John Longmire staying connected with his Sydney Swans ‘family’

When the game returns, Sydney Swans coach John Longmire knows that football departments won’t look like they used to.

Sydney Swans head coach John Longmire: ‘Our first step is making sure our people are safe, that they’re engaged, they’re exercising, healthy and connected. Picture: Getty Images

When the game returns, Sydney Swans coach John Longmire knows that football departments won’t look like they used to.

COVID-19, which has crippled many industries, has struck the AFL hard. The days of well-staffed football departments brimming with expertise are most likely over for good.

“We don’t know how it will look, other than football departments won’t look the same,” Longmire says.

As it stands today, the once bustling Sydney Swans football department consists of a “skeleton staff” of just seven: Longmire, football manager Charlie Gardiner, a conditioning coach, a doctor, a psychologist, a physiotherapist and a player welfare manager.

“And all that staff is on reduced time as well,” he says. “Most people have been stood down.”

The AFL wrote to clubs to inform them they had to operate on budgets of around $25,000 per week, as opposed to $220,000, for the next two months because of the drastic reduction in the game’s revenue. Longmire makes no secret that it has been a gutting, difficult time, especially after six of his dedicated assistant coaches — including John Blakey, Dean Cox and Brett Kirk — were stood down.

Longmire says what had been lost in the debate about the staffing of football departments, which has emerged during the coronavirus crisis, is that many coaches were often the first port of call when it came to providing emotional support to players.

“It’s not just about the football side, and stats and analytics, it’s about the welfare and support for the players and their families,” Longmire says.

“The debate has been hijacked, and if we lose people in our football departments, we’re losing crucial help to support and develop our players, both during and post their football careers.

“Out of four retirees last year, we helped every one get a job, they came into our system as draftees and I am really proud of the footy club’s ability to be able to transition these guys into the workforce.

“We, in Australian sport, are often at the forefront of player mental health.

“The care and support levels need to be really well-supported post COVID-19.

“It’s not just the psychologist, welfare, and doctors who are an important part in supporting the mental health of players — so is everyone else in the ecosystem of the football department.”

Longmire tells The Australian the industry is “losing a lot of good people” and he has spent a lot of his time consoling those without jobs right now.

“We are not on our own about this; the whole world is enduring this,” he says.

Rather than planning for games, Longmire’s days consist of Zoom meetings and checking in with the staff that remain and others who have been stood down. He is constantly in touch with the playing group, ensuring they are all “connected” during this troubling time.

“We’ve only got eight from NSW on our playing list of 45; the connectedness of a young playing group is one of our strengths,” he says. “But now we’ve got that ­challenge of making sure we stay connected.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on the phone, talking to them all day every day. We’ve got a lot of young players on our list, and (we’re) talking to them about their routine, staying healthy and engaged with our player welfare manager Denis Carroll.

“It’s about making sure everybody has a purpose. It’s an important time to stay as connected as we can. We’ve got to make sure there is a bit of joy in these blokes’ lives. There’s a lot of anxiety in the world. These guys are young people not used to what they are doing at the moment — as are all people of that age group.”

Longmire says his main concern is that the “community as a whole is healthy”, and that if the COVID-19 is finally controlled and football does return, he says the Swans are open to “almost everything” to get a 144-game season plus finals played.

“When the season gets going, it’s going to be looking completely different. We are looking at playing two games in five days. It’s going to be an increased workload, hopefully with an increased interchange,” he adds.

Longmire has pitched to the AFL to increase the interchange bench to six — with it being stipulated that two of the players must be under-21 players.

“It’s important to keep the younger players and the competition engaged and hopeful and exposed to senior football. If you are looking at our first-year draftees — Dylan Stephens, Will Gould, Elijah Taylor and Chad Warner and Brady Rowles — we’ve got all these younger kids who have come into this system with stars in their eyes. Understandably so. It would be great to expose the next generation to the game and look after them.”

But for now, it’s about the health — physical and mental — and the safety of the playing group and staff. “Our first step is making sure our people are safe, that they’re engaged, they’re exercising, healthy and connected,” he says. “We can only plan for what is in place at the moment.”