Our best coach in the last 65 years

[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 acquisitions 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 1984 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 Premiership. 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. They lost an Elimination Final in 1994 and then missed the finals in 1995. 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, Barry Harrison 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 in the last 6 decades.

[3rd degree]

Thanks Harry a great summary, the only one game I would add to MM's legacy was Round 8 2002 v Brisbane I think this game was our rebirth as a side to reckoned with again. We really got our groove back that night.

[Adam Treloar 3 Votes]

Where does Buckley fit in that list? He has coached 123 games with a winning coaching percentage of 52% which is much better than shaws 88 games @ 34%.

[Piesnchess]

IF, IF, Bucks stayed on, and took us too a flag, ?????

[thesoretoothsayer]

Harry, great write up.
However, I could have done without being reminded about how far in front we were for some of those Grand Finals.
[Bangs head against wall whilst crying like a small child]

[Lone Ranger]

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

My take as follows:
10/10 Jock McHale - greatest coach of all, the bench mark for other coaches to be judged. Norm Smith is the only other coach who can be put in the same bracket.
9/10 Phonse Kyne - Coached premiership sides in 1953 and 1958 against more highly rated sides in Geelong and Melbourne, which was a feat Malthouse was unable to achieve against the Brisbane teams.
8/10 Mick Malthouse - great strategic coach, inspirational speaker and motivator. Not so good as a match day coach and grumpy with the media.
8/10 Lee Matthews - strong disciplinarian, but aloof and horrible to have as a coach when the side is losing. Best at coaching when having a strong list to coach.
7/10 Bob Rose - Like Tom Hafey, took an underperforming group of players and built them into an almost premiership team and with an ounce of luck would have pulled off at least one premiership flag.
7/10 Tom Hafey - Simple coaching philosophy built on physical fitness, long kicks down the middle and not moving the players around. His coaching at Collingwood is tarnished by his overtraining the group in the week prior to the the 1981 GF (probably overtrained them as well before the 1977 replay).
6/10 Neil Mann - Old style coach overtaken in the coaching innovation stakes by coaches like Ron Barassi.
6/10 Nathan Buckley - Best coaching is in the coaches box on match day and taking the group at training. Innovating tactically as well. Worst coaching is his structures on the field, timing with players at the selection table and planning with the list manager before the season starts.
5/10 John Cahill - Great coach at Port Adelaide but very difficult to judge at Collingwood football club when he's working with the worst admin ever at the club.
5/10 Tony Shaw - Tactically an innovator but poor at planning his list.
4/10 Murray Weideman - Too involved in club politics to concentrate on the playing group.

[mattys123]

Interesting to note that the best 3 of the past 40 years or so (Malthouse, Hafey and Matthews) were all non Collingwood people.

Seems with the modernisation of the game, the old Collingwood mantra of sticking with our own simply doesn't work, in fact it's a hinderance. Both Shaw and Buckley would have been better off coaching elsewhere.

No coincidence that the only 2 premiership coaches we've had in the last 50 years played for other clubs.

[sixpoints]

Neil Mann.
As a coach I think he is greatly under valued. He inherited the team from Bob Rose in 1972 and immediately lost Des Tuddenham to Essendon. He got the very best out of Len Thompson who was floundering in his career by 1971. Under Mann he wins a Brownlow.
Mann was also desperately unlucky to lose John Greening mid 1972. Peter McKenna kicks 120 goals in 1972, but is injured in the last game and doesn't play finals. We do go out in straight sets without McKenna & Greening, but show great fight in both games. He also plays unheralded youngsters Dunstan & Cooper in the finals.
In 1973 we finish top. We are not the best side, but play very attacking attractive football. Youngsters are played and come finals after a loss in the 2nd Semi, Price and McKenna are dropped, 16 year old Kink & 17 year old Manassa are brought in. Thompson is moved out of the ruck to CHF and Hafey's Richmond are bamboozled but regroup to beat us narrowly.
The next year 1974, we play well, but realistically the side cannot win it. Mann plays the youngsters again and we enter the finals with Manassa & Picken both 18 and incredibly Moore & Clifford who are both only 17 in the side. We win our first final but are put out the next week.
He was a good motivator of players and was never afraid to make bold selection decisions. Given a better run with injuries - especially Greening and well.......we'll never know.

[john b]

Awesome thanks for that but in my opinion. Even though it was poor timing for both but all in all Nathan buckley is a better coach than tony shaw. Both legends and great players.

MM number one... I agree.

[E]

If M&M is number 1 and Buckley is a better coach than M&M (which will become obvious to all in the next 5 years), then that means.....

[Jamesy]

[Harrysz]

Thanks sixpoints. I'd forgotten that stuff about Neil Mann.

You're right. He was unlucky, but many of coaches were unlucky.
It wasn't Tommy Hafey's fault that Phil Carman had a brain fade and whacked Michael Tuck in the 1977 second semi final. Carman kicked 4 goals in that match and was untouchable. It's not a long stretch to say that with Carman playing we would've won the 1977 grand final.

[E]

Coaches create a culture of discipline, or not. It is partly their fault if a player is so undisciplined as to do such a stupid thing......

[5 from the wing on debut]