Which coach is chasing GREATNESS? Nathan Buckley categorises every coach ahead of the 2024 season.

Nathan Buckley joined Gerard Whateley to discuss where he sees each coach ahead of the 2024 season.

0:06-3:08 – Chasing Great
3:16-7:15 – Consolidating
7:19-13:08 – Cleansing
13:11-17:04 – Concocting
17:50-21:54 – Cajoling
22:14-23:46 – Cataloging
24:09-25:47 – Challenging

Right so let’s uh the first category of your C’s yes see I believe it’s chasing great and um I’ve got three four coaches in there I’ve got Craig McCrae Chris Fagen John Longmire and Ken hinley and I think obviously Craig McCrae we’ve already heard in the recent days not

Going back to back it’s about starting you know it’s getting back to work rather than going back to back so still so bottom came out with that so I think cing would need to go back to working I think it seems to me that Craig McCrae is as good at as

Any coach placed to be able to handle this given the history that he’s had as a player and Lee Matthews and how he may have handled um you know going back toback and ultimately winning three in a row or winning three in a row and being

In four grand finals in a row Chris Fagen I reckon Brisbane are are good they’re chasing great um and obviously making a grand final and Performing through the last two finals um series I think stands as Testament to that I think John longm has put this group

Together they played in The Grand Final and lost heavily two years ago but they’ve recruited to be great they’re not just recruiting to compete I think they’re Rec they recruited to win and Ken hickley I think Port ad is still in in in the zone and whilst he might have

Been sink or swim last year he he wouldn’t have thought it that way he’s he’s contending they think they’re contending so I think those four are in the chasing great category so long Meers in his 14 season with the spawns 11 of 13 they’ve played finals and he’s

Contracted through to the end of 2025 he’s he’s got he’s brought his young players through they used those two years out of the finals well and then maybe spiked quicker than would have been imagined and now they dealt with a lot last year a lot of adversity and and

Sort of pulled themselves together late and ended up disappointed that they didn’t get um didn’t get further I think Ken hinley 12 season 60% winning record he’s had three top four finishes in the past Four Seasons so the outlier where they dipped out he is starting the new

Two years of his contract this is what he won himself we know McCrae is going into his third season he’s won 38 of 51 games he’s contracted through to the end of 2026 and Chris Fagan’s now going into his eighth season five straight final series heading to now and progressively

Built them up to be the runner up and he’s still got a couple of years on a on a new contract extension as well well all all four of those coaches have built and and at the head of programs that have played consistently good football over a long period of time coling would

Have been able to Frank that with a Premiership in last year John longmire’s new swans haven’t done that yet he’s done it in his in in his first iteration or the first um evolution of of his uh of his coaching career Ken hinley and Chris faragon have

Been close but not close enough so they’ve they’ve all recruited to be better now in particular Sydney and Port um and that and that’s the challenge the challenge is to is to top the mountain chasing great Craig McCrae Chris Fagen John Longmire and Ken hinley what is your second category second category is

Consolidating and I’ve got um I’ve got Caron gws and St CUA there so Michael Voss Adam Kingsley and Ross lion they’re all in the consolidating phase Ross lion I thought that was in auditing and auditioning last year and that I had Brad Scotty in there as well but I think

All three of these teams yes you might say they’re chasing great because of the way in particular cartton and gws but I think that they’re still in the consolidation phase Caron Caron’s bad was as bad as they’re good last year and they finished off strong but they still need to consolidate that

So vos’s challenge is to consolidate the second half of last year early this year with Carlton in particular I think Adam Kings has exactly the same challenge his first year was brilliant and the gws tsunami that that you know nearly took all comers at towards the end of 23 his

His challenge is to consolidate the gains that they made the game plan that was established and the belief in the playing group and I thought they’ve played with such grit and and I you can achieve plenty with grit like they’ve got talent but the grit underneath it

And I I think we got to give Leon Cameron some credit there because he had to handle the Ferrari tag and and and really through 2019 final series and late in that year they they had their successes on the back of getting their hands dirty not on their top end Talent

So I think Adam Kingsley has been able to go back and and find that so they need to consolidate and Ross Lon for me Saints did um overperform to my estimations at the beginning of at this time last year um I think they’ve I think they’ve got better

Uh I think another preseason with Ross uh looking at their his defensive strategies and focuses and obviously his this is his third time around and I I I spoke about it yesterday I see a group that can bounce off the the half back line or off turnover potentially better than any

Other team so that’s a big call but I think they’ve got the attributes there and it’s a matter of consolidating what s k Raa do in the first first half of last year so that they can do it for the whole year so a coaching group that has

Three different levels one in his third turn one in his second and one in his first Michael Voss it’s his third season so I’ve heard Michael publicly and privately across the offseason so first season they go 12 and 10 they missed the eight by 6 so that’s got hurt in it but

That was never the focus it was the adding of four wins from there to become a top four team so to get to 16 last year in the home and away they went 13 and a half so they added one and a half of the four wins that they were seeking

To add and what happens next I think is it lights the way in the final series and it shows that they are they are September ready but the quest is to actually add these wins to become a great home and away team and to give yourself a chance so before we all run

To the end is what does it look like on preliminary finnal night it is that can they be the team that wins 16 games and become a top four Team contract extension yeah look I I think that that that was just so compelling both Caron and GW were so compelling

Towards the back half of the year they were the form teams going into those prelims against the best teams of the Season like like the both of those matchups were were perfect calling with gws games through the roof must watch that again before we get to get get the

Opening round and and um you know Calton in the first 20 minutes they took it right up to brid on their home deck and it looked like oh my have a look at this but um you they just run out of steam but you know they they’ve um both of

Those coaches have done extremely well and and and Ross I think um you know he’s all about consolidation that’s that’ll be their focus all right my next seword is cleansing and I’ve had a a bit of feedback on The Temper Tex surely Simon Goodwin’s chasing great and he may

Well but he needs to do some cleansing first so I’ve got three Premiership coaches in the in the cleansing category Luke beverage Simon Goodwin and Adam Simpson all for different reasons so give us cleansing in the beverage case well I think it’s internal cleansing of how we’re actually going to come

Together to make the most of the talent available to us I it seems like too much has been left to marus bond and P and we haven’t seen the team really gel in the last couple of years and I think that’s where the question marks about Bevo came to

Fruition I I think he’s a I think he’s an exceptional coach it’s just a matter of getting past some of the gunk that might actually be there over the last couple of years and cleaning the slate and being able to go full um full ball forward and I think that’s I think

That’s the challenge so that’s the cleansing that needed to take place at the Western Bulldogs there’s been a review to try to freshen it up um give the coach the support around him that he needs get him to delegate and trust a little more potentially I’m well I’m

Talking without any insight in the internal world so it’s really appropo of nothing to be honest but um they do have the elements of of a team that can be very competitive and they’ve probably underperformed in in the last couple of years the cleansing for Simon Goodwin well that’s that’s pretty clear that’s

Pretty clear this team and this club has had plenty to think about and has plenty to think about before they even get to taking the field like playing is going to be a relief for them but they’re still going to be carrying some sort of weight um and lag about their offseason

And and that is going to be challenging for the coach and the coaching group so the locker room needs to be have the courage to be open and transparent and to discuss their issues their concerns their feelings but then you’ve got to know when to nip that in the bud and say

Okay we’ve we’ve done all that like we’ve opened up this can of worms and we’ve we’ve we’ve heard you and but at the same time we’ve now got to go out there and perform and come together as a group so finding that balance is a really tough coaching Challenge and

Simon Goodwin finds himself right in the middle of it now they have been um a competitive side for four years uh they’ve they’ve succeeded um maybe with some of these issues bubbling along in recent times they’ve but but as maybe it maybe you get to September we heard Max scor there

In the last four finals they’ve lost maybe get to September it gets ratcheted up a little bit and your weakest points get exposed maybe that’s a little bit of where melbour are at and they need to find a way to to um to make them stronger when they

Get to September if they get to September this time around and the cleansing for Adam Simpson with the Eagles having won five games over the past two seasons well he needs to cleanse them of a losers mentality and that’s when you lose as often as they

Have in the last two years it’s really hard to shake that you forget if when you forget to win losing becomes easy and it becomes and winning becomes very hard so I think that’s that’s he’s probably got to cleanse them of you know not looking back not carrying the

Baggage of he’s got a lot of he’s got still got Premiership players on the list not as many as yeah others might have now because even five years down the track but he’s got to he’s got to cleanse that group of the embarrassment in many ways of the last couple of years

And draw the line and make sure that they’re looking forward to the possibilities of their future and the responsibilities of their present rather than rather than carrying any of the baggage of the past how big a bounty does it put on early season results when you’re trying to

Cleanse huge huge and I think that’s why this category is particularly compelling to to see how how this uh how this kicks off and how it starts I mean I think it’s it’s it’s enormous you told me as the Juno Western Bulldogs have a midling start or Melbourne lose a couple of

Games that they’re expected to win or West Coast turn around and actually you know perform and win some early season games and get that early season momentum those those story lines are going to be prevalent you you cannot avoid it you get caught in an atmosphere that you

Might never Escape if you stumble out of the blocks there’s the the difference between four and zero and one and three particularly for Melbourne and the Bulldogs may very well be the entire trajectory of their season I will I mean I suppose lived experiences come back to me so

I was resigned in this into 18 or after 2017 after review we lost the first two games of 2018 it made round three pretty crucial yes it made round three really crucial but it was only a week after that we took a massive leap so so it it

It can early season results will and do have an impact but it’s probably going to be more about the deeper the deeper feeling from preseason the deeper belief from preseason the most of the cleansing is not going to be done the first four round it’s already

Either been done or not done and we will see that come to it’s come to pass so you’ve got two in the concocting category here bucks do tell so concocting making by combining various agree in ingredients sorry or creating and devising a plan so I think we’ve got

Two great concocts here well we I know we’ve got one and we have to have to find out the second but I’ve got probably disparate coaches in this one so I’ve got Chris Scott and Adam and I think the reason I’ve gone for concocting is because they’ve each got

Remnants of successful eras on their list and they have to marry that up somehow as they inevitably decline but how can you fire those guys up for maybe one last crack whilst you’re bringing the Young talent in to support and energize them um and vice versa so that’s where the

Concocting comes up for me I think Jal longer in a fascinating position I I think I know I probably probably put too much weight on it but cam Guthrie for me we’ spoken about it often I think I’m nearly banging on about it but cwood steps out you need a heart and soul

Player to step into that void he doesn’t need to replace it he doesn’t need to fill it he just needs to be we need someone to step up now maybe Tanner Brun can do that who knows but I see cam Guthrie as that guy and you sort of lost

Both of them last year and that injury I think hurts them but yeah can the can the um the old dogs or the old cats can they can they reprise their successes and find enough energy to go again and have the young guys step up around and

Can Chris Scott and he I think he’s one one of the great concocts I think he’s underrated for the Premiership that he got in 11 even though there was a lot of success there already I think he devised a plan to kick over pressure and change the game plan slightly to give jalong

That chance um but I I think he’s he’s got a as greater Challenge on his hands in this season than I think he’s had ever before and I I think you’ll relish it 14th season and he’s got a contract to the end of 2026 only the second time

That the cats had missed the finals in his tenure and then the first the only losing season that he’s had yeah like when you talk about like if we’re in America we go um what’s um the Pittsburgh coach Mark Tomlin the hasn’t had a losing season yet like in his 15 odd

Years as a senior coach and Chris Scott only had his first losing season 10 and 12 last year it’s um it’s an exceptional um record and Adam in his first year concocting there yeah and and he’s spoken really openly about it um and he comes in fresh but how and so he’s got

To his job is even well it might not be tougher because had you have those conversations with the with the older players when you come in as a fresh Guy versus Chris Scott’s conversation with the older Premiership players as a guy who’s had got an established relationship there’s pros and cons with

Each but Adam’s um Adam’s challenge it’s like he’s he does it with a blank canvas and he’s got some great pieces there to to put onto that that canvas and he’s got some young guys that you know that that are going to want to play for the

Coach and and eek out careers for themselves so but that how how Richmond come together how many of them can stay in the park I mean even if you look at look at that I mean I’m pretty sure that uh Tom Hawkins and and Tom and Tom Lynch

Are going to play pivotal roles in how this concoction takes place place and if they have full seasons well then I think it helps if they have broken Seasons well then it’s really going to hurt he just got a a text here asking would you have had CRA McCrae consolidation or

Chasing greatness after the first season of making a prelim where did I have him I had him still in break what what I called breaking ground which was which was trying to to step there it was probably it wasn’t quite chasing greatness I would have had him in

Consolidation I would have thought to consolid that given the given the positive season that he had in his first so we’d had making hay mining for gold and breaking ground as those and then yeah it was um it was a harder task for those in the lower categories see as a

Jour I should be just following the same thing so it’s a bit easier to follow for last year but I like I like the CW the CW’s good all right cing okay so cajoling so this is largely for me around building belief in your group that they are capable of taking the next

Step so I’ve actually got four coaches Damon Hardwick from Gold Coast Brad Scott from messon Matthew Nicks from adelade and I’ve put Sam Mitchell in there from Hawthorne even though they’ve got some injury challenges so the the current affairs eats into this a little I still believe that Hawthorne and Sam

Mitchell is in the moved into the con rather than the development into the koling phase to say that hey we can be we can be really good so I think each of those coaches and I think Damen Hardwick’s had history at doing this Brad Scott is doing it in his way and

That is to look at culture and behaviors and he did it with North Melbourne and he he could Jed them into believing that they were a finals team and did it a couple of times in the prelims Matthew Nicks is is yet to do it and

He showed I think that Adela are doing it a different way for all intents and purposes you look at their list you look at their team you look at their leadership group and you don’t see the names jump off the page I think Adelaide did it by being a great

Team so I think theirs is a little more understated with the way that they’re going about it whether whether it brings benefits we will find out but I think ad adela’s best football last year was some of the best football that we saw and Sam Mitchell I think is is putting this team

Together and and having them yeah his challenge is having them believe in themselves to play more consistently at their best because their best was pretty good how have you interpreted the way that Hardwick is doing his cajoling there’s a little bit of demanding in there as well is he acknowledges that

The work had been done to make them a real footy team but now it’s it’s time to Aspire and deliver I think I think I I heard um Gary lion say last week that the that the Suns need to prove prove to him that they they’re capable of playing

Consistently enough to be a lock for a final eight and I agree I think there’s Talent there but I don’t think it’s over the top you know I think there’s developing talent but compared to others I think it’s I think it’s probably a little bit above average um but it’s not exceptionally

High so I think there’s still a job to do to bring that team together and and they need a good run with injury but most of Damian’s cajoling gets done by reputation and then and then he presents as authentic as an authentic genuine leader which we’ve seen in um in all its

Guises at Richmond and I think that’s the way he wins people over and has them believing in themselves in a plan and and your resp in your accountability to that plan and your contribution to that plan and he’s proven to do it before so the cajoling um aspect for him

It’s probably a matter of time whether it’s this year or not and for Brad Scott and essendon there been just a little bit of an edge I think to some of what’s been said publicly the best one was in Jake’s story around well if you’re not living the standards we’ll be able to

See it we’ve got that environment now yeah I think that’s and one of the challenges there is is is creating the environment where so the majority are doing the right thing so that you know that that’s the the outlier is actually the people that won’t come along and

Makes those decisions is quite easy and and it makes you stand out like a sore thumb so that’s Brad’s always been really strong on that the behaviors um you getting the environment right rewarding the right behaviors um and I think the Scott Brothers have would have learned that

Through through Lee Matthews largely and it’s become a you know a really strong element of their coaching philosophies colling Damen Hardwick Brad Scott Matthew Nicks and Sam Mitchell uh what have you where have you put Alistair Clarkson who in his first year at North Melbourne had the disjointed season he

Only ended up coaching 13 game so in a way it’s it’s the start again I I I was throwing up selling but I went with cataloging okay so he’s he is putting together a young list of talented players that may reprise um what he was able to do at Hawthorne and

If you remember that like four winds I think it was Four Winds two years in a row um you know and the accumulation and cataloging of that Talent became a Dynasty now that’s probably that’s a high bar to reach to go again but um looking at North looking at their young

Talent um it’s it’s all about you know cataloging and and that’s part of working out okay where do I where do I put these pieces that’s that’s what he’s still got the opportunity to to explore even more where do I put these pieces so sheel are back do we want him mid

Forward or is he pure mid is he inside or is he outside Ward law is an Insider we know that so I can catalog it lock that in bang I know ex I’ve already got that space filled then you sort of working AK MCC you got a few others you

Know where does eleru fit eleru is inside does he go forward at any stage like he’s just starting to work out now where the where this young Talent goes y and it’s all about cataloging and putting pieces in play for the next Premiership team because we hear him

That’s that that is the way that he operates how am I going to create the next Premiership team from the list that I have available so he’s uh he’s cataloging as he goes it’s a beautiful Visual and that leaves Justin longm who is in his Fifth Season he’s gone seven

Win 10 wins 14 wins which included an elimination final and then they slipped back to 14th with 10 wins and he is in the last year of his contract yep I I deliberately avoided death rting anyone here and because it’s not and I’ve got him in the

Challenging um group on his own and it’s not because he’s he’s doing all of the above he’s having to do a bit of cleansing a bit of cajoling he’s going to concoct he’s going to do all of that and there might even be a bit of consolidation because some of their best

Football in early 2023 was as you know was beating the best sides and then they dropped Away really badly at the end of 23 and they were inconsistent in 24 so it’s challenging and I think it’s not it’s not just it’s not challenging in the terms of it’s going to be tough

It’s challenging in terms that he is going to need to challenge his coaching group to challenge his football club and to challenge his players to find their best more often and to be more consistent so the challenging needs is is actually not the circumstance it’s the verb he he he’s got to be

Challenging his his constituents looking them in the eye and asking them what they want to be and I see that as you I see him in a category of his own in that regard because Freeman are are so interesting to me they’ve lost players in the last couple of years but they’ve

Gained some they’ve got some really good young Talent through their Midfield that are made of the right stuff the right values the right attitude dud es you know Hayden young off the back Chapman off the back looks great I’ve got a couple of big boys that are going to do

Damage Darcy and Jackson how do they balance those up um you know they’ they’ve they’ve got some elements but they need to find their consistent best more often and the coach needs to challenge them to do that so the mission for the 18 coaches this year the challenge at hand challenging Justin

Longor cataloging Alis de Clarkson cajoling Damen Hardwick Brad Scott Matthew Nixon Sam Mitchell concocting Chris Scott and Adam cleansing Luke beverage Simon Goodwin and Adam Simpson consolidating Michael Voss Adam Kingsley and Ross lion and chasing great Craig McCrae Chris Fagen John Longmire and Ken hinley in our art of coaching they’ll be

Lovely reference points throughout the season