Coach Coach for 2025

[Eaglemaniac]

I’m not keen on bringing in players who were good in one area and having them coach another. That’s half the problem we have at the moment because we’ve got guys who’ve never been successful in certain positions trying to coach the whole line.
If we want a good forwards coach, get someone who was highly successful at it like Kennedy or Lecras etc. Don’t grab a mid and tell him to coach the forwards coz he’s got f-all experience in the area.

 

[ziad]

I’m not keen on bringing in players who were good in one area and having them coach another. That’s half the problem we have at the moment because we’ve got guys who’ve never been successful in certain positions trying to coach the whole line.
If we want a good forwards coach, get someone who was highly successful at it like Kennedy or Lecras etc. Don’t grab a mid and tell him to coach the forwards coz he’s got f-all experience in the area.

good player doesn't = good coach. Different skills.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Maybe not Montgomery as assistant to Schofield given he’s been linked to Adelaide under Nicks but Schofield staying as an assistant under Montgomery has appeal

Bring in a new forwards coach to replace Knights and possibly move Webster on

I’d like us to target Matt Spangher (current backline coach at the Bulldogs) for no other reason than I think he’d be a good presence around the club. Could be a good counter balance to the more intense Montgomery and Schofield

Not sure on a forwards coach but Scott Selwood might like a crack at that to build his resume after looking after the mids at Collingwood

That looks a good coaching panel and we could go after Mark Stone in a director of coaching role - he might be interested in something like that rather than a line coach which he’s been for a couple of decades

And for the cherry on top, Mark Williams or Stewart Dew (who both have relationships with Montgomery and Schofield) to head up development

Soft cap might take a hit in 2025 as we’d have Simpson’s payout to absorb but we have the money and we need to get this right

Keen

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Maybe not Montgomery as assistant to Schofield given he’s been linked to Adelaide under Nicks but Schofield staying as an assistant under Montgomery has appeal

Bring in a new forwards coach to replace Knights and possibly move Webster on

I’d like us to target Matt Spangher (current backline coach at the Bulldogs) for no other reason than I think he’d be a good presence around the club. Could be a good counter balance to the more intense Montgomery and Schofield

Not sure on a forwards coach but Scott Selwood might like a crack at that to build his resume after looking after the mids at Collingwood

That looks a good coaching panel and we could go after Mark Stone in a director of coaching role - he might be interested in something like that rather than a line coach which he’s been for a couple of decades

And for the cherry on top, Mark Williams or Stewart Dew (who both have relationships with Montgomery and Schofield) to head up development

Soft cap might take a hit in 2025 as we’d have Simpson’s payout to absorb but we have the money and we need to get this right

I would like to see our club not give a crap about the soft cap. Payout what you want and then just pay the tax. whats the point of having the money stored away if you don't use it.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Maybe not Montgomery as assistant to Schofield given he’s been linked to Adelaide under Nicks but Schofield staying as an assistant under Montgomery has appeal

Bring in a new forwards coach to replace Knights and possibly move Webster on

I’d like us to target Matt Spangher (current backline coach at the Bulldogs) for no other reason than I think he’d be a good presence around the club. Could be a good counter balance to the more intense Montgomery and Schofield

Not sure on a forwards coach but Scott Selwood might like a crack at that to build his resume after looking after the mids at Collingwood

That looks a good coaching panel and we could go after Mark Stone in a director of coaching role - he might be interested in something like that rather than a line coach which he’s been for a couple of decades

And for the cherry on top, Mark Williams or Stewart Dew (who both have relationships with Montgomery and Schofield) to head up development

Soft cap might take a hit in 2025 as we’d have Simpson’s payout to absorb but we have the money and we need to get this right

What about Corey Enright as an assistant? Currently the Saints defensive coach. I like the sound of Schofield and him working together.

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

I would like to see our club not give a crap about the soft cap. Payout what you want and then just pay the tax. whats the point of having the money stored away if you don't use it.

1. You don’t get nearly as much bang for your buck if you’ve got to pay 150% of what it actually costs.

2. You’re actively helping the minnow clubs by sending them money.

 

[greatwhiteshark]

1. You don’t get nearly as much bang for your buck if you’ve got to pay 150% of what it actually costs.

2. You’re actively helping the minnow clubs by sending them money.

The minnow clubs are virtually fully funded by the AFL now.
I am not saying go over it by millions, but if you go over it by 200k then just pay the tax.
It's also the best middle finger to the AFL that you can do.

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

The minnow clubs are virtually fully funded by the AFL now.
I am not saying go over it by millions, but if you go over it by 200k then just pay the tax.
It's also the best middle finger to the AFL that you can do.

That’s where the tax goes, to the poor clubs.

You literally said the club should not give a crap about the cap and should payout what they want. Now you’re saying they should make sure to only go over a little bit. Which is it?

 

[greatwhiteshark]

That’s where the tax goes, to the poor clubs.

You literally said the club should not give a crap about the cap and should payout what they want. Now you’re saying they should make sure to only go over a little bit. Which is it?

Whatever they want it to be, it doesn’t matter. You got it then spend it. Not our fault other clubs are broke and get, why do you care.

 

[Ochre]

1. You don’t get nearly as much bang for your buck if you’ve got to pay 150% of what it actually costs.

2. You’re actively helping the minnow clubs by sending them money.

Does it actually go to them beyond their normal handout though?

 

[greatwhiteshark]

Does it actually go to them beyond their normal handout though?

No it just helps fund them. Just goes in the AFL pool.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

1. You don’t get nearly as much bang for your buck if you’ve got to pay 150% of what it actually costs.

2. You’re actively helping the minnow clubs by sending them money.

You'd be mad not to pay the extra if it gets someone you want at the club. Like who gives a shit if it's not "bang for your buck" getting Mark Williams across over Jacob Brennan?

 

[greatwhiteshark]

You'd be mad not to pay the extra if it gets someone you want at the club. Like who gives a shit if it's not "bang for your buck" getting Mark Williams across over Jacob Brennan?

Agree, a tax is a tax. Who gives a crap who gets it.

 

[BSD]

Brennan, Webster and Toddy should be the first ones out the door
The salaries being paid to those 3 would more than cover what Choco Williams would cost.

 

[MeltMan]

Say we want to pay 2 million for all new appointments plus simmo payout.
We get taxed at 150% so 3 million in tax?
We spent 2 million on what we wanted or needed to do, and the other 17 clubs get 1/17 of 3 million, or 4 clubs get 750k each ish if its all the minow clubs.
Paying 3 mill overs is the annoying thing, but no individual competitors gets even half what we wanted to spend. And the only thing that changes is the AFL use some of our money, not theirs to do it.
I can understand not wanting to pay 5 million for 2 million of value, but i dont think "it goes somewhere else" is a reason not to do it.
#quickmath i KNOW this is completely uninformed, taking a stab with game theory based on others posts.

 

[Pully]

good player doesn't = good coach. Different skills.

Kennedy and Lecraes would make great coaches because of how they played and used their forward craft that can be passed on to other people. Lance Franklin wouldn't make a good coach because no one is as gifted as he was

 

[frenchconnection]

I’m not keen on bringing in players who were good in one area and having them coach another. That’s half the problem we have at the moment because we’ve got guys who’ve never been successful in certain positions trying to coach the whole line.
If we want a good forwards coach, get someone who was highly successful at it like Kennedy or Lecras etc. Don’t grab a mid and tell him to coach the forwards coz he’s got f-all experience in the area.

Didn’t I hear that Jimmy Bartel has told GWS he’s leaving at seasons end - would he be worthwhile approaching either as midfield or forwards coach as when listening to him he appears to have a good football brain and like what he has to say when analysing different teams on a couple of different footy shows he appears on. Another one I like is Mark Stone who has been an assistant at a few different clubs including both our local teams and is presently one of the coaches at the Perth FC I believe as like his analysis of the game as well when listening to him in the media.

 

[frenchconnection]

Brennan, Webster and Toddy should be the first ones out the door
The salaries being paid to those 3 would more than cover what Choco Williams would cost.

I thought I heard somebody say that Toddy is very good at what he does so just because he’s Nizzy’s son shouldn’t really come into it no matter how he first got his opportunity.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

Say we want to pay 2 million for all new appointments plus simmo payout.
We get taxed at 150% so 3 million in tax?
We spent 2 million on what we wanted or needed to do, and the other 17 clubs get 1/17 of 3 million, or 4 clubs get 750k each ish if its all the minow clubs.
Paying 3 mill overs is the annoying thing, but no individual competitors gets even half what we wanted to spend. And the only thing that changes is the AFL use some of our money, not theirs to do it.
I can understand not wanting to pay 5 million for 2 million of value, but i dont think "it goes somewhere else" is a reason not to do it.
#quickmath i KNOW this is completely uninformed, taking a stab with game theory based on others posts.

Have a read of this for info on the soft cap:
Soft Cap Link

• Soft cap is $7.275m
• 20% of senior coach salary sits outside the cap.
• There's a sliding scale on taxing if exceeding the soft cap. The first $1m is taxed less than any amount over that. The amount of tax also increases if you exceed the cap in consecutive years.
• There's a relocation allowance that sits outside of the soft cap as well (for all those east coast coaches using the excuse of not wanting to relocate to WA).

I couldn't find the current tax rate, but as recently as 2022 the tax on exceeding the cap in the 3rd consecutive year was 400%.

While we as a club can afford to pay the tax, exceeding it beyond 12-24 months becomes financially irresponsible.

Also, I couldn't find anything on how the soft cap tax funds are distributed.
I don't think it necessarily goes into the pockets of other clubs, just gets collected by the AFL and spent as they see fit.

 

[Byron_Clanger]

Gerard Whateley on Crunch Time just had a mini clip at the assistant coaches for not wanting to get in the mix for the Eagles coaching job. 'What ever happened to backing yourself in and having a crack' pretty much echoing what Clarko said yesterday on SEN. The richest, most resourced club in the land with only 18 spots available and like two being made available every year. Why wouldn't you have a go at it?!

My sentiments exactly.

 

[HoneyBadger35]

Have we considered that they’re fine with trading off being ‘just’ an assistant coach for the time being with reasons unrelated to football? A sick parent, a kid at a crucial stage in schooling, things that exist outside of moving your world across the country to kick a ball around, as they’ve each said?

Let’s say you’re an in demand assistant coach and your kid is in Year 11….you’re probably going to be as in demand two years from now when they’ve graduated, and you don’t need to move your family across the country or move alone and leave them behind to get it done. Might be a better time for you then, because the world exists outside of football.

Nobody owes us their time as coach of the footy club we happen to like.

 

[Bender_]

Have we considered that they’re fine with trading off being ‘just’ an assistant coach for the time being with reasons unrelated to football? A sick parent, a kid at a crucial stage in schooling, things that exist outside of moving your world across the country to kick a ball around, as they’ve each said?

Let’s say you’re an in demand assistant coach and your kid is in Year 11….you’re probably going to be as in demand two years from now when they’ve graduated, and you don’t need to move your family across the country or move alone and leave them behind to get it done. Might be a better time for you then, because the world exists outside of football.

Nobody owes us their time as coach of the footy club we happen to like.

My IGA makes these baguettes - they are the most delicious bread I've ever eaten. The owner will bail me up if they see me in there and let me know that they have a batch ready in a few minutes. Making a chicken and salad roll within minutes of them coming out of the oven honestly makes my knees weak after having a bite.

What I'm trying to say is if I was in the mix for a head coaching role for an AFL club over east I'd declare myself out of the race pretty early not coz i was worried about coaching a shit club or how it'd affect my future coaching aspirations, but purely for bread reasons.

 

[frenchconnection]

Have we considered that they’re fine with trading off being ‘just’ an assistant coach for the time being with reasons unrelated to football? A sick parent, a kid at a crucial stage in schooling, things that exist outside of moving your world across the country to kick a ball around, as they’ve each said?

Let’s say you’re an in demand assistant coach and your kid is in Year 11….you’re probably going to be as in demand two years from now when they’ve graduated, and you don’t need to move your family across the country or move alone and leave them behind to get it done. Might be a better time for you then, because the world exists outside of football.

Nobody owes us their time as coach of the footy club we happen to like.

Just my opinion but I would say whoever takes on the job as head coach of the WCE know it will be challenging and possibly a lot of pain ahead before success so many are just not willing to put their hats in the ring due to being fearful of it affecting their future ambitions as head coach anywhere else. Of course I could be way off the truth and no doubt there are family reasons for some and perhaps also want more money than is being offered to move to the other side of the country bearing in mind we still have to stay below the soft cap! As I said just my thoughts!

 

[Flarn Rarn]

Tbh, that just kind of shows that Barrett doesn't know much about Schofield, along with the others who keep harping on about how interim coaches don't work.

Let's look at who the ones have been this century(off the top of my head):

Roos - Successful premiership coach.

Ratten - Knifed for Lyon and would be having a giggle at how bad the Saints are going right now. May not have been the messiah but a more than capable coach/Saints are a complete rabble.

Teague - Got some good results but was he really experienced enough for the role? Didn't look like Carlton went through much of a process before appointing him. Looking at his previous coaching roles, it doesn't ever seem like he was a senior assistant at any of the clubs he coached for. Did coach Northern Bullants to 2 grand finals though as a player-coach. Carlton are also a rabble and their previous appointment of Bolton was just as bad.

Shaw - Similar to Teague, he also never was a senior assistant and was basically thrust into the role, before having a mental breakdown at the end of his first season, as he clearly wasn't prepared for the role.


If you compare all of that to Schofield, he has a far better CV. In fact, if he wasn't the interim coach, he'd probably be far and away the most qualified candidate.

WAFL coaching history:

• Took Subi Colts from spooners to premiers, in one season.
• 5 grand finals for 3 flags(yes, there were salary cap 'issues' but you still have to be able to get your team there)

AFL coaching history

• Senior assistant at Port
• Senior assistant at WCE

Most of the other assistants spoken about don't have anywhere close to the experience he has, either at state level, or as an AFL senior assistant. He's simply getting the bad rap mostly because of Teague and Shaw, which were terrible appointments to begin with.

I'm not saying he should be the next head coach for WCE but his resume stacks up very well to those others in consideration and he should be near the top of the list.

The thing I keep thinking about when somebody says giving an interim coach the full time gig is a bad idea is that most of the people they're probably thinking of, especially in recent memory, were appointed to complete basket case clubs. Clubs with a history of either internal disarray or chronic lack of resources, two things which all but preclude a serious climb up the ladder. And, to be clear, two things that our current club does not suffer from.

There is merit in saying don't get sucked in by good results under the interim. I think that is a completely fair point, since I can't explain why, for example, Teague and Rhyce Shaw were able to look like competent coaches in the interim but less so the moment the club gave them more accountability. So, we shouldn't really give much weight to wins or losses under Schofield.

But Schofield has a coaching CV that stands on its own merit. Regardless of what the club has done with him at the helm, he has a level of experience that is very fitting for a first time senior coach. Time will tell whether he actually gets it and how history views that decision but he is unquestionably qualified for the role.

Also, for every Teague/Shaw, there is a Neil Craig/Grant Thomas who were definitely not complete failures (to go alongside Paul Roos of course). We absolutely should take our pick of the best candidates, whoever that ends up being - but discounting someone because they're doing the job right now is the most lizard brained take anyone could have on the situation. We aren't North and we aren't Carlton or St Kilda or any other ****about club that would ride on the romance of the new guy getting some good results. If the board likes him over anyone else, appoint him and trust that the club can offer the materiel support and internal unity that will help him succeed.

 

[bzparkes]

The thing I keep thinking about when somebody says giving an interim coach the full time gig is a bad idea is that most of the people they're probably thinking of, especially in recent memory, were appointed to complete basket case clubs. Clubs with a history of either internal disarray or chronic lack of resources, two things which all but preclude a serious climb up the ladder. And, to be clear, two things that our current club does not suffer from.

There is merit in saying don't get sucked in by good results under the interim. I think that is a completely fair point, since I can't explain why, for example, Teague and Rhyce Shaw were able to look like competent coaches in the interim but less so the moment the club gave them more accountability. So, we shouldn't really give much weight to wins or losses under Schofield.

But Schofield has a coaching CV that stands on its own merit. Regardless of what the club has done with him at the helm, he has a level of experience that is very fitting for a first time senior coach. Time will tell whether he actually gets it and how history views that decision but he is unquestionably qualified for the role.

Also, for every Teague/Shaw, there is a Neil Craig/Grant Thomas who were definitely not complete failures (to go alongside Paul Roos of course). We absolutely should take our pick of the best candidates, whoever that ends up being - but discounting someone because they're doing the job right now is the most lizard brained take anyone could have on the situation. We aren't North and we aren't Carlton or St Kilda or any other ****about club that would ride on the romance of the new guy getting some good results. If the board likes him over anyone else, appoint him and trust that the club can offer the materiel support and internal unity that will help him succeed.

Yep, agreed.

Just lazy journalism combined with recency bias.