Over the last couple of weeks, both Carlton and now Essendon have seen their coaches depart before the midway mark of the season. And while it was probably necessary for both clubs to do something, and like it has always been since the beginning of time, the easiest thing to do at both clubs was to hatchet another coach.
So typically, Carlton since 1978.
So typically, Essendon since 2007.
Resignations, axings, being pushed out the door are common comedic fare at Carlton, and it makes for good entertainment. It dates back as far as to when Ron Barrassi left the Blues high and dry when he absconded to North Melbourne. Since then, the coaching revolving dancefloor at Carlton has been the one constant at Princes Park. The Blues have axed coaches when the going was good in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and even more so since the brown paper bags were outlawed in the early 2000s.
Carlton’s insistence on axing coaches both in the good times, and the bad times, has its genesis dating back to 1978 when Wes ‘the Axeman’ Lofts became Chairman of Selectors. Lofts and his cronies appointed and sacked coaches purely for fun until his death in 2014, and it must be acknowledged, until the turn of the century, it was highly successful.
Lofts’ legacy continues to this very day at Carlton, however, it is now 31 years since the Baggers lifted silverware and maybe it is time for the days of yore to be left where they belong, in the last century.
Say what you will about Carlton, but they have been amusing the masses for nearly 50 years with some very public barnies, coups, and executions.
Without going into specifics, successful Carlton, and laughingstock Carlton can be pinpointed to the rise and fall of John ‘Pigs Arse’ Elliott, however, the modus operandi of axing coaches willy-nilly has remained the same. The old saying “the more things change, the more they stay the same”, certainly applies at Carlton.
Essendon, on the other hand, act like a bunch of Russian oligarchs within the confines of some very dark clandestine power groups doing what they must, at any price, to push their agenda dating back to the departure of the Savior, Kevin Sheedy at the end of 2007.
A bit like the Jack Elliott scenario, we have good Essendon under Kevin Sheedy, followed by the bad times with some spectacular abstract failures post Kevin Sheedy.
Therein lays the first of the problems at The Hangar. The shadow of Kevin Sheedy still haunts the Bombers, and the reverence that is still afforded to him by certain Coterie and supporter groups divides the very heart and soul of the club, especially with their endless pushes to reappoint James Hird as Coach.
Neither the tenure of Ben Rutten nor the appointment of Brad Scott as coach ever had the full backing of all the differing powerbrokers at Napier Street, and both Rutten and Scott walked into the club as public statements were still being made about why they should’ve been appointed.
Heaven forbid, but when a new Coach is appointed, it should be all chips in, but not so at Essendon.
A lot of pundits blame the WADA scandal for the Bombers problems, but it dates backs longer than that to the historical Salary Cap breaches highlighted in 2002 and 2003 dating as far back to 1991.
While hefty fines were imposed, it was the club being stripped of high-end draft picks which gutted the club.
Essendon’s last hoorah as a powerbroker club before the hurt of the draft restrictions were felt was 4th September 2004 when they defeated Melbourne in an Elimination Final.
Drawing a historical chronology since September 2004:
While the above chronology is a good reference point as to all the comings and goings at Essendon, it should not be used as a means of wallpapering over the underlying problems at the Bombers, including fractured administrations, powerful Coterie and supporter groups all pushing differing agendas, the spectre of Kevin Sheedy still casting a shadow over the club, the internal pushes for James Hird to be reappointed, as well as some diabolical draft mistakes over the years.
Congratulations Essendon, it is now 7933 days you last won a final and counting, it now 45 days since you defeated Melbourne during Gather Round. Since the departure of Kevin Sheedy at the end of the 2007, you have had six different coaches appointed with a plethora of interim coaches in-between, with Dean Soloman being the latest.
Is James Hird the Clarice to Kevin Sheedy’s Hannibal?
Since Hird’s departure there has been a consistent push to bring the prodigal son back to the Hangar as the senior coach. Some at the club believe, rightly or wrongly, that until the perceived wrongful findings and suspensions of the peptide scandal comes full circle, there will always be an underlining disharmony at the club.
With each appointment and sacking of coaches since the WADA scandal, there has been little-to-no harmony within the internal structures of the Bombers, especially surrounding the appointments of Ben Rutten and Brad Scott.
Rutten and Scott were not unanimously agreed upon as coaches, and it could be speculated that some within the club, while not undermining the new men in charge, did not go out of their way to assist them. There has been a disconnect at Essendon since the Sheedy years, and even putting the scandals to one side, the internal divisions within the club have been left to fester correlating with the slow demise of the club.
Further, there is a belief within Essendon that they are still one of the Big Four Victorian teams in the AFL and while this claim is very disputable (I think Hawthorn now have you covered on that one), it displays an arrogance which is so Essendon, and one that it still caught up in the old mythology of the VFL days.
In a comment made in the review of the Tigers and Bombers clash last weekend, one fan was irate that Essendon wasn’t given the respect they deserved for being one of the powerbroker clubs in the competition. Yes, as a VFL entity the Bombers won 14 flags, however in the AFL era they have only won two flags (the same as North Melbourne), and they haven’t seriously threatened for nigh on a quarter of century now.
The reality is, any Bomber fan under the age of 30 has never tasted success, and while they live and breathe the mythical stories from yesteryear, their club is now more renowned for failure than it is for success.
The majority of successful modern-day clubs have a corporate based model of operation, however not Essendon. The days of the Coterie and Supporter Groups being part of the decision-making process was great in the VFL, however, that model of operation is now defunct.
Given the Bombers are here again, changing leadership midseason, maybe Essendon’s way of governing needs to run its full course.
I’ll leave you, the readers, with the same question that has haunted Essendon since the peptide years:
Should James Hird be reappointed as Coach to finally end all the internal turmoil at The Hangar?
My personal answer, maybe the Bombers don’t move forward until they do.
Strong.
