News Lisa Alexander applies for North Melbourne senior coach position

[Pykie]

has she got her coaching licences? and tbf the AFL is turning our game into netball anyway.

No she doesn't.

You can't just do the level 3 AFLCA coaching certificate.

You have to be invited by the AFLCA and not even every senior AFL assistant coach gets offered a spot to do it.

Sam Mitchell for instance I think has only just completed it and he's a senior coach in waiting.

They would not invite someone like her with absolutely no experience (or intention to get experience) at any level of football.

She's not interested in being an assistant, AFLW etc she legitimately believes herself to be the best coach in the country, which means she could coach any team, in any sport by just applying "her methods"

It's hilarious listening to her on the topic.


If it was a coach in another sport implying the same about a netball side, we'd never hear the end of it. There isn't a sportsman or woman in the country with a bigger chip on their shoulder than Australian netballers.



Have a listen:

Lisa Alexander on her AFL coaching aspirations (29/09/20)

Former Australian Diamonds coach, Lisa Alexander joins Gerard.

player.whooshkaa.com

 

[Rowan18]

Don't know this for sure but I suspect they will at least look at it. I also suspect doing so will point out the glaring issues in her application. I don't think there is harm in having a look outside the box like this.

Read the OP, they have already emailed her to say her application won't be progressing.

 

[Joao]

Read the OP, they have already emailed her to say her application won't be progressing.

Ah, fair enough.

 

[Rowan18]

No she doesn't.

You can't just do the level 3 AFLCA coaching certificate.

You have to be invited by the AFLCA and not even every senior AFL assistant coach gets offered a spot to do it.

Sam Mitchell for instance I think has only just completed it and he's a senior coach in waiting.

They would not invite someone like her with absolutely no experience (or intention to get experience) at any level of football.

She's not interested in being an assistant, AFLW etc she legitimately believes herself to be the best coach in the country, which means she could coach any team, in any sport by just applying "her methods"

It's hilarious listening to her on the topic.


If it was a coach in another sport implying the same about a netball side, we'd never hear the end of it. There isn't a sportsman or woman in the country with a bigger chip on their shoulder than Australian netballers.



Have a listen:

Lisa Alexander on her AFL coaching aspirations (29/09/20)

Former Australian Diamonds coach, Lisa Alexander joins Gerard.

player.whooshkaa.com

She needs to be called out on this. Most likely, she is baiting for her own publicity. If not, then she is clearly an awful coach if she thinks that the sport is interchangeable.

 

[Pykie]

Read the OP, they have already emailed her to say her application won't be progressing.

She'd be better utilized on the actual coaching selection panel as an independent voice on player management, high performance views etc, rather than the coach itself.

 

[Slartibartfast]

You can't possibly be appointed coach without any AFL coaching experience. If she genuinely wanted a senior coaching position one day she would need to enter through a different pathway, perhaps coaching an underage team, and then entering the AFL as a line coach. You can't just become a senior coach.

James Hird had zip senior coaching experience , an he paid the price for it. His inexperience led him to losing control of what was happening.

 

[Pykie]

You would think she was some sort of parody account. PMSL.

 

[jarrod_island_doggies]

So Chris Fagan who is a school teacher never played the sport, Today a coach doesnt teach them to kick, he is more a manager, look at the soccer examples Avram Grant, Jose mourinho was an interpeter before doing his coaching licence, Andre Villas Boas to name a few

Not sure if serious.

He played over 250 games in Tassie (before the VFL became fully professional) and represented his state to boot.

 

[Toump Ass]

Obviously she won’t have the tactical

Why not? I'd say it's the only thing she might have.

Read an article a while ago re: coaching evolution. It mentioned that Fremantle employed Ric Charlesworth (who was the Australian Hockey coach) at various times. Years before it was fashionable he told the dockers they needed to have triple their rotations, implement zones and play ultra defensively- apparently the Freo coach at the time refused to follow his advice because he figured no one would come and watch the team.

Only took a decade or so for the rest of the AFL to catch up.

That said, I don't think she'd be suitable for the job without having some experience in the AFL first.

 

[Pykie]

I quite like the bolded line below.

Yes, Lisa we were absolutely honored that you would consider little old us.....




Ex-Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander’s bid for North Melbourne coaching job knocked back
Former Australian netball coach Lisa Alexander has thrown her hat into the ring for the North Melbourne coaching job — but her application was met with a swift response.
Liz Walsh, News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

North Melbourne has rejected former Australian Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander as a potential candidate for their vacant AFL head coaching role.

Alexander, who was head coach of Australia’s successful national netball team from 2011 until 2020, applied for the role which was vacated last month by Rhys Shaw, saying she genuinely wanted the job at the Kangaroos and would bring a unique perspective to the game from a high performance point of view.

But the Kangaroos informed Alexander over email on Monday afternoon that she was not the right candidate for the job.

“I had a go, I put the CV in, I’ve been treated very professionally, in that they’ve looked at it and given me a little bit of feedback, which is obviously getting AFL experience and at this stage, they are looking for a senior AFL coach,” she said.

Alexander said she respected the process that North Melbourne had gone through in deciding not to pursue her as coach.
“I may not be the person they’re looking for, but at the end of the day, I want to make sure that all of our football teams around the country acknowledge that there could be a female out there who could be really good and could add to their programs,” she said.
“I put my hand up, I had a go, but if it’s not me, I certainly hope that I can pave the way in making people think differently for women who come after me, that’s the main thing.”
The former World Cup winning coach said she would now work towards gaining more experience in the football world.
“That’s part of what I’ll work towards, just making sure I go and do the things that I think are important for me to have a go,” she said.

“To be honest, I was pleased just to be taken seriously by North Melbourne, and I think that’s a step in the right direction.

“They’re very honoured in many respects that I would think about having a go, considering my coaching career with the Diamonds and what a great career that is and they were very pleased that I would take them seriously.”

Alexander said what she would bring to the role aside from her extensive high performance knowledge and winning culture, would be a different way of seeing things about the game.

“My observations from outside, and netball is very connected with the Olympic and Commonwealth Games sports particularly, we do a lot of cross work together as coaches and we learn off each other a lot more in high performance ways and how we put programs together and look after individual athletes.

“I genuinely wanted to have a go at doing it.

“Just like every girl at my age, played in the girlfriends and boyfriends’ team but the thing is I’ve been watching and been very closely aligned to football for a long time, it’s not like I don’t watch the game … I’ve been a very interested observer for a long time.”

 

[Pykie]

No doubt this is coming next:

 

[Danger in Texas]

Yeah sure, she might have winning experience, but you just can't consider hiring someone that hasn't had any experience actually being involved in football management, let alone coaching

This is in contrast to, say, someone like Becky Hammon in the NBA, who has been an assistant coach in a great organisation for a while now and IMO deserves a gig sooner rather than later. If she was to be turned down for a worse, male basketball coaching candidate there's cause for uproar. Not so much in this situation

 

[Pykie]

Yeah sure, she might have winning experience, but you just can't consider hiring someone that hasn't had any experience actually being involved in football management, let alone coaching

This is in contrast to, say, someone like Becky Hammon in the NBA, who has been an assistant coach in a great organisation for a while now and IMO deserves a gig sooner rather than later. If she was to be turned down for a worse, male basketball coaching candidate there's cause for uproar. Not so much in this situation

I would have absolutely no problems hiring the first female senior AFL coach, if she was proven to be one of the best AFL assistant coaches in the system.


Lisa's anger should be directed at the level of female AFL assistant coaches, not head coaches. There's simply no-one close to that level.

The funny thing is when North comes under criticism for this, despite the highest ranking AFL female in a football department role actually being at North and has been for 4+ years (Laura Kane - Head of Football Operations)

You can't just walk into that position and obviously the first female AFL senior coach is going to encounter an incredible amount of scrutiny. They will have to have a bullet proof understanding of the game and preferably built up a lot of respect in the playing group as an assistant coach.

I think ideally when it eventually happens, she's an assistant coach taking over the role at the club where she has already been assistant coach.

 

[jarrod_island_doggies]

I mean it's done now, but if it gets more attention on the issue and another chance for someone like Searle to get another men's gig (when/if she decided she's happy to leave the Saints AFLW side - which she may not do) then it might not be a total failure.

 

[Danger in Texas]

I would have absolutely no problems hiring the first female senior AFL coach, if she was proven to be one of the best AFL assistant coaches in the system.


Lisa's anger should be directed at the level of female AFL assistant coaches, not head coaches. There's simply no-one close to that level.

The funny thing is when North comes under criticism for this, despite the highest ranking AFL female in a football department role actually being at North and has been for 3 years (Laura Kane - Head of Football Operations)

You can't just walk into that position and obviously the first female AFL senior coach is going to encounter an incredible amount of scruitiny.

Hit the nail on the head. Would love to see more women get opportunities in the AFL coaching system, someone like Bec Goddard, for example, really deserves a chance IMO. But (and this applies to everyone) you've got to do your time first. The only recent coaches I can think of that went straight to the head gig are Voss and Hird (there might be more but I can't remember them), and we all know how they turned out lol

If Lisa wants to get into AFL coaching, I'm sure she'd be able to get a gig as a line coach somewhere first, be it with North or another club. Would obviously then be rooting for her to succeed. It's like someone else said though - I'd be saying the same thing about her as I would with, say, Darren Lehmann if he wanted to be an AFL coach

 

[Bombermania]

Nothing against the idea of a women coaching a footy side but it would make more sense to go with Erin Phillips who comes from a solid footy background than someone whose background is in a sport that is polar opposites to the AFL with Netball being very different.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

It’s only a matter of time, there’s plenty of female coaches in the AFLW and St Kilda had Peta Searle as a full-time development coach. Not sure it’s just gonna be somebody with no experience in football though.

 

[Heaps of fun]

Aren't North already guarding space on the field with little to no contact? Lisa Alexander will only exacebate the problem that already exists!

lol, as if we are organised enough to perform a zone defence.

 

[Bombermania]

No doubt this is coming next:

View attachment 1007131

Caro is more qualified and comes from a footy background.

 

[PT Bar None]

Have there been many coaches at the elite level who have switched sports over the journey?

Struggling to think of any - I'm sure there were probably a few back in the semi-pro and amatuer days of sports. Coaching equivalents of C.B. Fry, etc.

Would be a courageous move for any elite sporting organisation to bring in someone from another sport into the senior coaching job. Might pay off. Would cost board members their spots if it didn't.

 

[Bostonian]

Never heard of her.

 

[darcytiger]

- International coaching is basically part time?
- Coaches the one country in the world who gives a shit about netball.
- Coaches the AA side, mature women who want to be there. Not 21 year old hot head males snivelling up any white substance out in front of them.

Tell her she’s dreaming.

 

[darcytiger]

Craig Bellamy maybe the only bloke person in the country that could be remotely considered for a cross code coaching position.

Looks after 40 odd meatheads and keeps them relatively (for NRL standards) out of trouble.
Immensely successful.
Knows the Melbourne sporting bubble.
Is one of the few Rugby League personalities that has some iota of respect for AFL.

 

[Pykie]

Like clockwork.

Dr. Sonja Hood is a North board member FWIW and Board Chair of McAuley Community Services for Women

 

[Sonny Bonds]

No doubt this is coming next:

View attachment 1007131

Highly doubt it. Wilson will be on the same page as everyone else regarding the topic.