Murray MiddletonIf It Bleeds We Can Kill It
September 2nd 2008 13:37
On Monday Leigh Matthews stood down as coach of the Brisbane Lions. The move came as a huge shock to the football world. Matthews had coached at senior level for twenty seasons and had won four premierships. He will be remembered as arguably the greatest coach of the modern era. In the past two seasons Kevin Sheedy, Dennis Pagan and Leigh Matthews have all lost their jobs. The new brigade – Mark Thompson, John Worsfold and Paul Roos – have now become the elder statesmen of the coaching fraternity. By yesterday afternoon the Lions had already appointed Michael Voss as senior coach for the next three seasons. Although the move came as no surprise, Voss’ coaching credentials are the worst since St.Kilda’s ill-fated experiment with Tim Watson.
In recent weeks Matthews had been heavily criticised in the mainstream media. Robert Walls suggested that the Lions poor finish to the season was because the game had past their coach by. Who is to say that the game has not past Robert Walls by as a football analyst? Earlier in the season, when the Lions were playing fast and fluent football, it was Matthews who was receiving the accolades. The Lions lost close matches to Carlton, Richmond and the Kangaroos late in the season. Matthews was criticised for not playing numbers behind the ball in the final quarters of these matches. Yet against Hawthorn he was criticised for playing too many players behind the ball. By the end Matthews simply couldn’t win.
In recent seasons the Lions have suffered from winning three consecutive premierships (2001, 2002 and 2003) and coming runner-up in 2004. Matthews has admitted that the club chased these premierships in the knowledge that they would suffer on the other side. In his press conference on Monday Matthews outlined how hard it was for a new coach to inherit a team that is coming off the back end of a successful period. At the end of 2004 Matthews could easily have handed the reigns over to one of his assistants. He ought to be admired for sticking around when he knew that the team would have a lean period. Clearly this was something that both Mal Michael and Jason Akermanis were not prepared to do.
Something quite important seems to have been lost in all the talk surrounding Matthews in recent weeks. He is, essentially, a victim of his own success. Since the Lions three premierships he has done a fantastic job of resurrecting the club’s list. The Lions only spent two seasons down and out, as opposed to the likes of Hawthorn and Richmond. The Lions did not have a number of high draft picks to hang their hat on this time. Matthews has successfully nurtured the next breed of Lions players: Adcock, Merrett, Drummond, Dalziell, Leuenberger, Hooper, Corrie and Mitch Clark. The Lions have finished just outside the eight in the past two seasons. Their playing stocks are high. If coached well, they should be able to make the top eight in 2009.
It would have been interesting to see whether Matthews had coached on if the Lions had snuck into eighth position this season. Two more wins would have achieved this. It shows that even after twenty years there is still a fine line between success and failure. Matthews’ relationship with the club’s captain, Jonathan Brown, has been blamed for their failure to make the finals. On Monday – the same day that Matthews resigned - Brown announced that he had signed a new four-year contract. If it was a coincidence, it was a terrible one. Brown could have saved both Matthews and his teammates many distractions if he had signed earlier in the season. The fact that he was only prepared to eliminate the distraction once his team’s season was over must surely have upset the Lions hierarchy.
During Brisbane’s most successful period the player who most personified Matthews’ on-field persona was Michael Voss. It has since been revealed that a succession plan had been formulated earlier this season, with Voss being the leading candidate. Voss is a favourite son of the club. Throughout his playing days he appeared destined to coach the Lions some day. However Collingwood discovered the problems with appointing a favourite son as coach during Tony Shaw’s reign. Put simply, Shaw lacked the critical insight to make a successful senior coach. Shaw’s lack of attention to detail can be heard during his commentary on Fox Sports (unfortunately the same can be said for Danny Frawley). Michael Voss may soon discover that it is not enough to love the game or one club.
Over the past two years Michael Voss has sent mixed messages to the football world. Originally he was brimming with confidence and felt certain that he could coach at senior level without doing an apprenticeship. He softened his stance on the issue by pulling out of the running to coach Carlton and Melbourne last season. When Voss signed as an assistant to the West Coast Eagles earlier this season he seemed to be making a concession about the importance of working as an assistant. Now that his ideal job has come up, he seems to have changed his mind once more. In light of this week’s events, Voss must surely be ruing the fact that he has not worked as an assistant coach during the last two seasons. If he had done this, there would be much less pressure on him going into the 2009 season.
In recent weeks Matthews had been heavily criticised in the mainstream media. Robert Walls suggested that the Lions poor finish to the season was because the game had past their coach by. Who is to say that the game has not past Robert Walls by as a football analyst? Earlier in the season, when the Lions were playing fast and fluent football, it was Matthews who was receiving the accolades. The Lions lost close matches to Carlton, Richmond and the Kangaroos late in the season. Matthews was criticised for not playing numbers behind the ball in the final quarters of these matches. Yet against Hawthorn he was criticised for playing too many players behind the ball. By the end Matthews simply couldn’t win.
In recent seasons the Lions have suffered from winning three consecutive premierships (2001, 2002 and 2003) and coming runner-up in 2004. Matthews has admitted that the club chased these premierships in the knowledge that they would suffer on the other side. In his press conference on Monday Matthews outlined how hard it was for a new coach to inherit a team that is coming off the back end of a successful period. At the end of 2004 Matthews could easily have handed the reigns over to one of his assistants. He ought to be admired for sticking around when he knew that the team would have a lean period. Clearly this was something that both Mal Michael and Jason Akermanis were not prepared to do.
Something quite important seems to have been lost in all the talk surrounding Matthews in recent weeks. He is, essentially, a victim of his own success. Since the Lions three premierships he has done a fantastic job of resurrecting the club’s list. The Lions only spent two seasons down and out, as opposed to the likes of Hawthorn and Richmond. The Lions did not have a number of high draft picks to hang their hat on this time. Matthews has successfully nurtured the next breed of Lions players: Adcock, Merrett, Drummond, Dalziell, Leuenberger, Hooper, Corrie and Mitch Clark. The Lions have finished just outside the eight in the past two seasons. Their playing stocks are high. If coached well, they should be able to make the top eight in 2009.
It would have been interesting to see whether Matthews had coached on if the Lions had snuck into eighth position this season. Two more wins would have achieved this. It shows that even after twenty years there is still a fine line between success and failure. Matthews’ relationship with the club’s captain, Jonathan Brown, has been blamed for their failure to make the finals. On Monday – the same day that Matthews resigned - Brown announced that he had signed a new four-year contract. If it was a coincidence, it was a terrible one. Brown could have saved both Matthews and his teammates many distractions if he had signed earlier in the season. The fact that he was only prepared to eliminate the distraction once his team’s season was over must surely have upset the Lions hierarchy.
During Brisbane’s most successful period the player who most personified Matthews’ on-field persona was Michael Voss. It has since been revealed that a succession plan had been formulated earlier this season, with Voss being the leading candidate. Voss is a favourite son of the club. Throughout his playing days he appeared destined to coach the Lions some day. However Collingwood discovered the problems with appointing a favourite son as coach during Tony Shaw’s reign. Put simply, Shaw lacked the critical insight to make a successful senior coach. Shaw’s lack of attention to detail can be heard during his commentary on Fox Sports (unfortunately the same can be said for Danny Frawley). Michael Voss may soon discover that it is not enough to love the game or one club.
Over the past two years Michael Voss has sent mixed messages to the football world. Originally he was brimming with confidence and felt certain that he could coach at senior level without doing an apprenticeship. He softened his stance on the issue by pulling out of the running to coach Carlton and Melbourne last season. When Voss signed as an assistant to the West Coast Eagles earlier this season he seemed to be making a concession about the importance of working as an assistant. Now that his ideal job has come up, he seems to have changed his mind once more. In light of this week’s events, Voss must surely be ruing the fact that he has not worked as an assistant coach during the last two seasons. If he had done this, there would be much less pressure on him going into the 2009 season.
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