Counter-punch: old man Sheedy a disaster for Sydney

Real Footy Fan says:

03:00pm | 09/11/09

Being a born NSW and an AFL fan I feel Sheeds is a good fit. He is well know up here and the fact he was dumped from Essendon means he will get a lot of support from the GWS fans. Good luck to him.

SM says:

03:03pm | 09/11/09

You cherrypick your stats to back up your claim.  Fancy focussing on just the last 2 years of a 21 year reign.  Perhaps after that long a time he did become a little stale.  It’s unheard of for a coach to stay at the helm for that long.  The fact is that this is a brand new challenge for a guy that’s achieved so much is far more relevant than how he went in years 20 and 21 of his time at Essendon.  The parallels with Rugby Leagues Wayne Bennett are obvious, except that Sheedy didn’t have the luxury of coaching in a one team city. “Old Man” Bennetts results with St George in just one season have far exceeded those of his much younger predecessor

Mighty Hawk says:

03:32pm | 09/11/09

I agree with SM. He had phenomenal success over a sustained period, through different eras. Success, in the day and age of salary caps (NRL) and drafts (AFL), comes in cycles and to only dissect his final two seasons as a coach is a very flimsy and superficial argument. He will be one of GWS team’s greatest assets and will get the best out of his players who will respect what he’s achieved in his career.

Hawk says:

03:39pm | 09/11/09

I would argue that Sheedy’s PR value is also limited. I was at a large function in Sydney last week where Sheedy was the MC and guest speaker. Around my table (of Sydneysiders) only one person knew who Sheedy was and even he asked, “isn’t he that guy from the team called ... um ... bombers or something?”
I agree, bring in someone young, fresh and who can put wins on the board.

Mark says:

03:44pm | 09/11/09

I agree with Penbo on this one: Sheeds is the perfect fit for Team GWS. What the team will need (given its silly name) is someone holding clout in the game - much more than a young fresh faced coach who’s only recently stepped off the park as a player for the last time. He will be rallying schoolkids from Bankstown to Penrith to give Aussie Rules a go - just what the code needs in Sydney.

His measure of success will not be gleaned from a simplified win:loos ratio. As Andrew Demetriou said at today’s announcement, the AFL’s investment in GWS is a generational investment and there is no expectation of quick results. So who better to start promoting the game than Sheedy?

As a die-hard Essendon fanatic, I wish him the very best of luck. He’ll need it, but he’s up to the challenge.

k says:

03:48pm | 09/11/09

SM - I think if you check your stats you’ll find Sheeds’ “reign” was a little longer than 21 years. What’s worse - ‘cherrypicking’ or complete ignorance?

dey mon says:

04:33pm | 09/11/09

Kevin Sheedy a great coach ? Not in my book , if Sheedy had coached Footscray or Fitzroy back when he started he would have disappeared from view by now. And didn’t he nearly ruin the international rules concept by sending players out to bludgeon the Irish amateurs into submission. For my money Sheedy is probably the greatest self promoter the game has ever seen. No West Sydney needs a young fresh switched on individual to coach it in it’s first few years, someone like James Hird or Garry Lyon.

Dan says:

05:52pm | 09/11/09

Dey mon, how is Sheedy not a great coach? Essendon wasn’t the powerful super club when he started. He coached it to 4 premierships in good times and bad. As for the international rules series, the Irish gave as good as they got. He didn’t ruin anything.

Geoffrey MG says:

05:59pm | 09/11/09

What a shocking revisionist is Finn Bradshaw. Sheeds sort of invented “poring over video and stats” in the Australian game. I remember meeting him many times on Monday morning picking up all the video tapes of the that weekend’s game from the AFL (VFL)  supplier - and that was in the 1980s.

Andrew says:

06:23pm | 09/11/09

find me a more qualified person?

Peter says:

06:38pm | 09/11/09

The first 21 of Sheedy"s 27 years at Essendon were outstanding-10 prelim finals,7 GF’s,4 flags and a winning percentage of 65.5.
His last 6 years (2002-07) were very ordinary.His winning percentage fell to 60.He brought far too many old players to the club who were never going to play more than a couple of years. He showed a complete inability/unwillingness to play and develop young players.He was more interested in stunts like trying to bring St.Kilda’s Aussie Jones out of retirement.He had no opinion of Job Watson as a player.Watson is now
probably the club’s most important player and it’s next captain.
The game has passed him by.As Bill Lawry would say-He’s Gooooone!

Lyndon says:

07:58pm | 09/11/09

I remember seeing a tv special on sheeds and he had a room/wall full of videos of footy games he would a Analyse etc, saying he doesn’t do this kind of work is hardly a fair statement. It’s about building a club and it’s culture something sheeds knows slot more about than any other young gun coach. This coaching Job will require every bit of sheeds experience including the ups and downs u noted in your article, it needs a tough comitted man, somthing sheeds is.

Finbin says:

10:27pm | 09/11/09

Finn Bradshaw? Sorry never heard of him. Just another nobody who gets paid to be a dribbler by bagging others who have been somebody. What has he ever done? I know who Sheedy is and what he’s done. Past it? Maybe. But at least he’s been there.

john Ryan says:

10:48pm | 09/11/09

Gee 99.9% of you blokes would not be Victorians by any chance,good god let the old age pensioner loose even Victorians need a break from the worship of AFL,he might learn that AFL is not all that popular in West Sydney, they have had it on TV up there when I lived in Sydney early 70s.
Then we had the Swans foisted upon us,ah yes tight shorts and Oxford st,what are you going to say when the AFL discover that people in the West are genuinely not interested in the AFL,which generation are you referring to how much money will the AFL bleed before you and it realize that Sydney is not Melbourne and West Sydney is not west Melbourne.
I personally hope they go broke, the AFL is the most arrogant bunch of people it has been my misfortune to read about,and AFL is also the most mollycoddled overrated game in this country.

hoofman says:

08:01am | 10/11/09

The appointment of Sheedy made you and others write about it, Finn. Looks like it’s already achieved its purpose

Richie says:

09:35am | 10/11/09

Finn Bradshaw - It is very clear to me after reading this article that you know absolutely NOTHING about football.  All you have done hear is weave a bunch of ‘hear-say’ into an article.  Why don’t you move on to another area of journalism?

footycardbaulk says:

11:00am | 10/11/09

The game has changed significantly since Sheedy’s last premiership. Even Leigh Matthews, who achieved more than Sheedy in less time and more recently, has felt the need to move on. It’s a publicity stunt more than a football decision. I mean, even Richmond overlooked him.

Macon Paine says:

12:47pm | 10/11/09

Great article Finn. Granted the man may be a legend but he’s over the hill and his best days are behind him.
There is an article by Roy Masters in some low circulating paper today in which he basically states that Sheedy will be more of a God like figure for the West Sydney team than an actual fulltime coach such as Paul Roos. I actually think this could be a good move as it will give the players someone to look up to and Legends can often bring out the very best in players. Unless of course your talking about Wayne Bennett at the Dragons, no one can save those chokers from choking!

Richard says:

12:51pm | 10/11/09

Poor old John Ryan - his splenetic, fact-free diatribe indicates just how worried the forces opposed to our wonderful indigenous game really are.

john Ryan says:

03:09pm | 10/11/09

What fact free pray quote me the Facts as the AFL tells you,what did I say wrong most on here are Victorians or Ex pats,,most it west Sydney dont care is that wrong I have seen at least three goes at asking about Sheedy and the people asked did not have a clue.
Just because you may know of him make you part of the .1% who do,and dont run that indigenous game rubbish thats as discredited as the Marm Grook BS

Mick says:

01:28pm | 11/11/09

Finn, think you have been a tad harsh on old sheeds. Sure his last few years were not the best, but if you look back at the lists Essendon had - they were never finals chances. I think Sheeds is a great fit for a new club, the experience he will bring plus the promotional side of things will really get the new club noticed and successfull, plus as a succession plan will be in place with the next coach how will hit the ground running and may even start to see some success. In regards to coaches going round - Sheeds is still up there. Finn how many games will GWS win in their first season?

Napier_St says:

06:59pm | 11/11/09

Being a life-long Essendon man, it will be wierd seeing Sheeds coaching another team, especially as I was born 2 years after he started coaching the Bombers, for my first 24 years all I knew was Kevin Sheedy being the coach. It was sad but inevitable the day his tenure at Windy Hill ended, but the club, and probably himself, needed to part ways, and it’s worked well for both parties.

If you wanted to start a new club from scratch, Kevin Sheedy is the first bloke I’d sound out, and GWS should be jumping for joy in having the great man on board. Is his best behind him, probably yes, but Sheeds has a habit of proving poeple wrong, and maybe the time away from the coaches box will have done him the world of good. If he can surround himself with smart, hungry assistants, he can oversee the coaching structures and promote the team and the game in Western Sydney, something he’ll be extremely good at. I will watch with interest to see how this goes, but deep down Kevin will always be a Bomber to me.