- Oct 14, 2011
- 69,827
- 122,167
- AFL Club
- Richmond
Read today that Hinkely said he never wants to have the pressure of coaching in the final year of a contract. Holy hat, how has the club fallen for that as the excuse to finagle premature contract extensions. Is that the master tactic for perpetual employment?
The final year of a contract is one of the biggest natural assets a club has. Serves as both a firecracker to get results which warrant a new one, or the club ending up in the position to make a move if it pleases. Every 2nd or 3rd year should ideally be the final year of a coach's contract (especially one that's never won a flag). Borderline indictment he's been able to power play that away from the club so he never has to see a final year. Christ, imagine the uproar if a player came out and said he doesn't like the pressure of playing for his spot in the team. The coach should always have some level of pressure, clubs don't exist to provide contentment and longevity for the coach just for the sake of it.
I reckon it's as if on field results have almost become a secondary concern for him. The real game isn't against other teams, it's the one played between he and the club. Wouldn't be surprised if he's planning on calling Koch's bluff at the end of this year by demanding either another extension or he sacks him knowing full well the club is averse to doing the latter. And if the stance has hardened there's the fallback of, practical: "You know I don't like coaching in the final year of a contract, it'll effect my performance" or the heart strings: "Kochie mate we've been on this road together for so long, what's another 2 years?". God help it if there's another club dumb enough for him to use as leverage on top of it.
Then there's what his strategy is in regards to how he wants on field to play out (and let me know if I'm stepping out of bounds here). Does he want the uncertainty of what comes after winning a flag? Or is the familiarity of perpetually building towards one better? I can see the gaslighting of the fans from a far. Chances downplayed to keep the pass mark low. Getting spanked in a prelim is the playing group overachieving, and then in a year where it's gone the other way like this one the club is "2 wins away from where it should be sitting" (what does that even mean). It's as if the modus operandi is controlling perceptions to fit that creamy middle of always being thereabouts but no higher or lower. "Almost there" "We've got a little way to go until we're on the level of team X", subliminals for fans accepting that he constantly needs more time to achieve what he's supposedly set out to do.
There's laughing at the misfortune of other teams, then there's this. No fans deserve f'ery like this.
tl;dr just sack Hinkley.
The final year of a contract is one of the biggest natural assets a club has. Serves as both a firecracker to get results which warrant a new one, or the club ending up in the position to make a move if it pleases. Every 2nd or 3rd year should ideally be the final year of a coach's contract (especially one that's never won a flag). Borderline indictment he's been able to power play that away from the club so he never has to see a final year. Christ, imagine the uproar if a player came out and said he doesn't like the pressure of playing for his spot in the team. The coach should always have some level of pressure, clubs don't exist to provide contentment and longevity for the coach just for the sake of it.
I reckon it's as if on field results have almost become a secondary concern for him. The real game isn't against other teams, it's the one played between he and the club. Wouldn't be surprised if he's planning on calling Koch's bluff at the end of this year by demanding either another extension or he sacks him knowing full well the club is averse to doing the latter. And if the stance has hardened there's the fallback of, practical: "You know I don't like coaching in the final year of a contract, it'll effect my performance" or the heart strings: "Kochie mate we've been on this road together for so long, what's another 2 years?". God help it if there's another club dumb enough for him to use as leverage on top of it.
Then there's what his strategy is in regards to how he wants on field to play out (and let me know if I'm stepping out of bounds here). Does he want the uncertainty of what comes after winning a flag? Or is the familiarity of perpetually building towards one better? I can see the gaslighting of the fans from a far. Chances downplayed to keep the pass mark low. Getting spanked in a prelim is the playing group overachieving, and then in a year where it's gone the other way like this one the club is "2 wins away from where it should be sitting" (what does that even mean). It's as if the modus operandi is controlling perceptions to fit that creamy middle of always being thereabouts but no higher or lower. "Almost there" "We've got a little way to go until we're on the level of team X", subliminals for fans accepting that he constantly needs more time to achieve what he's supposedly set out to do.
There's laughing at the misfortune of other teams, then there's this. No fans deserve f'ery like this.
tl;dr just sack Hinkley.