Sheeds and The Sanitarium

Not one week after I said Essendon didn’t have the prunes to fire Kevin Sheedy he got the boot. I figured, having been in the job for as long as I’ve been alive, he’d be allowed to retire when he was good and ready. But he’s gone now and he’s not coming back. And it’s probably for the best.

Sheedy has been a big figure in the game for a long time, but as a coach, he’s probably gotten more credit than he’s deserved, especially over the last 5 years in which Essendon have gone from finishing 5th in 2002 to 15th last season. Essendon are shit and have been shit for a long time, and the fact that Sheedy is making so much noise about his future and ‘rattling a few cages’ on his way out only confirms that he’s done: The most senile pensioner in the nursing home thinks they’re perfectly normal, and right now Sheeds is busy telling everyone how sane he is. Stick a fork in him.

Melbourne looms as the only club that would consider him but I tend to think they’re making enquiries more out of respect, and to be seen that they’re ‘pursuing all avenues’, than out of any genuine interest. Besides, The Demons seem to have their eye fairly and squarely on Chris Connolly, the only of the four coaches that have been booted that seems likely to find new employment.

Mark Harvey always seemed a good thing to take over at Freo. He has been groomed to be a head coach for a fair time now and was touted as a potential Connolly replacement as soon as he joined as an assistant. In three games he has pulled two seemingly impossible results out of the over-rated Dockers list and now must be a certainty to sign on.

At Carlton, Brett Ratten seems to be getting something out of that putrid stink pool of players, which is now in full on tank mode with Pagan out of the way. (And good on ‘em too: If I were the Blues, I’d be tanking my little heart out.) Curiously though, Barry Mitchell has been brought back in to the fold, and for those who don’t remember, Mitchell was the man the Carlton board wanted to take over when they tried to axe Pagan the first time. So despite Ratten’s efforts, the Blues next coach will again be decided in the boardroom rather than on the playing field. That leaves Essendon as the sole club without an obvious replacement. That seems to bring everyone to Lips Thompson.

Bomber is out of contract at season’s end, which, despite what Caroline Wilson thinks, doesn’t really mean all that much in terms of coaches coming or going. (In Terry Wallace’s case, she continues to spout, like an obsessed fan, instead of the ‘head football writer’ that she is supposed to be, that he still has two years to run on his contract and therefore is not considered in danger of losing his job. Let me just say this; a coach being ‘under contract’ has never affected him losing his job. Just ask Malcolm Blight, fired 9 weeks into an alleged million dollar contract at St.Kilda. So instead of giving voice to the ridiculously dismal performance of ‘Terry Terrific’ at Richmond, Caro continues to plant Red Herrings around the Richmond Football club. First it was injuries. Then it was Danny Frawley’s fault. An instability problem. Greg Miller. A recruiting problem. Now, it’s that Terry needs time to run his famed ‘5-year’ plan. Well, Caro, I’ll take a leaf out of Terry’s book and give you a glimpse into the future; in two more years, at the end of the grand, five year vision, you’ll still be shit. Only not only will you be shit, but you’ll also be lugging around the bloated contracts of Nathan Brown, Troy Simmonds and a 160kg Richo, all of whom by then will be moving about as well as Kirstey Alley stumbling her way to the all-you-can-eat buffet cart. Brett Deledio will have bolted for another club, the Nathan Foley mirage would have faded, Kane Johnson will have become so invisible that they will simply forget to play him, Richard Tambling will be asking if I’d ‘like fries with that’ and Graham Polak will be on trial for the double homicide of both Bowden brothers [which will end in a mistrial.]) Sure, being without a contract may make it easier for Bomber to just simply sign elsewhere, but despite that, and despite my distracting rant about Caroline Wilson and Terry Wallace, I don’t believe Thompson’s insistence on not discussing his contract situation until seasons end is any indication he’s leaving.

Everyone at Geelong has committed to being dedicated to this year – to the old one week at a time approach – so to begin talks now would be contradictory. It would be disrespectful. It would be saying that different rules apply to him than do to the players. And that’s not the message he wants to send. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

Geelong’s performance so far this season has come from the players’ belief in themselves and that their team-mates will do their jobs. Nothing more, nothing less. Just do what you’re supposed to. The fact that they have bought into this simple, reasonable assumption, and don’t want to let each other down, is a credit to the coach. It’s also the reason Lips doesn’t have to talk about next year: He knows he’s one of the only sane coaches left.