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-john-cahill/ Mon, 08 Sep 2014 04:34:16 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=9186 Coach: 1983-84 Games coached: 47 Collingwood embarked on a nation-wide search for a coach at the end of 1982, seeking to choose the best possible candidate in Australia as it desperately sought an end to an embarrassing premiership drought. While some people on the board courting three-time VFL flag-winning coach John Kennedy Sr. (who was offered a contract before it was rescinded) as well as making preliminary enquiries about David Parkin, the final decision came down in favour of a man who had never played or coached in the VFL. The New Magpies, who had taken over the club after the 1982 election, finally settled on John Cahill, a legendary South Australian player and coach, who hadn’t even applied for the job after it was advertised across Australia. Instead, Cahill was asked to apply for the position, and he finally agreed to take the position on, mindful that the new board was about to embark on an almost unprecedented recruiting campaign. When he was appointed, Cahill knew he faced a challenge, but said he looked forward to trying to make his mark on a competition he had watched with interest from afar. “It was a monstrous decision to make … I am putting myself on the line,” Cahill said. “Collingwood has the players provided they can settle down to the job. “I’ll cop it sweet if I don’t succeed.” Cahill clearly defined his style in his early interviews, saying he would not differ too much from the VFL style of the time. He said: “I am very demanding of my players and myself. I have spoken to the players and I have their respect. My style will be pretty much like that of the Victorians. “I am a very basic coach – I have a fierce desire to be the best.” In taking on Collingwood, Cahill would have access to an array of new and recycled talent that would be coming to the club, including David Cloke and Geoff Raines (Richmond), Shane Morwood (Sydney), as well as three potential stars from interstate, Greg Phillips, Mike Richardson and Gary Shaw. Cahill’s first match would see Collingwood come up against its former captain Peter Moore, who had transferred to Melbourne. It ended with a 10-point win that had Magpie supporters craving more. The coach said after the match: “It will be a little while before we become consistent. (But) it was a tremendous introduction for me and a great start for the players. “But one game doesn’t win premierships.” He was right about that. Collingwood would lose its next four games against Geelong, Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn to put the club on the back foot for much of the season. But the Magpies would finish the season strongly to end up only one game out of the finals, after winning 12 of their 22 matches. Their sixth placing in 1983 was solid, but the club would finish third in Cahill’s second season (1984) – albeit with a massive loss to eventual premier Essendon in the preliminary final. That was a year in which some of those recruits performed well and the rest of the group clicked. Collingwood finished fourth on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season with 13 wins, only percentage behind Carlton. The Magpies easily accounted for Fitzroy in the elimination final before overcoming the Blues in the semi-final. That set up a preliminary final showdown with the Bombers, who had finished on top before losing to Hawthorn in the second semi-final. Unfortunately for Collingwood, and for Cahill, the team that would go on to win the premiership a week later was simply too good for the Magpies, who lost by 133 points. It was a frustrating end to the season and to Cahill’s coaching time at Collingwood. With his two seasons done, he sent a letter of resignation to the club and headed back home to South Australia. Thirteen years later, Cahill would coach Port Adelaide – the team who had morphed from the SANFL Magpies into the AFL side known as the Power – in its first match in the national competition. And that first game would, fittingly, come against Collingwood.]]> https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/celebrating-the-80s-from-the-best-seat/ Sun, 03 Aug 2014 03:22:14 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=4174 https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/magpies-from-over-the-border/ Sun, 03 Aug 2014 02:17:28 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=4153 https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/september-success-against-the-blues/ Sun, 03 Aug 2014 01:59:54 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=4147 https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/an-anzac-day-thriller-against-carlton/ Fri, 01 Aug 2014 01:16:44 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=4114 https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/collingwoods-first-win-against-sydney/ Fri, 01 Aug 2014 00:42:11 +0000 http://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/?p=4097