Coach John Longmire - Part IV

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Swan4Life said:
That AFL article that Hairy Biker posted is a bloody good read. I particularly liked this bit:

"You have an understanding and a solid philosophy, a foundation of who you are and what you are. But, on top of that, you've got to be adaptable and flexible. You've got to be able, in the moment, to work out which way you need to go," Longmire says.

"You don't always get it right. I always talk to our captains about leadership being getting things right seven times out of 10. That means three times, you're going to muck it up. It's just a fact of life and part of the role, understanding that you're going to make many mistakes. I make plenty of them."

I'm backing him in to get us back to the pointy end next year.
Click to expand...
Our list doesn't feel that far off. Bottom 4 didn't reflect what we can do but we've collapsed too many times.

You can only hope at the end of the season the players regroup and we come back on top.

I don't think there are many who can get more out of the players and at this stage I'm not willing to take a risk. If we're in the same situation next season I'm happy to change the guard but at this stage it's not needed
 
Millky95 said:
Which is the most interesting but also saddest part of the season because just last year, we were playing exciting footy. We were quick, strong, skillful and if that wasn't working we could switch to a slow kick-mark game that got our tempo and rhythm back. And we were good. 1 bad GF aside, we deserved to be in that game and if it was a 2/3 series, I'd have backed us in.

So where in the past 12 months did it all go so wrong? I don't think any of us have an answer
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I think there are a multitude of reasons:

1 - Last season we had both McCartin brothers available with Paddy being the No1 Intercept marker and winning Intercept possessions with great footskills which meant we could attack defences that weren't set. It also meant Blakey for example wasn't playing as a KPD and could rebound far easier.

2 - Hickey's form has fallen off dramatically which means we are getting beaten more at the contest and don't have him as a marking option.

3 - Reid is injured which has had negative impacts on our forward pressure, our 2nd ruck option and ability to clear out of defence.

4 - Buddy's form has fallen away which impacts our ability to kick a score.

5 - Heeney/Papleys goal scoring touch has disappeared.
 
As an aside: “I was involved in all of the draft and trade, I was doing that all the way through.”

Long time discussion point on whether Horse influences draft and trade decisions. Here we have it folks.

One of the best coaches and the MCG isnt our home ground like Hawthorn or Richmond so I don’t mark as harshly on the 1/4 record.

Our club is very clearly well run and in the grand scheme of things its reflected in the results that’ve been achieved
 

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hairy biker said:
AFL article on Longmire, prior to his 300th game as coach this Thursday;
www.afl.com.au

The night Horse said no: How foiled plan forged Swans legend

Riley Beveridge looks at John Longmire's journey ahead of the Sydney coach's 300th game at the helm
www.afl.com.au www.afl.com.au

Covers the handover from Roos and how close Horse came to taking the NM job and the journey since.
Unsurprisingly positive, but just a few bits that stood out for me;

Harley -
"His relationship with the players is as good as I've ever seen," Swans CEO Tom Harley says.
"That speaks to the evolution of coaching. Coaching is ultimately a leadership position around influence. It goes without saying, with influence you've got to have the foundation of a relationship. He invests significantly in that."

"He can absolutely park his own ego and park his own agenda to the side, take things on board and then shake them up."

Kirk -
"He's got great empathy and really good emotional intelligence," club legend Brett Kirk says.

"He understands people. All of the players would say that if something's going on and you need to have a conversation, it's easy to walk through his door and have a yarn. He definitely has empathy for people. While footy is a high priority, he also understands that there's a lot of other stuff going on in guys' life. He gets it."

Pridham -
" He's been very good at adapting. Because he takes a lot of pastoral care in the players' welfare and their families, he's been able to be highly effective with players. He's remained relevant for them and he's adapted his approach to get the best out of everybody. That's really what has been his secret sauce for us."

J. McVeigh -
"We talk about being a ruthless footy club. Well, it starts with him. He is. He's just got a relentless pursuit to try and improve the group and win and a great drive to do that. He sets the standard in that for us."

Over the years coaches can tend to be pigeon-holed somewhat eg Pyke is a tactical coach, Horse is a people/relationship coach.
Reading the 'testimonials' of the 4 people above there is no doubt, in my mind, that the perception of Longmire as a 'people person' is well founded.

This has, for whatever reasons people choose to advance, been a disappointing year.
Horse has a contract to the end of 2025.
I've no doubt that at this point in time he will seek to complete his current deal, but I also think he has a good degree of self awareness and that if the results don't come next season he will walk away at the end of 2024.

The article mentions he has a ~62% win rate.
He has taken us on a generally enjoyable ride over his 300 games in charge, and yes, the GF losses will always be a negative in his coaching resume.

But I for one am happy to celebrate his 300 game milestone this week.
Click to expand...

God I feel old. I'm older than what Longmire was when he took over from Roos, and the same age when we won the flag in 2012.
 
I heard Mark McVeigh earlier , could he be a good replacement ! did i really post that , a McVeigh
 
bedford said:
I heard Mark McVeigh earlier , could he be a good replacement ! did i really post that , a McVeigh
Click to expand...
Mark did coach the successful Allies team. Mark is currently serving as head coach of the Sydney Swans Academy's U18 Boys program. McVeigh played 232 AFL games for Essendon from 1999 to 2012, before spending eight years as an assistant coach role at GWS Giants, serving as caretaker senior coach in 2022
 
SwansProudly said:
Mark did coach the successful Allies team. Mark is currently serving as head coach of the Sydney Swans Academy's U18 Boys program. McVeigh played 232 AFL games for Essendon from 1999 to 2012, before spending eight years as an assistant coach role at GWS Giants, serving as caretaker senior coach in 2022
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You are correct , always hated him , but i reckon he might be good if Horse goes and more importantly has been to other systems
 
bedford said:
You are correct , always hated him , but i reckon he might be good if Horse goes and more importantly has been to other systems
Click to expand...
At least Mark has been at other clubs compared to Jarrad.
 
Cadsky said:
Time to put Don Pyke in the box seat. His attacking mentality is the way forward. He is our Craig McRea. The players would all buy in and in turn performance would spike.
Click to expand...
Weird, because our attacking mentality started before he joined.
 
Dubsforsam1 said:
I think there are a multitude of reasons:

1 - Last season we had both McCartin brothers available with Paddy being the No1 Intercept marker and winning Intercept possessions with great footskills which meant we could attack defences that weren't set. It also meant Blakey for example wasn't playing as a KPD and could rebound far easier.

2 - Hickey's form has fallen off dramatically which means we are getting beaten more at the contest and don't have him as a marking option.

3 - Reid is injured which has had negative impacts on our forward pressure, our 2nd ruck option and ability to clear out of defence.

4 - Buddy's form has fallen away which impacts our ability to kick a score.

5 - Heeney/Papleys goal scoring touch has disappeared.
Click to expand...

Perfect summary.

I would just tack on an addendum to point 2:

2a - Contested ball has regressed from what was already one of the weakest aspects of our game - particularly around stoppages, where our clearance numbers are well below average.
 

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Dubsforsam1 said:
I think there are a multitude of reasons:

1 - Last season we had both McCartin brothers available with Paddy being the No1 Intercept marker and winning Intercept possessions with great footskills which meant we could attack defences that weren't set. It also meant Blakey for example wasn't playing as a KPD and could rebound far easier.

2 - Hickey's form has fallen off dramatically which means we are getting beaten more at the contest and don't have him as a marking option.

3 - Reid is injured which has had negative impacts on our forward pressure, our 2nd ruck option and ability to clear out of defence.

4 - Buddy's form has fallen away which impacts our ability to kick a score.

5 - Heeney/Papleys goal scoring touch has disappeared.
Click to expand...


Maybe last year was a fluke

P Mccartin getting back in the league, was unlikely and seems done

Hickey was a punt, and finished

Reid had a careeer year after an ordinary career, buddy played one last good year at 35 to earn an extra year.

Heeney and Papley should return but the rest and Rampes best is done, maybe a one off rise
 
To be basically join the comp in what 1989/89 at north as a player and stay involved successfully as player, assistant and now coach in basically all of that time (maybe a few years break between player and coach? wasnt he a manager?) is impressive.

Say what you want that durability and application is amazing.
 
When you see Franklin playing through injury/illness to help the team, Hickey trying his heart out even though cooked, Parker, Gulden, Campbell, Blakey, Florent, Hayward etc trying their hardest you can tell that Longmire hasn't lost the playing group. From young to old they are playing for him.

A couple of little things go our way against Port/GWS/Geelong (counter balance with NM) and we are one game off 5th place.
 
Swan4Life said:
Agree, although I think Pyke helped to enhance that aspect of our game - particularly through the corridor.
Click to expand...
I don't doubt Pyke has enhanced what Horse started, but we also had a lot of personnel factors in our sudden rise up the ladder. Buddy could barely get on the park in 19/20. Heeney, Rampe, JPK, Hewett all had injury issues in 2020. We got Hickey in, Warner exploded onto the scene, Wicks had a great first half, Gulden had a good 1st year etc in 2021 which coincided with Pyke coming on board.

People seem to give the bulk of the credit to Pyke though.
 
Another article on Longmire, this time getting Rampe's perspective;
www.afl.com.au

'Not just a coach': How Horse has connected Swans ahead of game 300

Dane Rampe paid tribute to John Longmire ahead of the Sydney coach's milestone match
www.afl.com.au www.afl.com.au

"I absolutely want to get the win for him and acknowledge and help him celebrate what is an incredible achievement," Rampe told AFL.com.au.

"I think one of his great strengths as a coach is the connection and the relationship that he has with his players. And that's been evident from when I walked in the door. He's not just a coach, he's a mentor, he's a friend.

Clearly the season hasn't hasn't gone as planned but as Dubsforsam1 says above, absolutely no indication that Horse has lost the playing group.

And Rampe talks about the challenges and changes that have taken place under Horse's tenure;

"The most obvious one being, for me, is how we dealt with the retirements of Kieren Jack, Jarrad McVeigh, Heath Grundy, and then transitioned to a team that missed finals," Rampe said.

"He led us through what was uncharted territory for us, the first time we missed finals in a number of years and without bottoming out, used that as a launching pad to really set ourselves up for a Grand Final appearance last year."

Worthwhile also remembering that Longmire has had to deal with the trading ban, the loss of COLA, general lack of early draft picks and the challenges of the Sydney market.
The team has been rebuilt and we have generally been competitive during Horse's tenure.

A win tonight would be good for a myriad of reasons, which most certainly includes a milestone win for Horse.
 

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Coach John Longmire - Part IV

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