By Michael Gleeson
This week Essendon have made North Melbourne look like the attractive professional club.
The chaotic, panic-stricken chase for a new coach, before they got rid of their old one, and just as the bloke they were chasing was about to sign on to coach another club was high farce.
Ross Lyon, James Hird, Simon Goodwin and Adam Kingsley are all potential contenders for the coaching role at Essendon.Credit: The Age
And that is to say nothing of the fact that as they were desperately trying to woo Alastair Clarkson their highest profile board member, Kevin Sheedy, went on radio to say the former Hawks coach should coach the other club and move it to Tasmania.
It was so shambolic it will give pause to any prospective coach, and the incumbent Ben Rutten, about whether they want to coach Essendon next year and beyond. And that is before countenancing the internecine politics of the place.
But someone will. They always do.
Essendon board machinations
Several things are clear from this week’s events. One, the board is divided. Several board members plainly wanted to chase Clarkson months ago and only got their way once it was all too late to get him.
It is also a board that has more ex-footballers on it than any other in the AFL (three) and yet despite this preponderance of football people on their board the club’s football department is underperforming and they need an external review to sort it out.
Second, having so publicly chased and missed Clarkson it is untenable and unthinkable that Ben Rutten would remain past this Sunday’s board meeting.
Would the next coach - senior and assistant - really want to walk into an organisation that is so cavalier in the treatment of its people? No. And staff at the club felt exactly the same and told the president that in meetings on Friday.
The third point is there is a clear push from some at board level and senior figures in the club for James Hird to come back as senior coach.
Some will be aghast at this. Some will swoon.
There is no reason Hird should not apply for the job but no reason also he should just be appointed. Hird returned to the club once after he served his 12-month suspension from the drug scandal only to resign 19 rounds into the 2015 season after just five wins and a 112-point belting by Adelaide. Like any senior coach time away normally makes them better second time around.
Indeed the Bombers could approach the current GWS coaching box of Hird, Mark McVeigh and Dean Solomon and see if they can entice them home. Kevin Sheedy would be happy. As new president David Barham said on Friday, Sheeds thinks all his players could be president of the US.
James Hird.Credit: AFL Photos / Getty Images
But immediately what does Essendon do about a coach? Assuming Sunday’s board meting resolves to give Rutten the respect they have denied him all week.
Firstly they run the sort of process they haven’t run basically since Matthew Knights was appointed (ok, not a good example given how that worked out). Take the findings of the external review. Get a search panel and interview candidates.
Other coaching contenders
The first priority will be, like chasing Clarko, to start big with senior established names. The size of the job and the politics of Essendon would heavily favour them bringing in an experienced coach who brings with them respect and confidence.
That means approaching premiership coaches first. They might assume the answer but premiership player Damien Hardwick would be first call. He will say no. But they have to call.
They also have to call Simon Goodwin, another who is familiar to them from his time as an assistant there. Again they might anticipate the answer but they have a connection to him so must at least ring.
Next is Adam Simpson. Is it a good time for him to return to Melbourne if it means taking over one of the big clubs? North made the call previously and was politely told he was happy, so given he said that to a club he captained and has affection for it is doubtful he can be levered out.
Then the call would be to Ken Hinkley. He has had a fractious relationship with the Port board at times and with life in Adelaide. His team is in transition after a preliminary final belting last year and missing the eight this year so maybe the timing it right.
Outside of winkling a coach out of another club, where do they cast the net?
Clearly Ross Lyon should be high on the list. The former Dockers and Saints coach has detractors, but he also has a proven ability and might be exactly what the club needs. He is combative and would stare down the political agitators and force change on the club. He has a defensive philosophy that would remedy the Bombers’ present inability to defend the ground. His teams might not play attractive football, but he might be what they need.
Nathan Buckley? Big name, good person and respected coach. But he also said he was “absolutely not interested in coaching next year at all”. Not a lot of wriggle room in that statement.
Leon Cameron. Too soon? Straight out of GWS and back to Melbourne. A capable coach who got to a grand final - what would Essendon give to win a final let alone make a grand final? He might benefit being at a club where he actually has resources and can attract good assistant coaches.
After that you start to look at the new untried coaches like Adam Kingsley, Jaymie Graham, Ash Hansen, Adem Yze and Dale Tapping.
Ordinarily the right approach now is to run an exhaustive thorough process and see who it turns up. But Essendon right now feels like no ordinary case. With multiple reviews going on and board upheaval they feel like when they appointed John Worsfold, they need a coach for a crisis.
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