Coaching capacity

AussieRulesBlog has long maintained that there is a mostly inverse relationship between playing ability and coaching success at AFL level. So, the more natural and gifted a player, the less likely to be a successful — Premiership-winning! — coach.

 

There’s another part of this thinking too. The most successful coaches have been, for the most part, nuggety, desperate defenders rather than showy forwards or slick midfielders.

 

While the game has changed, the numbers over the past fifty or sixty years do support our theory. And only the as-yet-unfulfilled potential of Nathan Buckley and James Hird could tip the pendulum ever so slightly the other way.

 

What then to make of Mick Malthouse’s choice of recently-retired ex-Melbourne Captain Brad Green as midfield development coach at the Blues?

 

Green played 250-odd games, racked up one B&F and one year as Captain before being replaced in that role by a second-year player. In a team screaming out for leaders both on and off field, it’s hardly a glowing reference.

 

Let’s give Green his due. He played 250-odd more AFL games than AussieRulesBlog. Add to that his Reserves, VFL and junior games too! And we’re sure he’s a completely affable chap.

 

Perhaps Malthouse’s media commitments at the pointy end of the 2012 season and then the off-season break for all clubs left the potential coaching cupboard particularly bare?

 

We’re not sure what messages Green will be able to pass on to his young charges. How to be an “unfulfilled talent” who turns into a slightly better than ordinary player in an often crap team?

 

Whatever the reason, it’s a signal that there’s no quick fix for the Blues, and that has got to be good for football!