https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au The complete history of Australia's greatest sporting club Tue, 30 Jan 2024 23:13:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.21 https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/the-coaches/ Sun, 19 Mar 2017 02:42:25 +0000 http://cfc-forever-staging.qodo.com.au/?p=11003 Jock McHale. McHale is arguably the most famous name in Collingwood history. He’s certainly been the game’s most fabled coach, not just for his longevity and games record, but also for his achievement in piloting the club to no fewer than eight Premierships. It’s no wonder that the AFL has named its award for each season’s leading coach after him. But the club has also had plenty of other outstanding coaches along the way, such as Phonse Kyne, Bobby Rose, Tom Hafey, Leigh Matthews and Mick Malthouse. Not all of them have enjoyed the ultimate footballing success (Rose, in particular, was desperately unlucky). But every one of them has given his all. That applies even to Collingwood’s two most short-term coaches. Ron Richards filled in while Neil Mann was coaching the Victoria team in 1974, and is officially credited with a coached-two-won-two coaching record. The other historical anomaly came in the 1930 Grand Final, when Jock McHale was sick in bed at home. While no coach was appointed for the day, Treasurer Bob Rush delivered a famously stirring half-time speech so is sometimes credited with having a coaching role on the day (though not officially by us or the AFL). Good trivia questions, those two. Of course there were no coaches in the club’s earliest days, with off-field preparation usually handled by the captain, in conjunction with the head trainer. Match-day moves were the province of the skipper. The club’s first coaches were senior or recently retired players. It was not until 1977, when Tom Hafey came across from Richmond, that Collingwood finally looked outside its own nest for a senior coach. But no matter their background, every single one of Collingwood’s coaches has put his heart and soul into the job, devoting huge reserves of time and energy into taking the Pies as far as he could. All that work is aimed at one thing – returning the Magpies to the top of the tree. As fans, we always hope that moment is going to come next season. So do our coaches.

Years	Senior Coach
1904	Bill Strickland
1905-06	Dick Condon
1907-08 (part)	Ted Rowell
1908 (part)	Bill Strickland
1909-11	George Angus
1912-49	Jock McHale
1950-63	Phonse Kyne
1964-71	Bob Rose
1972-74	Neil Mann * (Ron Richards filled in as senior coach for two games while Neil Mann was coaching the Victorian side.)
1975-76	Murray Weideman
1977-82 (part)	Tom Hafey
1982 (part)	Mick Erwin
1983-84	John Cahill
1985-86 (part)	Bob Rose
1986 (part)-95	Leigh Matthews
1996-99	Tony Shaw
2000-11	Mick Malthouse
2012-21 (part)	Nathan Buckley
2021 (part)	Robert Harvey
2022-	Craig McRae

]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/the-coaches-mick-erwin/ Mon, 25 Aug 2014 13:26:29 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=8831 Coach: 1982 (part) Games coached: 12 Mick Erwin received an early present the day before his 39th birthday – he got to coach Collingwood for the first time. And while he would be in charge on only 12 occasions as replacement for a sacked Tom Hafey in the second half of 1982, Erwin’s first outing would produce a rare distinction in a season almost devoid of them. Collingwood’s 26.16 (172) win over St Kilda at Victoria Park in Round 11 would be the highest score in a first-time game for any new Magpies coach. But the flip-side would be the other distinction of Erwin’s brief tenure – by season’s end he would have what was at that time the worst winning percentage of any Collingwood coach in history, 25 per cent. There was not a lot to cheer about for Collingwood that season. A stretch of eight successive losses had led to Hafey’s axing after Round 10 with Erwin installed as the caretaker role for the remainder of the season. Hafey wasn’t happy about being sacked. Neither was he pleased that Erwin had been elevated to the role, believing later that his reserves coach had coveted the position. A former Collingwood and Richmond player, Erwin took over when the club was fractured, a board challenge was imminent and the playing list was not only undermanned, but also lacking in confidence and cohesion. But he was happy to take on the challenge, saying before his first game that “it is an honour and a privilege to be asked.” Immediately, he set about trying to play a more attacking style, while he later said he also tried to restore some of the discipline that he felt had been eroded in the dying days of Hafey’s reign. Erwin would say: “They were so undisciplined … they had been allowed to do what they wanted, even talk when the coach was talking. I stopped that, I meant business. “A player such as (Rene) Kink – there was no way I was going to play him while he was well over-weight. There was pressure on me to play him, but there was no way I was going to give in to something like that.” Admittedly, he had the perfect chance to make a solid start to his VFL coaching career with the fixture seeing Collingwood play lowly teams St Kilda and Footscray in his opening two games as coach. The Magpies started slowly against the Saints, but off the back of six goals from Graham Teasdale and a best-afield effort from Peter Daicos, the home side was simply too strong when it mattered after kicking 10 goals in the third term. The final margin was 36 points, with the Collingwood board breathing a sigh of relief after the tumultuous week that had led up to the game. The following week the Magpies were far too good for Footscray, who had sacked Royce Hart – a one-time Hafey pupil – as coach in the same week as Collingwood had dumped their man. Collingwood had been prolific again in week two of Erwin’s tenure, kicking 24.19 (163) against the Bulldogs to win by 66 points. But the issues that were dividing Collingwood were not going to be patched over by a simple change of coach. Following those two first-up wins, Erwin’s team would lose nine consecutive matches in a miserable period. Erwin explained: “Collingwood is the hardest club to coach. You are under more pressure to win than at any other club.” “Collingwood is seen to have failed if it is not in the finals – and the grand final. (And) the real, heavy pressure started to get to me towards the end.” Against the flow, the Magpies would cause an upset to defeat Geelong by five points by Victoria Park in the final round of the season. That made for three wins from Erwin’s 12 games in the coaches’ box. While he would be a candidate for the vacant position for 1983, Erwin was always going to be a long-shot to become the permanent coach, especially when the New Magpies reform group came to power. He would lose out to successful South Australian coach John Cahill as Collingwood headed in a completely different direction.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/the-coaches-murray-weideman/ Mon, 25 Aug 2014 13:21:05 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=8828 Coach: 1975-76 Games coached: 45 FOOTBALL is so often about timing, and for Murray Weideman, his timing as a player was impeccable. He played in a premiership in his first senior season – in 1953 – and was the club’s acting captain in another flag – 1958 – on his way to becoming one of Collingwood’s favourite sons. As a coach, his timing would be at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, and it would end with the Magpies’ first wooden spoon. Weideman had coached West Adelaide for four seasons (1968-1971), taking them to a preliminary final in his second year, having earlier coached in Albury. It seemed almost a natural fit that the Magpie great would one down return home to Victoria Park to coach, and that opportunity presented itself at the end of the 1974 season. But the seeds of concern were there almost from the outset, particularly with relations between the new coach and the new president Ern Clarke being frosty almost from the start. In time, the waring between Clarke and Weideman would create a massive divide at the football club, and if you add that in with strong criticism of the coach’s laid-back, casual approach, it was almost a recipe for trouble. Weideman had come across from Adelaide in the same year that Phil Carman had. And Carman took the game by storm in his first season, with a few breathtaking performances, including the day he kicked 11 goals in white boots in a clash with St Kilda. Collingwood had a reasonable season in Weideman’s first year as coach. They won 13 of 22 home-and-away games which left them in fifth place, and squaring off against Richmond in elimination final. But the Tigers held on against a fast-finishing Collingwood, who had recovered from a 32-point half-time deficit to lose by only four points at the end. The 1975 season had ended with a strong, positive performance, but the start of 1976 was a serious concern, with Weideman and Carman signing a statement early that they would quit if Clarke remained. The statement was withdrawn before it got to Clarke. Yet that didn’t stop the tension. Clarke stoked the fire by bringing Des Tuddenham back to Collingwood against Weidman’s wishes. There were petty jealousies and bickering among the group, with Carman being part of the fuel that stoked the fire. Carman admitted later that the place was out of control and the one-time fitness fanatic almost gave up caring. He would say: “I just couldn’t be bothered; the administration wasn’t stable and they’d just lost me.” Through it all, Weideman was criticised for failing to instil discipline into his players, which he later said was unfair: “I was close to the players, very close, but I felt that being with them in that way they respect you and will always give you their best.” What he would concede was that his approach to the game was too linked to the 1950s, and might not have had that modern feel to it. Collingwood lost its first three games of 1976, by which time it had dropped the Richardson brothers (Wayne and Max) for the first time in their careers. Wayne criticised the club and was suspended; Max refused to play in the reserves that day, but both would come back into the fold. Losing became a habit, and the coach and the president were at each other’s throats regardless of the results. The issue came to a head when Weideman issued a public statement, saying he could no longer continue to coach the club if Clarke remained. Weideman said: “I will not coach Collingwood until Ern Clarke resigns as president … it’s either him or me. I cannot work under this man again.” “Even if I lose my job, which I am sure I will, at least I’ve let the players, members and supporters know what is happening at Collingwood under this president.” The pair were forcibly brought together to make a temporary truce for the sake of the club, though Clarke would eventually resign. And Weideman’s time in the job was also coming to an end. A stretch of eight successive losses towards the end of the season had them on the bottom of the ladder before a win over Essendon in Round 21 restored some hope. The Magpies had to beat Melbourne in the last round to have any hope of staving off the club’s first wooden spoon – and they also had to hope that Fitzroy would lose to Essendon. The signs were positive early as Weideman’s team led narrowly at the first two changes. But an eight-goal-to-one term for the Demons almost put the game beyond doubt by three-quarter-time. And despite a strong last term – seven goals to three – it was not enough to overhaul the Demons, with the 15-point loss ensuring Collingwood would finish last for the first time in its long and proud history. Six wins from 22 games was the return from a bitter and divisive year. That would be Weideman’s last game as Collingwood coach, with his 19 wins from 49 games a disappointing postscript to what had been such a successful playing career.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/the-coaches-michael-malthouse/ Sun, 24 Aug 2014 22:57:06 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=9435 Coach: 2000-2011 Games coached: 286 (2000-2011) It started in the front seat of a Lexus in late 1999, Collingwood’s coach for the new millennium revealed in a puff of smoke and flashing lights; and it ended on football’s biggest stage, the 2011 Grand Final. Mick Malthouse’s 12 seasons as Magpies coach were anything but conventional. But the Malthouse years helped to drag an ailing Collingwood out of its late 1990s malaise and back to being a football power – doing on the field what president Eddie McGuire did off the field. That restoration of pride and performance helped to provide the platform for the club’s 15th premiership; a dramatic drawn Grand Final; three other Grand Final appearances; and a team that was for a time the envy of every other football side. McGuire saw Malthouse as the man capable of building a competitive force out of a team that was on the bottom of the AFL heap. Having coached West Coast to two flags, and after a decade of finals appearances, he looked to the perfect candidate. And, as luck would have it, this one-time childhood Collingwood supporter was keen to return home to Victoria. Malthouse was realistic about the task he had set himself. In a column he wrote on the day of his appointment in the Australian, he wrote: “Expect no miracles or quick fixes. But the odd success is not enough; everyone at Collingwood will be aiming for long-term excellence into the 21st century.” There would be no miracles in his first season – 2000 – with only seven wins. But the coach was working his way through the playing list, crafting and constructing a side that would become competitive sooner rather than later. In that second season, there would be more improvement, winning 11 games and missing out on the finals by only a game. Incredibly, in Malthouse’s third season at Collingwood, he took a rebadged side to a Grand Final. For a time, it looked as though this hard-working, blue-collar, team-first Magpies outfit would almost bring about one of the great Grand Final upsets. But the Brisbane Lions held on to win the 2002 Grand Final by nine points, and then crushed Malthouse’s Magpies a year later in the corresponding game, even though Collingwood had beaten them in a qualifying final. There were some tough years in the mix, as Collingwood fell to 13th and 15th in 2004 and 2005, but all through those years, the coach was looking for the right mix of players who could once more compete for the ultimate success. In 2007 the Magpies were exceptionally stiff. They almost beat the all-powerful Geelong in an epic preliminary final, agonisingly losing by five points when the ball was in attack, with the Cats smashing Port Adelaide a week later. That was Nathan Buckley’s last game as a player, and more finals beckoned in 2008 and 2009, although each time it found teams better than it. All the pieces of the Malthouse jigsaw puzzle finally came together in 2010, with Darren Jolly (Sydney) and Luke Ball (St Kilda) acquired to fix deficiencies. Collingwood won 17 of its 22 home-and-away season, stamping itself as clearly the best team of the season. And the Magpies, with a team full of talent and youth, proved dominant early in the finals series before one of the most tight, tense Grand Finals in history. St Kilda and Collingwood fought out a dramatic draw in the Grand Final before Malthouse’s team prevailed in the decider by the greatest winning margin by a Magpies side in a Grand Final. Malthouse had fine-tuned aspects of his preferred game model, basing much of the club’s frenetic pressure on – of all things – the Roman army formation and German World War II strategist Field Marshall Erwin Rommel. He said after Collingwood had won the 2010 flag by 56 points: “I looked at the Roman legion, which is in a box formation and very hard to penetrate. The box can get smaller and smaller, but you’ve always got fighting capabilities all the way through, which we’ve pushed in front of our opponents for the last two years. “The second one was a bloke who I read a lot about because of his daring. Rommel’s front-on assault was a methodology without superior numbers that hit an opponent, the enemy if you like, front on. And I’m at pains to say that neither succeeded in any lengthy history. So this game plan will succumb at some stage.” Malthouse knew 2011 would be his last season as Pies senior coach, with Collingwood securing a handover transition in 2009 that was meant to ensure Buckley would be the senior coach and Malthouse the director of coaching from 2012. But after Collingwood lost to Geelong in the 2011 Grand Final in a season derailed a little by injury late in the year, Malthouse opted to leave the club. When he told the football world he was leaving, he said: “This football club 12 years ago was the worst football club in the competition. There were sniggers and sneers and little chuckles when I said my goal, whether we achieved it or not, was to make Collingwood Football Club the Manchester United of the AFL. “I feel very confident in saying I think the membership base, the sponsorship, relocation and the win-loss ratio has at least moved this club in the right direction.” And, importantly, there was also another premiership cup in the trophy cabinet.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/the-coaches-neil-mann/ Sun, 24 Aug 2014 22:03:43 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=8569 Coach: 1972-74 Games coached: 72 For a long time, it looked as if Neil Mann’s coaching career would be a case of ‘always the bridesmaid, never the bride’. Mann had gone straight into coaching the reserves after he retired from playing at the end of 1956. He coached the seconds for seven seasons, then threw his hat into the ring for the senior job when Phonse Kyne called it a day late in 1963. He was beaten for that posting by Bob Rose, and remained in charge of the reserves for the next eight years, resisting overtures from many other clubs along the way. When Rose called it a day at Collingwood at the end of 1971, Mann again decided to put his name forward. This time the hot favourite for the position was Murray Weideman, who had been making a good name for himself as a coach with West Adelaide. Des Tuddenham was also interested in the role. But this time Mann’s loyalty and patience were rewarded. Tuddy took the captain-coaching job at Essendon, and the club’s committee decided to overlook Weideman and instead hand the job to the loyal deputy who had supported first Kyne, then Rose, so well. After 15 years as no.2, Neil Mann finally got his chance as the senior coach at Collingwood. Unfortunately, both for the much-loved Mann and the club, the change of coach did nothing to change Collingwood’s fortunes. The team finished third in Mann’s first season but lost both finals matches, then finished on top in 1973, only to lose both finals again. The last of those was particularly galling, throwing away a six-goal half-time lead against Richmond in the preliminary final in a performance that was eerily reminiscent of the grand final debacle of thee years earlier. Mann was at a loss to explain the trend. The team had been rejuvenated by his appointment, and played some outstanding football. Len Thompson played arguably the best football of his career and won the Brownlow in Mann’s first year as coach. John Greening was controversially shifted into the centre at Barry Price’s expense but emerged that year as a genuine star until he was brutally knocked out behind the play against St Kilda. The defence was shifted around, and new players introduced. Mann relied heavily on his ability to communicate well with his players, his excellent man-management and his passion for the club (demonstrated in just his third game as coach when he was reported for approaching the umpire at quarter-time to complain about decisions going against the Pies). He was also not afraid to make moves, as the brilliant but unexpected pre-match shift of Thompson to centre half-forward in the 1973 preliminary final showed. In what turned out to be his final season, he was named as coach of the Victorian side. Mann’s approach seemed to work brilliantly throughout the season but falter in September. The 1973 season was the fourth time in less than a decade that the Pies had lost both their finals matches. In 1974, the Magpies beat Footscray but were thrashed by Hawthorn, leaving them with only one win from their last six finals. The club as a whole seemed not to have recovered from 1970 – and everyone accepted that change was needed. At the end of 1974, the coach decided to resign. President Tom Sherrin did too. So Mann immediately stood for President against the ‘damn the tradition’ candidacy of Ern Clarke. He lost, but returned a couple of years later to serve on the board. Collingwood has known few finer, or more loyal, servants than Neil Mann. He only managed three seasons as senior coach (and what a dramatic few seasons they were), but his overall record of service is second to none.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/the-coaches-phonse-kyne/ Tue, 19 Aug 2014 11:43:49 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=7244 Coach: 1950-63 Games coached: 252 To say that Phonse Kyne had big shoes to fill when he took over the Collingwood coaching position in 1950 would be a massive understatement. For a start, he was replacing the King of Coaches, Jock McHale. It had been a staggering 38 years – and a whopping 714 games – since McHale took the reins, and the majority of fans knew no other man in charge. Jock had also delivered eight premierships, almost continual finals appearances and had established the club as the powerhouse of the VFL. That’s a mighty hard act to follow, in any circumstances. But to make things even harder, Kyne only took over the role just weeks before the start of the season – and then only after a tumultuous few weeks that split the club and caused some serious bloodletting at board level. The catalyst for the change was the 1940s, which proved to be an unusually barren decade for a club accustomed to success. After five successive grand final appearances to end the 1930s, the Pies weren’t in action on the last day of any season during the 1940s. There were several unsuccessful preliminary finals, but as the decade grew to a close there was a growing feeling that the mighty Jock’s time might be up. In the end, though, McHale didn’t decide to retire until April in 1950 – just weeks before the season – which threw succession plans into a small amount of disorder. Still, most observers were sure the role would go to Kyne: he was the current club captain, had won three of the past four Copelands, was widely acknowledged as a fine leader and was nearing the end of his career. It seemed logical and easy. But what most didn’t know was that some key members of the club’s committee had virtually promised the job years before to another former player, reserves coach Bervin Woods. The initial vote was tied, and the casting vote of President Harry Curtis went Woods’ way. Cue pandemonium. Woods was a solid, loyal servant, but was no match for Kyne in the popularity stakes. So there was immediate uproar among supporters when the decision was announced, and within hours a special general meeting had been called to protest the decision. When Kyne appeared at a practice match the following Saturday, he was mobbed and cheered by thousands of fans and chaired to the dressing rooms. Woods and his supporters were booed and heckled. In the face of such overwhelming opposition, Woods could do little else but resign. Kyne was belatedly appointed and some sanity was eventually restored to Victoria Park – but only after Woods’ supporters on the committee, which included great Magpie names like Bob Rush and Harry Curtis, were cast out at the special meeting a few weeks later. It’s difficult to imagine a more unsettled set of circumstances for a new coach to endure. But Kyne rose above it all with the calm determination that would be a hallmark of his coaching. There was a setback in his first year, with the team dropping outside the top four and finishing seventh. But after that it was all steady progression – beaten preliminary finalists in 1951, runners-up in 1952 and a flag in 1953. In his first 11 seasons as coach he would manage six grand finals and two premierships. His approach was, in many ways, similar to that which had worked so well, for so long, for Jock McHale – although he wasn’t as fearsome as Jock. His love for the club was just an intense, as was his devotion to the task, and he openly based his methods on those of the legend who had preceded him. He was passionate, loyal and a players’ man, respected by all those who played under him. He did not believe in openly berating his players, but they were never left in any doubts about his feelings. “If Phonse had something to say – and he had plenty to say on occasions – he drew the player aside and gave it to him man-to-man,” Lou Richards once said. As a player he’d long been regarded as an astute reader of the game, and that served him in good stead as a coach. His leadership skills also came to the fore, and he had an extraordinary ability to inspire his charges. Nowhere was this more evident than on grand final day in 1958. This was Phonse Kyne’s finest moment as Collingwood coach – the day the rank outsiders pulled off one of football’s greatest boilovers to upset the seemingly invincible Demons, and preserve the club’s cherished four-in-a-row record. His tactics, especially tagging Melbourne star Ron Barassi and physically harassing other Demons off their game, were stunningly successful. And his speech has passed into football folklore as one of the most inspirational of all time. “Today I want you to bleed for Collingwood,” he told his players. “I will be out there every second of the game. I’ll be feeling every bump, every mark, every kick. We’ll be doing this together. If you get knocked over, I want you to crawl on your hands and knees after the ball. Kick it off the ground, push it forward. I want you to go for the ball with every bit of might in your body. There will be times when you’re exhausted, when you can hardly breathe. That is when I want you to go harder – as hard and harder than any Collingwood player before you.” Less inspirational, but no less memorable, were his words to his acting captain, Murray Weideman, at half-time after his team had produced a second quarter turnaround to lead by two points. “I don’t know what you’re doing,” he told some of his boys, “but keep doing it!” They did, and the Pies pulled off what still ranks as the club’s greatest ever premiership. Kyne continued as coach after 1958, of course, but the team never quite regained the magic touch. They dropped to third in 1959, returned for a grand final thumping in 1960, then missed finals for the next three years. The last of those was a particularly testy season, with the relationship between players and coaches undermined by their respective involvement in different sides of an ugly election campaign early in 1963. There were even suggestions that Kyne and his captain, Murray Weideman, barely spoke throughout the year. By August, Kyne could see the writing on the wall: he knew that Bobby Rose was waiting in the wings, and announced he would resign at the end of the 1963 season. Phonse Kyne was a champion player who turned into a highly successful, dual-premiership coach. He was universally admired and respected, not just at Collingwood but also throughout football. He is rightly regarded as one of the great figures in Collingwood history.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/the-coaches-jock-mchale/ Mon, 18 Aug 2014 21:39:42 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=7064 Coach: 1912-49 Games coached: 714 EACH year the AFL’s premiership coach receives a medal named in honour of the man who arguably made the single greatest contribution to a football club – and to the role of the coach – in the history of the game. It is the Jock McHale Medal, and it is fitting the man considered “the Prince of Coaches” had his name posthumously ascribed to the medal given to Grand Final winning coaches since 2001 – almost 50 years after his death. James Francis ‘Jock’ McHale was a coaching colossus, not only of Collingwood, but also as a man who helped to pioneer the role and then define it across an extraordinary 38 seasons and 714 matches. And his record of eight premierships as a coach of the Magpies – one of them as playing coach and seven as non-playing coach – only serves to highlight the appropriate decision in naming the premiership coach’s medal after him. He wasn’t the first coach. He wasn’t even Collingwood’s first coach. But from the time he took charge of the role in 1912 – just before the Titanic’s maiden voyage – until his departure just before the 1950 season, the “Collingwood six-footer” (he was actually 180cm) towered over the game in terms of his influence and his impact. His tenure stretched across two World Wars, a crippling depression and through the halcyon years of Collingwood, most famously with his association with the only team to win four premierships in succession – the famed ‘Machine’. It was a term that McHale did not like. He never saw his most successful team – or any of them, for that matter – as a mechanical, rigid entity. He took offence to that suggestion, saying that his sides were adaptable, innovative and flexible. He would say many years after his 1927-30 successes: “The funny thing is that, as a non-playing coach, I did not set out with any specific intention of building a football machine. I never liked the term, because it suggested the side was a combination which worked to a rigid plan, and could not think. And there is one quality we demand at Collingwood; it is the quick-thinking player with a dash of imagination.” McHale, the coach, towers over McHale, the player, but his record on the field should never be underestimated. He played 261 games in black and white (one more than Nathan Buckley) from 1903-1920 as a hard-working centre-man and sometime defender. He won distinction for his durability, professionalism, loyalty and commitment. All of those qualities he would later demand from his players. McHale would face a baptism of fire as playing coach in his first season (1912) with the Magpies missing the finals for the first time in the VFL. But he would stick to the same course and rarely deviate from the qualities he insisted upon. Within five years, he would win his first premiership as coach, with Collingwood defeating Fitzroy in the 1917 Grand Final, and he would add another flag, this time as a non-playing coach, when the club defeated South Melbourne in 1919. McHale demanded his players show the same sort of discipline he had shown. He helped to prepare his players physically for the challenges and insisted that the team was far more important than the individual, which meant all players at Collingwood – even the best players and the coach – received the same payments. It was one of the pillars on which he believed great football clubs could be built on and that egalitarianism and team-first philosophy was the foundation for the success that Collingwood would have during his exceptionally long reign. Tellingly, he would say: “I had no time for a side built up around three or four star players. Give me a fit bunch of men with a good general level of ability.” Importantly, he would use his word and his tactics to help shape the sport in the first fifty years of the 20th Century, becoming one of the first systematic coaches, favouring corridor football, and carrying on from the earlier Collingwood traditions of the stab-kick, he would encourage fast, slick play the middle of the ground. All of those long-held beliefs culminated in an unprecedented period of success. Collingwood won four succession premierships – 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930 – something that no other VFL-AFL club has achieved before or since. He would barely miss a training session and would famously miss only one match in his 38 seasons in charge – the 1930 Grand Final, when he was confined to bed in his Brunswick St. home after becoming ill. The AFL still credits McHale as being the coach that day, given how much he planned for the game from his sick bed throughout the week leading up to the clash with Geelong. He could be a tough, uncompromising soul. But he was a remarkable judge of a man’s fitness and it failed him on only a few occasions. McHale was not the sort of man who encouraged teaching his charges individual skills. That was generally left to the man who coached the Collingwood district (reserves) side, Hugh Thomas, who had a cool relationship with the senior coach. More premierships came when he remodelled the ‘Machine’, adding to the club’s already bulging stocks of good players with a host of fresh new talent, mostly from the streets of the suburb that they would come to represent. But following those 1935-36 flags, Collingwood would play in three losing Grand Finals leading into the start of the Second World War. Sadly, the 1940s would prove to be the Magpies’ most miserable decade, and it would increase the pressure on the ageing McHale, who was intent on carrying on his long-standing traditions that had been ingrained into the football club. It would be the only decade in the club’s history that it would not make a Grand Final, which can be attributed largely to the absence of so many of the club’s best players on war service. Yet some believed McHale’s methods, which had been so successful for so long, had become antiquated, and others pointed to a less than satisfactory training base for the team’s fade-outs late in some important matches. His last game, though no one knew it at the time, came in the 1949 first semi-final against Essendon, which ended in an 82-point loss. McHale would be re-appointed in 1950, though he never intended to coach that season. Just before the start of the season, he announced he was retiring from the role that had been his – unchallenged – since early 1912. Sadly, he would be dead three years later, just a week after Collingwood had won the 1953 premiership. It prompted one of his former players, Bruce Andrew, to write in the Sporting Globe: “’The Prince of Coaches, as he was so often called is gone, but the spirit he imbued into his team is still there; as strong, if not stronger than ever. While the ‘arms’ and ‘legs’ of his team have been replaced, the ‘body’ – that fanatical team spirit – has remained a foundation on which he built his football structure.”]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/the-coaches-tom-hafey/ Mon, 18 Aug 2014 21:37:01 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=7061 Coach: 1977-82 (part) Games coached: 138 TOM Hafey almost performed a miracle; maybe even a few of them. Sadly, in the end, he would join the luckless Bob Rose as Collingwood coaches who came so close to glory only to have it end in disappointment and despair. When Hafey, a four-time premiership coach with Richmond, parted ways with the Tigers at the end of the 1976 season, it came at a fortuitous time for the Collingwood Football Club. The Magpies were anchored on the bottom of the ladder after the worst season in the club’s history, and a chance meeting between Hafey and Collingwood president John Hickey brought about a perfect union. Hafey had been a Collingwood supporter as a kid, and he passionately believed the Magpies’ team that had finished last under club great Murray Weideman in 1976, was a much better outfit than being the 12th-placed side. Collingwood felt it had the right man, too, which saw them make the seismic shift of looking to an outsider – albeit a former black and white fan – for the first time in the club’s history. No one, perhaps even Hafey, would have dared to dream just how fast the turnaround would be. By the end of the 1977 home-and-away season, the Magpies were on top of the ladder – the first time a team had gone from last to first in one year – and they were rightly considered as premiership favourites heading into the finals. But Collingwood’s flag chances suffered a significant blow when one of its best players, Phil Carman, was suspended for two weeks for an unprovoked strike on Hawthorn’s Michael Tuck in the second semi-final. It would cost Carman the chance to play in not one, but ultimately two Grand Finals. And Hafey would later declare the incident as one of the reasons why Collingwood did not win the 1977 premiership. As it turned out, the Grand Final was a draw (only the second in history to that stage), but only after the Magpies had squandered a 27-point lead at three-quarter-time. After North Melbourne wrested back the lead, Magpie forward Ross ‘Twiggy’ Dunne levelled the scores after bringing down one of the most cheered marks in the club’s history, and kicking one of the most anticipated goals. Unfortunately, Hafey’s men lost the Grand Final replay a week later, with some suggesting that the coach may have overtrained his team leading into that game. Ray Shaw, who would become captain in 1979, later explained that Hafey’s simple philosophy and his insistence on hard work and hard training dramatically altered the philosophy at Victoria Park. “He kept it simple. Get fit, be hard at the ball and get it down to the forwards as quick as possible,” Shaw said. “It was basic, but inspiring. There was never any confusion. We got confidence from knowing we were fit, probably fitter than most other teams, and he preached the team over the individual constantly. “He was tough, no question about it. You didn’t want to let him down.” After making the preliminary final in 1978, Collingwood won its way through to the Grand Final a year later and took the game right up to Carlton. On a wet day at the MCG, the Magpies kept the Blues goal-less in the first term of the 1979 Grand Final, and fought hard to stay in the match when their opponent stole a march in the third term. Gamely, Hafey’s Magpies fought hard in the final half an hour and for a moment looked like stealing the premiership that had been denied the club for 21 years. Then, an act of inspirational brilliance from Wayne Harmes turned the game back in Carlton’s favour. His wayward torpedo was headed out of bounds before he launched himself and tapped the ball back to Ken Sheldon in the goal square. No one knows for sure whether it was in or out, but the individual act helped to seal Collingwood’s fate – again. It wasn’t even close in the 1980 Grand Final against Hafey’s former side, Richmond. The margin was 81 points, which was then a record Grand Final margin, but a quick glance at the Collingwood team that day shows a modest side that the coach was able to inspire enough to drag them into a premiership decider. Another close call came in the 1981 Grand Final when the Magpies held a 21-point lead during the third quarter before the Blues launched a counter-assault, eventually depriving Hafey of another chance to end that Collingwood drought. After being so consistent and plucky since Hafey’s arrival at Victoria Park, Collingwood slumped in 1982 and the coach paid the price. He was sacked midway through the season, which was a cruel way to end his time at a club that he took so close to that elusive premiership only to fall just short. It was a harsh call given the coach had won 89 of his 138 games at 65.22 per cent. Another ‘outsider’, Leigh Matthews, would help to end the flag drought eight years later.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/honour-roll/ Mon, 18 Aug 2014 11:09:00 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=6721 Year Pos. Coach Captain Copeland Trophy Leading Goalkicker 1892 13 Joe Delahunty George Anderson/ Archie Smith 12 1893 9 Bill Strickland George Anderson 20 1894 8 Bill Strickland Archie Smith 25 1895 2 Bill Strickland Archie Smith 27 1896 1 Bill Strickland Wal Gillard 13 1897 3 Bill Strickland Archie Smith 15 1898 3 Bill Proudfoot Archie Smith 31 1899 4 Bill Proudfoot Archie Smith 17 1900 4 Dick Condon Archie Smith 21 1901 2 Dick Condon Ted Rowell 31 1902 1 Bill Proudfoot Ted Rowell 33 1903 1 Lardie Tulloch Ted Lockwood 35 1904 3 Bill Strickland Lardie Tulloch Charlie H. Pannam 24 1905 2 Dick Condon Lardie Tulloch Charlie H. Pannam 38 1906 3 Dick Condon Charlie H. Pannam Dick Lee 35 1907 4 Ted Rowell Alf Dummett Dick Lee 47 1908 4 Ted Rowell Arthur Leach Dick Lee 54 1909 3 Bill Strickland Arthur Leach Dick Lee 58 1910 1 George Angus George Angus Dick Lee 58 1911 2 George Angus George Angus Tom Baxter 31 1912 7 George Angus Jock McHale Les Hughes 13 1913 4 Jock McHale Jock McHale Les Hughes 22 1914 5 Jock McHale Dan Minogue Dick Lee 57 1915 2 Jock McHale Dan Minogue Dick Lee 66 1916 3 Jock McHale Dan Minogue Dick Lee 48 1917 1 Jock McHale Percy Wilson Dick Lee 54 1918 2 Jock McHale Percy Wilson Tom Wraith 26 1919 1 Jock McHale Con McCarthy Dick Lee 56 1920 2 Jock McHale Dick Lee Ern Utting 23 1921 3 Jock McHale Dick Lee Dick Lee 64 1922 2 Jock McHale Tom Drummond Gordon Coventry 42 1923 5 Jock McHale Harry Curtis Gordon Coventry 36 1924 6 Jock McHale Charlie Tyson Gordon Coventry 28 1925 2 Jock McHale Charlie Tyson Gordon Coventry 68 1926 2 Jock McHale Charlie Tyson Gordon Coventry 83 1927 1 Jock McHale Syd Coventry Syd Coventry Gordon Coventry 97 1928 1 Jock McHale Syd Coventry Harry Collier Gordon Coventry 89 1929 1 Jock McHale Syd Coventry Albert Collier Gordon Coventry 124 1930 1 Jock McHale Syd Coventry Harry Collier Gordon Coventry 118 1931 4 Jock McHale Syd Coventry Harold Rumney Gordon Coventry 67 1932 3 Jock McHale Syd Coventry Syd Coventry Gordon Coventry 82 1933 6 Jock McHale Syd Coventry Gordon Coventry Gordon Coventry 108 1934 4 Jock McHale Syd Coventry Albert Collier Gordon Coventry 105 1935 1 Jock McHale Harry Collier Albert Collier Gordon Coventry 88 1936 1 Jock McHale Harry Collier Jack Regan Gordon Coventry 60 1937 2 Jock McHale Harry Collier Des Fothergill Gordon Coventry 72 1938 2 Jock McHale Harry Collier Des Fothergill Ron Todd 120 1939 2 Jock McHale Harry Collier Marcus Whelan Ron Todd 121 1940 8 Jock McHale Jack Regan Des Fothergill Des Fothergill 56 1941 5 Jock McHale Jack Regan Jack P.J Murphy Alby Pannam 42 1942 11 Jock McHale Phonse Kyne Alby Pannam Alby Pannam 37 1943 10 Jock McHale Jack Regan No award Alby Pannam 40 1944 10 Jock McHale Pat Fricker No award Lou Richards/Bob Galbally 26 1945 3 Jock McHale Albie Pannam No award Des Fothergil 62 1946 3 Jock McHale Phonse Kyne Phonse Kyne Des Fothergil 63 1947 5 Jock McHale Phonse Kyne Phonse Kyne Neil Mann 48 1948 3 Jock McHale Phonse Kyne Phonse Kyne Lou Richards 44 1949 4 Jock McHale Phonse Kyne Bob Rose Jack Pimm 34 1950 7 Phonse Kyne Gordon Hocking Charlie Utting Lou Richards 35 1951 3 Phonse Kyne Gordon Hocking Bob Rose Maurie Dunstan 40 1952 2 Phonse Kyne Lou Richards Bob Rose Maurie Dunstan 43 1953 1 Phonse Kyne Lou Richards Bob Rose Bob Rose 36 1954 7 Phonse Kyne Lou Richards Neil Mann Keith Bromage 22 1955 2 Phonse Kyne Lou Richards Des Healey Ken Smale 47 1956 2 Phonse Kyne Neil Mann Bill Twomey Ken Smale 33 1957 5 Phonse Kyne Bill Twomey Murray Weideman Ian Brewer 26 1958 1 Phonse Kyne Frank Tuck Thorold Merrett Ian Brewer 73 1959 4 Phonse Kyne Frank Tuck Thorold Merrett Murray Weideman 36 1960 2 Phonse Kyne Murray Weideman Ray Gabelich Murray Weideman 30 1961 9 Phonse Kyne Murray Weideman Murray Weideman Kevin Pay 31 1962 7 Phonse Kyne Murray Weideman Murray Weideman Murray Weideman 48 1963 8 Phonse Kyne Murray Weideman Des Tuddenham Terry Waters 50 1964 2 Bob Rose Ray Gabelich Ian Graham Terry Waters/Ian Graham 42 1965 3 Bob Rose Ray Gabelich Trevor Steer David Norman 32 1966 2 Bob Rose Des Tuddenham Terry Waters Ian Graham 58 1967 4 Bob Rose Des Tuddenham Len Thompson Peter McKenna 47 1968 7 Bob Rose Des Tuddenham Len Thompson Peter McKenna 64 1969 3 Bob Rose Des Tuddenham Barry Price Peter McKenna 98 1970 2 Bob Rose Terry Waters Peter McKenna Peter McKenna 143 1971 4 Bob Rose Terry Waters Wayne Richardson Peter McKenna 134 1972 4 Neil Mann Wayne Richardson Len Thompson Peter McKenna 130 1973 3 Neil Mann Wayne Richardson Len Thompson Peter McKenna 86 1974 4 Neil Mann Wayne Richardson Wayne Richardson Peter McKenna 69 1975 5 Murray Weideman Wayne Richardson Phil Carman Phil Carman 41 1976 12 Murray Weideman Des Tuddenham Robert Hyde Phil Carman 38 1977 2 Tom Hafey Max Richardson Len Thompson Peter Moore 76 1978 3 Tom Hafey Len Thompson Bill Picken/ Ray Shaw Peter Moore 57 1979 2 Tom Hafey Ray Shaw Peter Moore Craig Davis 88 1980 2 Tom Hafey Ray Shaw Peter Moore Craig Davis 52 1981 2 Tom Hafey Peter Moore Mark Williams Peter Daicos 76 1982 10 Tom Hafey/Mick Erwin Peter Moore Peter Daicos Peter Daicos 58 1983 6 John Cahill Mark Williams Bill Picken Michael Richardson 49 1984 3 John Cahill Mark Williams Tony Shaw Mark Williams 53 1985 7 Bob Rose Mark Williams Mark Williams Brian Taylor 80 1986 6 Bob Rose/Leigh Matthews Mark Williams Wes Fellowes Brian Taylor 100 1987 12 Leigh Matthews Tony Shaw Darren Millane Brian Taylor 60 1988 4 Leigh Matthews Tony Shaw Peter Daicos Brian Taylor 73 1989 5 Leigh Matthews Tony Shaw Gavin Brown Brian Taylor 49 1990 1 Leigh Matthews Tony Shaw Tony Shaw Peter Daicos 97 1991 7 Leigh Matthews Tony Shaw Tony Francis Peter Daicos 75 1992 5 Leigh Matthews Tony Shaw Mick McGuane Peter Daicos 52 1993 8 Leigh Matthews Tony Shaw Mick McGuane Saverio Rocca 73 1994 8 Leigh Matthews Gavin Brown Gavin Brown/Nathan Buckley Saverio Rocca 49 1995 10 Leigh Matthews Gavin Brown Saverio Rocca Saverio Rocca 93 1996 11 Tony Shaw Gavin Brown Nathan Buckley Saverio Rocca 66 1997 10 Tony Shaw Gavin Brown Gavin Brown Saverio Rocca 76 1998 14 Tony Shaw Gavin Brown Nathan Buckley Saverio Rocca 68 1999 16 Tony Shaw Nathan Buckley Nathan Buckley Saverio Rocca 33 2000 15 Michael Malthouse Nathan Buckley Nathan Buckley Anthony Rocca 33 2001 9 Michael Malthouse Nathan Buckley Paul Licuria Chris Tarrant 53 2002 2 Michael Malthouse Nathan Buckley Paul Licuria Chris Tarrant/ Anthony Rocca 38 2003 2 Michael Malthouse Nathan Buckley Nathan Buckley Chris Tarrant 54 2004 14 Michael Malthouse Nathan Buckley James Clement Chris Tarrant 36 2005 15 Michael Malthouse Nathan Buckley James Clement Chris Tarrant 36 2006 7 Michael Malthouse Nathan Buckley Alan Didak Anthony Rocca 55 2007 3 Michael Malthouse Nathan Buckley Travis Cloke Anthony Rocca 54 2008 6 Michael Malthouse Scott Burns Dane Swan Paul Medhurst 50 2009 4 Michael Malthouse Nick Maxwell Dane Swan John Anthony 50 2010 1 Michael Malthouse Nick Maxwell Dane Swan Alan Didak 41 2011 2 Michael Malthouse Nick Maxwell Scott Pendlebury Travis Cloke 69 2012 4 Nathan Buckley Nick Maxwell Dayne Beams Travis Cloke 59 2013 8 Nathan Buckley Nick Maxwell Scott Pendlebury Travis Cloke 68 2014 11 Nathan Buckley Scott Pendlebury Scott Pendlebury Travis Cloke 39 2015 12 Nathan Buckley Scott Pendlebury Scott Pendlebury Jamie Elliott 35 2016 12 Nathan Buckley Scott Pendlebury Scott Pendlebury Alex Fasolo 25 2017 13 Nathan Buckley Scott Pendlebury Steele Sidebottom Jamie Elliott 34 2018 2 Nathan Buckley Scott Pendlebury Brodie Grundy / Steele Sidebottom Jordan De Goey 48 2019 4 Nathan Buckley Scott Pendlebury Brodie Grundy Brody Mihocek 36 2020 6 Nathan Buckley Scott Pendlebury Taylor Adams Brody Mihocek 25 2021 17 Nathan Buckley/Robert Harvey Scott Pendlebury Jack Crisp Brody Mihocek 34 2022 3 Craig McRae Scott Pendlebury Jack Crisp Brody Mihocek 41 ]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/george-angus-the-coach/ Sun, 10 Aug 2014 22:22:53 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=5262 Coach: 1909-11 Games coached: 60 Collingwood’s early experiences with playing coaches were not overwhelmingly successful. Dick Condon started well in 1905, but his team fell in the finals and then imploded in spectacular fashion in 1906 amidst claims of internal bickering and strife. His successor, Ted Rowell, was more stable, but could manage no better than fourth and handed in his clipboard midway through his second season when it all got too much. Angus had been a latecomer to VFL football, not starting his career until he was 27, before which time he’d played in the country and served in the Boer War. By 1909 he was 34, had plenty of experience, and had won the respect of his teammates for his tough and unflinching work in the role of follower, and the consistency of his performances. He was named vice-captain that year, as well as coach, with Bob Nash as captain. After another frustrating season in 1909 (again in the finals but again knocked out in the first week), the club temporarily abandoned its practice of having separate captains and coaches, making George the club’s first captain-coach. It proved to be a masterstroke. Angus was an excellent reader of the play, something which stood him in good stead both as captain and coach. An observer once likened him to a champion draughts player – “always seeing a few moves ahead”. He was also renowned for his coolness under pressure, and his ability to “direct his team with excellent judgement.” In 1909 and again in 1910 he inspired his team by playing through considerable pain, a broken rib in 1910 and a finger badly damaged after being caught in a machine at work in 1909. He performed brilliantly on the field in the 1910 season, and especially in the wild Grand Final win. His generalship that day was also superb. Although quietly spoken, Angus was never afraid to give out instructions to his teammates. Such was the respect in which he was held, they were almost always followed. He was extremely team-oriented, and indeed as he was being carried from the field in 1911 with what turned out to be a career-ending ankle injury, the Argus reported that he was still issuing instructions to his players. That was George Angus to a tee: selfless, team-oriented, courageous and committed. And he’s one of only five men who can claim the title of Collingwood Premiership Coach.]]>