Succession plan: lure Port's Williams to Harbour city
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday November 10, 2009
THE PROSPECT of a Kevin Sheedy-Mark Williams double-act in Western Sydney was propelled by the older coach himself yesterday when Sheedy conceded he could be overseeing a succession plan for the AFL's 18th club by 2012.The coaching dream team has been discussed at the AFL's headquarters as it worked towards signing the four-time premiership coach Sheedy on a three-year $2 million deal with Sheedy expected to oversee the fledgling team as head coach for its first AFL season only.Although both Williams, who is expected to finally sign a new two-year contract with Port Adelaide soon, and his manager Ricky Nixon have refused to discuss the Greater Western Sydney scenario Sheedy said the Port premiership coach would be a good fit for the new team."If Mark ever wanted to leave Port Adelaide or South Australia, there are worse things you can do than look at him here," Sheedy said. "He is a great coach and he is 10 years younger than me and with successions ... who knows? That will be up to the new board when it is put together and down the track."Williams and Sheedy worked together successfully at Essendon, and key members of the AFL's subcommittee designing the structure and make-up of the new club have been made aware the two would look at working together again. When contacted recently, Williams would not discuss any coaching positions outside Port Adelaide.Nixon said last night the delay in Williams signing his new deal centred on redrafting his contract, which is expected to be for two more years at the club."I've told [Port CEO] Mark Haysman that Mark is going nowhere but Port Adelaide and I'm not about to entertain the prospect of working with Sheedy at Western Sydney whatever the talk is," said Nixon, who denied he had been in talks with the AFL regarding the plan. "If that was going to happen, it won't be happening for a long time."The AFL had initially hoped to lure recently retired Geelong captain Tom Harley to a coaching role at the new club, and he is expected to join GWS before the end of the year in an AFL internship to accompany his coaching role with the Australian Institute of Sport.With two assistant coaching positions and a player welfare management role already advertised, highly regarded assistant Brian Royal is one key applicant being considered to work with Sheedy and high performance coach Alan McConnell.The new team will be coached officially by Sheedy from 2011 in a new second-tier competition outside the VFL, involving seconds teams from Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Swans or as part of an expanded Queensland competition. Sheedy has told the AFL his first priority is to appoint a recruiting boss.Williams's role at Port Adelaide has been seen as shaky for some time. Not only has he agreed to a pay cut over the next two years but his contract has come with a new set of terms and conditions, and was only offered at the last minute. Port too has considered a succession plan.Sheedy is believed to have indicated he understands his position as head coach of the new club is a finite one and that a succession plan could be in place as early as the end of next season.Sheedy will spent the first year of his three-season contract working alongside McConnell, the club's high performance manager, to target youngsters they hope to bring to the club. The second year will be about building their list, and the final year of his contract, will be about coaching the team in its debut season in the AFL. Then what?"I don't know how long you stay in a job from 60 onwards. At 64, if I've done a damn good job, and I hope I will, I'm pretty sure I will because I always try to, then you look at it then," he said. "I've never signed longer than a three-year contract in my life. I don't believe in signing five-year contracts, and all that stuff, you can do without that. The deal in the end is to get this going, get people involved."I'll know I've done a good job by the building of the club on and off the ground, getting a belief and the trust the community can have with the AFL. We've got no right to walk up here and go bang [and win a premiership] just like that."We have the opportunity possibly in the next 25, 35, 40 years, to build a great club out here. That's the issue here. It's not about how you're going to roll out the first year or two or three."It feels pretty sensational. It's probably like your first game. This is brand new. This is exciting. There is no team, there's no players ... how could you want it any better. After 1000 games, I hope I get it right."AFL NSW/ACT general manager Dale Holmes said while some people doubted Sheedy's ability to get back into the game and be competitive again, everyone would have subjective views about who is good and who is not good in coaching.Holmes said Sheedy's track record proved he understood the game well. "There's no doubt he'd like to show he's still got it. The old tiger is still an old tiger. He's 61 years young and he's ready to fire again," Holmes said.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald