Coach John Longmire - Part IV has resigned

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swanssince2002 said:
I think he probably knows that there would have been no better chance to get a flag than this year. Now you see those in the top 8 improving their teams and 2025 seems like a formality barring a big turnaround.

People on this board outlined everything that went our way before the GF and we absolutely blew it. Well, up to the playing group now.
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Yes we got flogged in a grand final. But I don't think moving from 2nd to 1st really requires a 'big turnaround' of any form. It needs plenty of improvement, and huge strides on the day that matters. And I think there is a big chance we will regress a bit from where we were for most of 2024 from a results perspective.

But it wouldn't represent in any shape or form a 'big turnaround' of any sort for us to be there or there abouts again. We haven't lost 5 good players in the off season or something - we've lost a good veteran leader and that's it from the 23 that played on grand final day. Sure there will be scars and impacts, and it is unlikely we back up with a great season in season 2025, if historical trends are anything to go by. But we'd hardly be coming from outside the 8 and making a run for the flag, or something that would really represent a massive turnaround in fortunes.
 

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I think the things that struck me at the presser - skimming while at work

- Pridham looks so small next to two big footy men

- Cox looks like Horse 13 years ago fresh and ready

and I know i am critical of longmire currently in recent times but never doubted him as a man, showed that again today what a great person he is and secondly on reflection kudos for him walking away , many wouldn't . Be easy to coach 2025 even if we won the spoon he would still be considered a good coach , but he has gone which is difficult to do.
 
bedford said:
That was emotional
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Yes it was emotional & emotive. A section of the Swans faithful wanted to stay in Melbourne by hook or by crook. Took over the board, sacked the coach etc. But the reality was, they found out once they got to the boardroom, the club was bankrupt. Without the move & the help from the VFL the club would not have been able to carry on. The other reality in all this is when theVFL decided to become the AFL they were also broke & that move saved them too. Without that coming off & the WAFL capitulating to the VFL there would have been no VFL comp the next year.

If the WAFL had held out the National Comp would have been run by the Australian National Football League. But even they didn't have the money to go national. The VFL got financial support but only if the National Comp was instituted.

Soth Melbourne, on the other hand was broke well before they went to Sydney. Same with Fitzroy. Fitzroy were worse, they owed more $$$$ than Skase. I was working at the Junction Oval with the caterer. They failed to pay the caterer for the Footlighters, all the Club functions, it amounted to something like $250,000, which was a ****ing lot of money in those days. Luckily, the caterer had the Herald Sun etc 7 many other clients. But in the end the debt building up so much & them declaring bankruptcy one day & registering the club in a different form the next the caterer gave up. Swans were never in the same sort of spot Fitzroy were. But they were running insolvent & needed help. The Sydney deal was about the only thing that would save the club in any form. Sad, but unfortunately true. In those days it was difficult for all the clubs to survive, especially Souths who's are was now given over to soccer due to the huge influx of European migrants. Footscray & Fitzroy had similar problems
 
mcs095 said:
Yes we got flogged in a grand final. But I don't think moving from 2nd to 1st really requires a 'big turnaround' of any form. It needs plenty of improvement, and huge strides on the day that matters. And I think there is a big chance we will regress a bit from where we were for most of 2024 from a results perspective.

But it wouldn't represent in any shape or form a 'big turnaround' of any sort for us to be there or there abouts again. We haven't lost 5 good players in the off season or something - we've lost a good veteran leader and that's it from the 23 that played on grand final day. Sure there will be scars and impacts, and it is unlikely we back up with a great season in season 2025, if historical trends are anything to go by. But we'd hardly be coming from outside the 8 and making a run for the flag, or something that would really represent a massive turnaround in fortunes.
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There were flaws in the game plan & they were used against us on the Big Stage. The players were too soft as well. But we turned the ball over so many times in the first quarter, nearly every time we got it, that we were never going to be in it. Pressure our best players & they fold.
 
tombomb said:
Horse is a true leader. He could have held on and made it really messy for the club.

You contrast this with how some other long term coaches have had to be dragged kicking and screaming out of their clubs.
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I do truly wonder as Horse said it himself he was feeling cooked by midpoint of the year did that correlate to our dramatic drop in performance?

Or just coincidence?
 
Heeney2Franklin said:
I do truly wonder as Horse said it himself he was feeling cooked by midpoint of the year did that correlate to our dramatic drop in performance?

Or just coincidence?
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I am thinking there is a correlation but it is probably the reverse scenario. Not him feeling cooked contributing to our drop off in performance, but our drop off in performance contributing to him feeling cooked.

Craig McCrae said something quite poignant in a press conference after a Collingwood loss once, which is that a coaches job is easy when things are going well, it's when things aren't going well that a coach proves himself.

I think this is probably the inflection point Horse reached, having already proven himself in the face of such adversities over and over throughout his tenure.

It's not like this year's midway drop-off was the first serious challenge he'd faced as a coach. It was probably just the straw that broke the camel's back.
 
Adnico26Parker said:
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I noticed his hug with Florent there lingered much longer than anyone else's. I'd imagine Florent's connection with Horse would be even stronger than most, given the circumstances with his father's passing a few months before Ollie became a Swan.
 

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Taper said:
There is no internal pressure because your board is elected and controlled by the AFL.
Getting your board in control of your members should be priority number one.

Crows members gain control of their board in 2028 according to a clause in the club constitution.
Does your club have anything like this in the constitution? Or is your club set to remain under AFL control indefinitely?
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Our club was intended to revert to being member owned but there is no set timeframe and it doesn't look like it will happen any time in the foreseeable future. It's up to the AFL - and why would they relinquish control voluntarily? :(
 
Not posting this in a smart-arsey, bragging way, if you click on the rest of the post a lot of it was crap that I was probably miles off with. But I posted this earlier in the season about Horse's body language:

caesar88 said:
That said, watching Horse's interviews in recent weeks has conjured certain images to me.

Antony and Cleopatra after the Battle of Actium. Hitler in the Führerbunker. Davy Crockett at the Alamo.

A once-powerful leader who has, finally, run out of answers; who has no way out.

Horse's admission that they've tried many different things to fix the first quarters and none have worked is startling. That's the kind of helplessness that has usually preluded a coach's sacking.
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For better or for worse, Horse's MO has often been an unwavering, "nothing to see here!" nonchalance in the face of adversity. He always had enough zest in his press conferences to at least present a convincing facade that he and his staff had everything under control, that everything was fine and he'd roll out the cliches that generally worked for him and, eventually, the team.

However around the time of that quote ^, he legitimately looked exhausted and perplexed by our form slump and it was the first time I'd EVER seen him, in 14 years, look troubled by the circumstances in front of him, and the first time he'd showed his vulnerability in regards to what was happening with his team.

In hindsight I now wonder if this was around the time when it really crystallised to him that he didn't have enough left in the tank to go another year.
 
What an amazing career, clearly a super bloke & like others have pointed out, glad it’s on his terms and seemingly ended well, not bitter which is brilliant, personally anyone who brings us a 🏆 is an 1000% legend, but for me time is right for a change / handover,

Next key decision will be Cox’s assistant - does this mean we have 2 positions available after McV has become our VFL coach?
 
mcs095 said:
I'm intrigued to learn what are the major failings from the broader (off-field) perspective that so drive the need for a widespread cleanout?

Look, the grand final results suck. And I'd argue the response to this point has been disappointing from the messaging we've heard coming out of the club. But a big call has been made in the key role, and a change made there.

But off the field, I think it is very difficult to argue the Club has ever been in better shape. Membership numbers that even a decade ago at the height of Buddymania were still only a hope on the horizon, crowd numbers that were by and large superb this year, vastly improved training facilities for the club, and overall corporate performance that puts us right in the top group of clubs in the competition.

I'm all for regular change across an organisation - sure. But I'm not sure there is anything suggesting we need a clear-out from an off-field perspective at all.
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Changing the senior coach and replacing him with someone internal isn't going to change anything. The admin has done well with the new centre, great. But let's get an admin that can now focus on winning Grand Finals.

We've had year after year of internal appointments all under the direction of the current hierarchy. There's no competition for positions, no fresh ideas, just more of the same.
 
GoTheSwannies said:
14 was the other thrashing I was referring to.

I feel as though if we were at least competitive in 2024, but got thrashed in 14 and 22, it would have been a positive for his legacy. It was just an insipid performance this year on top of 14 & 22 that capped it off.

14 was out of the blue, 22 was boys against men, 24 just encapsulated those performances into a theme.
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It's odd to think that we were favourites in all of our 4 losing grand finals under Horse. The only successful year in 2012, Hawthorn were heavy favourites to beat us.
 
CaptainChardonnay said:
One down, 5 (or so) to go.

Need a clean out at the top.

Chairman, President, CEO, anyone that's been on the board for more than 10 years.

Thanks for your service, let's get some new blood in. And that doesn't mean simply promoting someone with the same mentality/mindset from within.
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that is probably the most ridiculous comment I have read on this board in years. Stability is absolutely necessary for success. If you believe 8 GF appearances in the past 28 years, in an era of equalisation, is not a success story, you have no concept of how a footy club needs to be run. This success is completely due to the stability of this club from the president down to the fact of only 3 coaches in that time.
 

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Coach John Longmire - Part IV has resigned

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