The best Collingwood coaches since 1953

[Harrysz]

Who are the best coaches that Collingwood’s had in the last six decades? Footy has changed so much that today’s game is almost unrecognisable when compared to the game of the fifties. Still, I’m going to give it a shot. Nathan Buckley is excluded. He’s the current coach and the jury is still out.

Ok, here are my rankings:

#10 – Mick Erwin.
Mick Erwin took over as senior coach when Tom Hafey was sacked in 1982. In his first match he moved Peter Daicos to the centre. Daics was best on the ground, Collingwood won and the John Hickey lead Board congratulated itself. The euphoria didn’t last long and at the end of the season Erwin was sacked.

#9 – Tony Shaw
Tony Shaw was a great player, but an ordinary coach. He was given a long enough stint to prove himself – 4 years. The team didn’t make the finals under his leadership. Credit to him though, for selecting young players in his final year when he knew his contract wouldn’t be renewed. He could’ve selected the old diehards and possibly improved his win/loss ratio. But his heart was in the right place and he did what was best for Collingwood. Tony has admitted that he may have been a better coach if he’d accepted Carlton’s offer as an assistant coach, before taking on a senior role.

#8 – Murray Weideman.
In Murray Weideman’s first year (1975) Collingwood made the finals, only to lose to Richmond by a narrow margin. No disgrace that, but disgrace was to come. Weideman suffered the ignominy of being the first coach to take Collingwood to a wooden spoon, in 1976. There was no draft then so tanking wasn’t an excuse. According to legend, Murray sometimes took the players to a pub after training. Who knows if this is true!

#7 – John Cahill
John Cahill was appointed by the Ranald Macdonald lead “New Magpies”. Previous Collingwood administrations had been criticised for not spending enough to buy players ) but the New Magpies Board steamed ahead in the opposite direction. The acquisions of David Cloke and Geoff Raines were great, but the acquisitions of Gary Shaw and some others, at great expense was not so great. In 1983 Collingwood missed the finals but in 1984 Collingwood made the finals, beating Fitzroy in the Elimination Final and then beating Carlton in the First Semi Final. We went with hope in our hearts to the 1983 Preliminary Final at VFL Park against Essendon. Many of us trudged home at three quarter time, not being able to endure the slaughter any longer. Collingwood lost by 133 points. This was a huge embarrassment for the club. Someone had to pay and John Cahill was sent packing back to South Australia.

#6 – Neil Mann.
Neil Mann coached Collingwood from 1972 until 1974. He’d had a long stint as Reserves Coach and he knew the caper. They made the finals every year during his tenure but they didn’t win a final. The 1973 team was a very good side and could have won the premiership. The team lost to Carlton in the Second Semi Final then played Richmond in the Preliminary Final. The lead was 7 goals just before half time, but they still managed to lose. By the end of 1974 the Board was fed-up with losing finals. Clearly someone with fresh innovative ideas was required; so they turned to Murray Weideman.

5 – Bob Rose.
Bob Rose emphasised skill at Collingwood. The dour blue collar sides of 1961-3 gave way to teams featuring Barry Price, Wayne Richardson and Peter McKenna. Bob Rose’s first year as coach was 1964 and the side then was still largely of the blue-collar variety. The rovers were Mick Bone and Davey Norman, the first ruck was Ray Gabelich, the centre half back was John Mahon, the centre half forward was Kevin McLean. And yet, this team came within 4 points of winning the Grand Final. That surely was Bob Rose’s finest hour. The next year Collingwood looked brilliant. The match against St Kilda in the Second Semi Final went down to the wire with Collingwood losing by a point. From there the legend of the Colliwobbles was born. Even worse was to follow, with a heart-breaking 1 point loss to St Kilda in the 1966 Grand Final. More finals losses came in 1967 and 1969. Then came 1970. Collingwood played Carlton a few weeks before the finals at Victoria Park and won by more than 100 points. We know what happened in the Grand Final. A 44 points half time lead melted down to a 10 points loss. Was the coach to blame at least partly? It’s hard to say. Certainly Ron Barassi who coached Carlton got enormous credit for the win. Bob Rose lost 3 grand Finals by a total of 15 points. Was he unlucky? It’s a matter of opinion.

#4 – Leigh Matthews.
Leigh Matthews came to Collingwood in 1986 as an assistant to Bob Rose with a view to taking over as senior coach after a year or so. However, the club was hit with a financial crisis following the profligate spending of the New Magpies. There were ructions with players, the season started poorly and Bob Rose resigned, leaving Leigh Matthews as senior coach. 1986 and 1987 were team-building years. There were no finals appearances but players like Gavin Brown, Gavin Crosisca, Mick McGuane and others were learning their craft. The team made the finals in 1988 and 1989 but no wins resulted. Leigh Matthews will forever be remembered for breaking the long premiership drought at Collingwood in 1990. After the draw in the Qualifying Final, Collingwood won its next 3 matches by wide margins and securing the 1990 flag. What followed in 1991 came to be called a premiership hangover. The team missed the finals that year, made the finals the following year but got bundled out and then missed the finals in Matthews’s last 3 years as coach of Collingwood. If you take out 1990, his record at Collingwood wasn’t impressive, but who could forget 1990!

#3 – Phonse Kyne.
Phone Kyne was very much from the “mark and kick” era. He coached accordingly. If you watch any of the old newsreels from that era the game seems unbearably slow. Playing on was almost unheard of. If a player was awarded a free kick, or took a mark, in most cases he went back and took his kick. So why do I rank him so highly? Firstly, he lead Collingwood to a premiership in 1953. The team beat Geelong in the Grand Final. Geelong was a super team in the early 1950s, winning the flag in 1951 and 1952. Geelong had won 23 games in a row, a record that still stands today. But the Cats couldn’t beat the Lou Richards lead Magpies and a flag was won for the first time in 17 years. Phonse Kyne was unlucky to come up against the super juggernaut of Melbourne, a team that won 5 premierships in 6 years. In 1958 Melbourne had won 3 premierships in a row. They’d thrashed Collingwood during the year and in the Second Semi Final. Collingwood struggled to get to the Grand Final and were given no hope. They were the rankest of rank outsiders. Somehow they beat the mighty Melbourne. Credit to Murray Weideman, Graeme Fellows, Ken Bennet and especially Phonse Kyne.

#2 – Tom Hafey
Tom Hafey came to Collingwood with an incredible record, having won 4 premierships at Richmond. Collingwood came last in 1976. In Hafey’s first year, 1977, Collingwood finished on top of the ladder, beat Hawthorn in the Second Semi Final and went into the Grand Final. What an incredible feat! Collingwood’s most talented player was Phil Carman. In the Second Semi Final he kicked 4 goals. He also whacked Michael Tuck behind play and was suspended for 2 weeks. In the third quarter of the Grand Final Collingwood got right on top and were leading by 27 points. The last quarter was a shocker. North Melbourne wiped off the deficit and lead by 7 points. Collingwood rallied, Twiggy Dunne took a mark and kicked a famous goal and the match was drawn. Some say that Tommy trained the players too hard during the next week. Certainly, they looked flat in the Grand Final replay. They never looked like winning. In 1978 Collingwood beat Carlton (always a good thing) in the First Semi Final, then got beaten by North in the Preliminary Final. In 1979, with Carman and Max Richardson gone, Collingwood got to the Grand Final against Carlton. Due to some Waynes Harmes heroics and a blind boundary umpire, the team went down in a heartbreaking 5 points loss. In 1980 Collingwood won 3 finals in a row but then got pulverised by Richmond. In 1981 Collingwood got to the Grand Final against Carlton, lead by 21 points late in the third quarter but finished up losing by 20 points. So, no premierships for Collingwood with Tom Hafey as coach, but he came oh so close on several occasions. So did Bob Rose but in fairness, the sides coached by Tom Hafey were really good teams but had few stars, whereas Bobby Rose’s teams (especially after 1964) had many stars. So Tom Hafey was a wonderful coach and possibly Collingwood’s best coach in the last 60 years which brings me to…………

#1 - Mick Malthouse.
Mick Malthouse was brought to Collingwood by Eddie McGuire amidst much fanfare. He’d won 2 premierships at West Coast. His first 2 years were uneventful. In 2002 Collingwood emerged from the shadows. The team fell into 4th place and was drawn to play Port Adelaide in the Qualifying Final. The team’s form was poor and Buckley was injured. The rank outsiders won by 13 points. This was a brilliant win. Collingwood hosted Adelaide in the Preliminary Final and won by 28 points. The Grand Final against reigning premiers Brisbane Lions was very close. In fact, the final margin of 9 points was the biggest margin of the day. Luck deserted Collingwood in the last quarter. A goal kicked by Anthony Rocca was called behind. Tarrant wasn’t paid a free kick right in front of goal. The team covered itself in glory that day and credit to the coach. In 2003 Collingwood was even better. It again got to the Grand Final against Brisbane. Collingwood was favourites, even without the suspended Anthony Rocca. The team got smashed! The next 2 years were down years but in 2006 the team made the finals, only to be bundled out by the Bulldogs. In 2007 Collingwood beat, Sydney in the Elimination Final, beat West Coast in extra time in the First Semi Final and went down to eventual premiers Geelong by 5 points in an epic Preliminary Final. The next 2 years saw Collingwood being competitive, make the finals but not being able to advance beyond the Preliminary Final. 2010 saw Collingwood finish on top of the ladder, smash the Bulldogs in the Qualifying Final, smash Geelong in the Preliminary Final(payback time) and line up against St Kilda in the Grand Final. After dominating in the first half St Kilda crept back into the game and got to a 6 points lead. The team rallied and the match was drawn. Collingwood easily won the replay and Malthouse deserves credit for keeping the team confident and “up”. Collingwood easily won the replay. 2011 was unusual. Collingwood finished on top of the ladder with a great percentage but its form was faltering. Collingwood won a hard fought Qualifying Final against West Coast, won a heart-stopper against Hawthorn and then faced off against Geelong. Collingwood lead by 21 points half way through the second quarter but they were reeled in by Geelong who eventually cantered away to a 7 goals win. Malthouse drew some criticism for playing unfit players (Reid and Jolly) and for being slow to make moves on the day. After the loss Malthouse reneged on the succession plan and he left Collingwood. He made some unfortunate comments and there’s bitterness between him and Collingwood. Nevertheless, he won us a premiership and during his time, Collingwood won 16 finals (or thereabouts) and no other Collingwood coach in recent memory can match that. Therefore he gets my nod as the best coach Collingwood had had in the last 60 years.

[RudeBoy]

As I was too young to recall the 1950s and early 60s, I'll confine my rankings to our coaches since the 70s.

1. Tom Hafey. Took us from wooden spoon to a drawn Grandfinal in his first year! Coached us to 5 grand final appearances in 5 years (includes 2 in 1977). He did not have many stars, but was able to get the best out of his players. Ultimately he was let down by the disunity at our club.

2. Leigh Matthews. Coached us to our first flag in 32 years, burying for all time the dreaded Colliwobbles. Sadly, the club, under his reign, did not recover from the tragic loss of Darren Millane.

3. Mick Malthouse. Almost pinched a flag for us in 2002. He was badly outcoached in 2003, but cruelly let down by Pebbles' getting rubbed out. Re-built the team and won a glorious Premiership in 2010, before becoming self obsessed and losing us the flag in 2011 through shocking coaching on the day.

[Mountains Magpie]

I agree with your top 5 but on raw stats Kyne wins for mine. Two premierships counts for a lot, especially when the second one was the greatest grand final win, ever, by anyone.

Kyne has 20 finals in 14 years as opposed to Malthouse's 22 in 12 years but more finals are played these days than in the 1950s/1960s.

Kyne also has the superior winning %age than Malthouse (59 to 57) but Rose is miles in front of them with 66% (Hafey has 64%, Matthews 56%).

Kyne only had one truly bad year, in 1961. Malthouse had 3.

Poor Bob Rose, losing grand finals is the worst but 1969 couldn't have helped. Not as bad as Mann must've felt in 1973.

Great post though, a good read

[HAL]

[neil]

Remember some of those coaches most were let down by administrations that were incompetent, extremely conservative, short sighted and refused to spend money . The new magpies the exception.

Ton Hafey was the last of the coaches that had to endure the incompetence. He would ask for a great player to come to Collingwood and the club would buy a average player. example ask for Buddy and the club would supply Waite.

When L Mathews came on board we had an administration that accepted the old ways were £$%$ed and didnt have much money so had recruited through the U19 to get a great team.

Eddie had learnt the lessons of success and when he recruited MM had a plan for new kids and player development.

To judge the coaches without considering the administrations that supported/sabotaged them is unfair.

Have not forgotten zoning that screwed recruiting for 20 years and the administrations that blindly let it happen

[Harrysz]

Neil, I agree with you completely.
Imagine the 1970 Board sacking Des Tuddenham as captain, or the 1978 Board refusing to match Fitroy's offer of an extra $5,000 for Bernie Quinlan. How would the 1979 side have gone with Bernie Quinlan at centre half forward.
In doing my rankings I did take those factors into account to a certain extent.

[HAL]

I have idea HOW you WOULD do the 1979 side went with Bernie Quinlan at centre half .

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

Speaking of Bob Rose, Leigh Matthews used to say that if there is a goal difference at the end of the game, the chances of winning or losing is 50 per cent. By that reckoning Bob Rose should have won at least one flag. In 1964 if Weiderman hadn't retired at the end of 1963 (I think he was only 27) we would have easily beat Melbourne. Look at the StKilda team in 1966. There are champions on every line. We got within a point. In 1970 we had players injured after half time. Sometimes you can just be unlucky.
Don't judge Bob Rose on his coaching in the 1980's. He was too old before passing the reins onto Leigh Matthews, just like Mick Malthouse is too old now to be still coaching.

[selkevh]

Great read. Thanks. Enjoyed it.

I thought Collingwood narrowly lost to the Weagles in an Elimination Final in 1994? Buckley's first year at the club

[BazBoy]

Phonse Kyne followed the great Jock McHale -big shoes to fill indeed
And just when a Geelong dynastey under Reg Hickey followed by
Norm Smiths Melbourne so Phonse had his work cut out
The 58 triumph was a fabulous day

[stui magpie]

[Bruce Gonsalves]

Statistically, Ron Richards would be the greatest coach of all time with a 100per cent strike rate. Having coached two games in 1974 beating opponents coached by no less than Bob Rose of the dogs, and Tom Hafey of the Tigers.

[Lazza]

[RudeBoy]

[Jezza]

A top 10 list is too difficult to do so I'm narrowing it down to the top 5!

1). Tom Hafey - Tom Hafey is the best coach we've had in the past 60 years. Our club was a basket case at the end of 1976 and the future looked bleak but Tom Hafey entered into the club and revolutionised it with improved performances, greater emphasis on fitness and skill and our sides were tough as nails. The only downside to Hafey's reign is not achieving a premiership after four failed attempts, or five if we want to be technical and include the 1977 Grand Final Replay as one whole separate game. I get the impression that from talking to older supporters that our side wasn't filled with the superstars that were existent at Richmond or Carlton for example, but they were a side that would fight to the death and win most games because they were the hardest and fittest team going around and for that our performances between 1977-1981 were extraordinary! At the end of 1981 you could sense that after many failed attempts that Hafey's time was up as players from that era grew frustrated from a lack of success and we saw players like Peter Moore move on.

2). Phonse Kyne - Obviously way before my time but his achievements as a coach for the club are very impressive. We won the 1953 and 1958 Grand Final under his tenure and were consistently the most prominent side challenging the unstoppable Melbourne Demons side of the 1950s. Overcoming Melbourne in 1958 is as impressive as you get and is one of the club's finest achievements in the last 60 years.

3). Mick Malthouse - Mick Malthouse along with the administration led by Eddie McGuire galvanised our club into the 21st century after a miserable mid to late 1990s. We had lean years in 2000 and 2001 under Mick but making back to back Grand Finals in 2002 and 2003 after we were wooden spooners a few years prior was impressive. 2004 and 2005 were bad years for the club as the list aged, had an extensive injury list and the club was in need of a rebuild. Mick along with his coaching staff achieved a magnificent rebuild as the club sustained itself as a regular finals team from 2006-2011. 2010 will go down as one of the greatest days of my life and for many Collingwood supporters under 30 who either appreciated this victory or witnessed a Collingwood Premiership for the first time in their lives. Mick's ending was bad but one day maybe the club will reunite with him and have warm relations with one another again.

4). Bob Rose - Bob Rose is similar to Tom Hafey in some ways. His coaching record is as impressive as it comes but once again he fails to achieve the ultimate glory after three close attempts in 1964, 1966, 1970. In that time Bob deserved to win at least one premiership so the chances of losing all three were very unlucky to say the least. Still regarded as a legend to Collingwood supporters as a player and coach.

5). Leigh Matthews - Leigh Matthews achieved the unthinkable in 1990 by winning our long-awaited premiership after 32 years of heartache and sadness. Leigh was a good coach for us between 1988-1992 but things started going down around the time of Darren Millane's tragic death and sadly the club went on a 10 year downward spiral until Eddie and Mick took over the club as President and coach.