Rate the coaches for 2007

[Dry Rot]

How do you rate the AFL coaches 1 - 16?

And why?

[bulldogtragic]

I rate Eade a 15 out of 16. Needs a premiership cup to get that extra point.



:)

[LostDoggy]

I can rate a few of them but not all.

1) Neil Craig - Turned an even team with above average players into an impressive unit.
2) Paul Roos - The media was bagging him big time for his ugly football but it's effective and offers a contrast. I like watching the Swans.
3) Rodney Eade - Better the 2nd time around and now others are trying to match the Dogs with speed. When clubs like the Cats focus on slimming the list down and increasing the pace you can bet that they are using the Dogs game plan as the blueprint.
4) Leigh Matthews - The list is struggling but he is a quality coach.
5) John Worsfold - The Eagles list is loaded but Woosha has managed the off field distractions with distinction. How would he go with a lesser team though.
6) Neale Daniher - No coach has changed his style as much as Neale and the dees are primed for a big season. Was down and out a couple of season ago but has bounced back.
7) Terry Wallace - We know how innovative he can be but he has been given an emerging list and now must turn it into a winning one. If plan A works he is great but slow to move to plan B

[Dry Rot]

I can rate a few of them but not all.

1) Neil Craig - Turned an even team with above average players into an impressive unit.
2) Paul Roos - The media was bagging him big time for his ugly football but it's effective and offers a contrast. I like watching the Swans.
3) Rodney Eade - Better the 2nd time around and now others are trying to match the Dogs with speed. When clubs like the Cats focus on slimming the list down and increasing the pace you can bet that they are using the Dogs game plan as the blueprint.
4) Leigh Matthews - The list is struggling but he is a quality coach.
5) John Worsfold - The Eagles list is loaded but Woosha has managed the off field distractions with distinction. How would he go with a lesser team though.
6) Neale Daniher - No coach has changed his style as much as Neale and the dees are primed for a big season. Was down and out a couple of season ago but has bounced back.
7) Terry Wallace - We know how innovative he can be but he has been given an emerging list and now must turn it into a winning one. If plan A works he is great but slow to move to plan B

No probs with your top 2, but to rate the current premiership coach at #5 is a bit silly IMO.

Surely he's top 3 at least, and at best Eade comes in at #4?

And how do you rate Connolly?

[GVGjr]

No probs with your top 2, but to rate the current premiership coach at #5 is a bit silly IMO.

Surely he's top 3 at least, and at best Eade comes in at #4?

And how do you rate Connolly?

I suppose it comes down to if you think Worsfold made the big difference to the team or if it is just the brilliant list that they have available. It's not uncommon to put a bit more expectation on a flag winning coach.

Connolly is an interesting one. I actually rate him highly for the way he has handled the pressure but I think he needs another good season before unsettling a few of the more fancied coaches.

[Dry Rot]

I take your point, but I just have a problem rating the current premiership @ #5 as Billy Blogger did.

Will be interesting to see how others rate Sheedy, Malthouse and Pagan who coach pretty ordinary lists or were ravaged by injuries in 2006.

[bornadog]

Last - Lee Matthews has been coach, old fashion can't communicate, gone are the days at scarying the **** out of players by yelling and screaming at them.
15th - Lyon - Unknown but with potential
14th - Sheedy - the game is modern and he can't keep up with the pace - use by date expired 4 years ago
13th - Laidlee - Senior position beyond him
12th - Malthouse Never have rated him especially after he lost us the 1985 prelim (yes he wasn't very experienced at that stage), but premierships with Eagles only because he had the man power, also that was a long time ago.
11th - Pagan - same reasons as Sheedy but marginally better
10th to 7th - Wallace, Williams, Hawthorn Coach (can't think late at night), Thompson, all average nothing special
6th - Freo Coach
5th - to top
Any one of the following and not in order
Worsfold - modern coach two GF and a premiership included
Eade - gotta get to the big won, but knows what is needed to be done, GF coach as well as played in upteen
Craig, made something out of nothing
Roos very good comunicator
Daniher - smart man good strategies

[Dry Rot]

How do you judge coaches cross referenced to their available lists?

Say Thompson, Connolly and Wallace?

[Raw Toast]

I'm not prepared to rate coaches 1-16 atm (too much guesswork for me) but here are comments on some of them.

Roos has clearly been excellent - kept getting an unrated list into the top four and then got a flag and almost two. Seems to have a good relationship with the players and assistant coaches and good at working out when to empower the players and when to give them a blast. Innovative gameplan with tempo footy and team has developed an ability to play very attacking as well as v defensive footy.

Woosha - has had very clear strengths and weaknesses but towards the end of last year showed a capacity to learn from criticism. The players play for him, has inculcated a tough, contested but still attacking style, and has been able to fast-track the development of young players with potential. Did have an inflexible game-plan which Eade and others exploited, but modified this after the first final and I reckon out-coached Eade in the semi-final. I'm not completley convinced but he's got runs on the board and a fine list (which still has some holes).

Craig - surprised almost everyone with his ability to get Adelaide in contention when they seemed on a downward spiral. Has got the older brigade playing v well and newcomers have been developed v quickly. Questions over his rigidity, so-far-failed tapering tactics, and consecutive pre-lim losses (last year's seemed like a choke).

Matthew's has an excellent record but seems to struggle tactically (Roos has a v good record against him) and you'd think there's some fire atm at Brisbane judging by all the smoke. V hard to argue against 4 flags as a coach though and seems a great motivator with an emphasis on contested footy and good use of it.

I wouldn't write off Laidley, Sheedy or Pagain, though the last two won't be at their clubs next year if they don't show significant improvement.

I have serious doubts over Clarkson and Thompson, and don't know much about Lyon. I'm not sure about Connelly and Daniher but they've still got a chance to do something this year. I'd like to think Wallace is going to fail and think he sometimes goes for the short-term over the longer term with regard to game-plan, but I certainly wouldn't write him off at the moment.

I think Eade has good vision, is tactically v good and has come back from his time off a significantly better coach. I'm hopefull he can lead us to the promised land and like the way he seems to be focussing on sound foundations, but I'm actually a bit nervous about this coming season since we've now got a bit to lose...

[mjp]

1.Mark Williams - Finished top for 3 years with one gameplan, fought off all the chokers claims and beat the (then) monster - Brisbane - to get over the line. Fought back with a team of babies in the second half of 2006 to be respectable and is ready to push back into the finals next year. Gets the team to play from the very bottom of their bootstraps.
2.Paul Roos - Grand finals, big wins in big games away from the SCG. All goodness.
3.John Worsfold - Well, he took over a team that finished 14th and has not missed the finals since. Plays a truly accountable game of footy as well that every traditionalist should appreciate.
4.Leigh Matthews - Say whatever you like. He has won 3 out of the last 6 grand finals.
5.Rodney Eade - Best gameday coach, who really can see things developing a year or two ahead of the rest (flooding at Sydney, Bulldogs run). Reputation for sticking with experience over youth will be challenged over the next couple of years, and it will be interesting to see what he does.
6.Neil Craig - Yep. He is where Mark Williams was in 2003. Needs to actually win one of this important games - to have not made the GF in either of the last two seasons is a poor result.
7.Neil Daniher - Has taken ages, but I think now has a defined gameplan that he trusts, and understands the players he needs to execute it. Teams can be erratic from week-to-week, which is a worry though.
8.Michael Malthouse - Has a style and sticks to it well. Very autocratic though, and I wonder what would happen if he released the reins just a little.
9.Kevin Sheedy - Remains a clever recruiter, and a staunch defender of his team. I wish he would leave the AFL promotion stuff aside, because some of his game day work remains top class.
10.Terry Wallace - Innovative, and 'find a way to win' and all that. How about developing a consistent method of playing footy - and a list to execute it - that can play without gimics?
11.Chris Connolly - Happy personality who everyone likes. Great. Stop artificially creating run from behind the ball by playing a loose man ALL the time - it teaches the players they will always have help, and when confronted by a big game it cannot work.
12.Denis Pagan - Believes in his own strategies which is great. Poor list management over the last few years, and fighting with your boss is never a good idea - if you have to tell someone 'It is not a distraction', it is already a distraction.
13.Dean Laidley - At least he admits that that disaster of a game plan implemented last year was a mistake and he is trying to fix it.
14.Alistair Clarkson - To me, he is a salesman, not a coach. And I dont understand how he has been teaching this team of supposed junior superstars - many of whom are big marking targets - to chip the ball down the field. Now they are going to just change their whole game plan? Good luck.
15.Mark Thompson - Terrible communicator, who ran away from criticism last year, and who is fixing things by refusing to change? Good strategy.
Unrated. Ross Lyon

[Sockeye Salmon]

1.Mark Williams...

...Unrated. Ross Lyon

That's a really good post, Mike.

(Certainly better than your wanky 'core-values' and group hugs post anyway) :D

[mjp]

That's a really good post, Mike.

(Certainly better than your wanky 'core-values' and group hugs post anyway) :D

Fair enough, Jim Bob, fair enough.

Actually both posts took a similar amount of time to write, and both have garnered zero response...perhaps it is just me?

On a positive note, the Doggies won today, and I missed the whole thing due to 18's committments - so as far as I can tell, not only are we 1-0, we are 1-0 and all the players are in sparkling form.

[LostDoggy]

5.Rodney Eade - Best gameday coach, who really can see things developing a year or two ahead of the rest (flooding at Sydney, Bulldogs run). Reputation for sticking with experience over youth will be challenged over the next couple of years, and it will be interesting to see what he does.

I think Eade is a sensational coach from a planning perspective but I'm not not sure he is the best gameday coach.Wouldn't Wallace and Worsfold have a better record for getting games off to a great start.Excellent thread and contribution by the way and made for a great read.

[Raw Toast]

1.Mark Williams - Finished top for 3 years with one gameplan, fought off all the chokers claims and beat the (then) monster - Brisbane - to get over the line. Fought back with a team of babies in the second half of 2006 to be respectable and is ready to push back into the finals next year. Gets the team to play from the very bottom of their bootstraps.
2.Paul Roos - Grand finals, big wins in big games away from the SCG. All goodness.
3.John Worsfold - Well, he took over a team that finished 14th and has not missed the finals since. Plays a truly accountable game of footy as well that every traditionalist should appreciate.
4.Leigh Matthews - Say whatever you like. He has won 3 out of the last 6 grand finals.
5.Rodney Eade - Best gameday coach, who really can see things developing a year or two ahead of the rest (flooding at Sydney, Bulldogs run). Reputation for sticking with experience over youth will be challenged over the next couple of years, and it will be interesting to see what he does.
6.Neil Craig - Yep. He is where Mark Williams was in 2003. Needs to actually win one of this important games - to have not made the GF in either of the last two seasons is a poor result.
7.Neil Daniher - Has taken ages, but I think now has a defined gameplan that he trusts, and understands the players he needs to execute it. Teams can be erratic from week-to-week, which is a worry though.
8.Michael Malthouse - Has a style and sticks to it well. Very autocratic though, and I wonder what would happen if he released the reins just a little.
9.Kevin Sheedy - Remains a clever recruiter, and a staunch defender of his team. I wish he would leave the AFL promotion stuff aside, because some of his game day work remains top class.
10.Terry Wallace - Innovative, and 'find a way to win' and all that. How about developing a consistent method of playing footy - and a list to execute it - that can play without gimics?
11.Chris Connolly - Happy personality who everyone likes. Great. Stop artificially creating run from behind the ball by playing a loose man ALL the time - it teaches the players they will always have help, and when confronted by a big game it cannot work.
12.Denis Pagan - Believes in his own strategies which is great. Poor list management over the last few years, and fighting with your boss is never a good idea - if you have to tell someone 'It is not a distraction', it is already a distraction.
13.Dean Laidley - At least he admits that that disaster of a game plan implemented last year was a mistake and he is trying to fix it.
14.Alistair Clarkson - To me, he is a salesman, not a coach. And I dont understand how he has been teaching this team of supposed junior superstars - many of whom are big marking targets - to chip the ball down the field. Now they are going to just change their whole game plan? Good luck.
15.Mark Thompson - Terrible communicator, who ran away from criticism last year, and who is fixing things by refusing to change? Good strategy.
Unrated. Ross Lyon

Great post MJP.

I knew I'd missed one or two and it was Williams and Malthouse. Not convinced Williams deserves the number 1 mantle. I know we can't be picky as dogs supporters where one flag would be incredible, but Port underachieved with one flag and only one gf appearence from the three years when they had the best home-and-away results in the competition. A bit like Essendon over 99-01 when only one flag from a team that was being billed as invincible would be just a tad disappointing if I was a bombers fan I reckon.

The other side of this is the records of Matthews and Malthouse. Three in a row is phenomenal and Malthouse almost stole a flag with over-achieving teams (at least the 2002 overachieved, maybe the 03 team deserved to be in with a chance - losing Rocca didn't help and neither did the way Malthouse dealt with it). Lots of questions about both at the moment, though Mick had the pies up and again last year.

I'd have Roos and Matthews at the top of the list at the moment. Matthew's record is incredible, but Roos has kept on producing outstanding results with a list that certainly doesn't glow (which I think does add a lot of weight to the whole McLean stuff). No matter what happens from now on, Matthews will deserve a hall of fame place as a coach as well as player, but I'm not sure he's going to be able to rebuild the Lions into a force. He seemed to lose the players at Collingwood and there's been a bit of an implosion at Brisbane. Williams is certainly up there though, and he does seem one who is building up a team that might well challenge again fairly soon.

Spot on critiques of Thompson, Clarkson and Wallace for mine.

[bornadog]

Whilst I agree with most of the comments made about about the coaches, I rated them based on the way the game is played today and not their past history. I believe the game has changed dramatically in the past few seasons, and our own club has something to do with it ie with the pace of the game. If we rated the coaches on past records, Sheedy's record would have to be number one. However, I really believe the game has changed so much that the old fashion style coaching, ala, Sheedy, Matthews, Malthouse and Pagan will struggle in 2007.