney) was the keen young student at that time.