SACKED

[bigcarl]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/ ... 75d608333a


Cracking read. Nathan Burke on the coaches in his time at St Kilda.

Here is an excerpt

THOMMO’S PLAN TO BE CEO AND COACH

Thomas took over as St Kilda coach after Blight’s sacking, and while Burke says he wasn’t a tactical genius, he in part brought the fractured group together.

“It was a very simple game plan, but he got the group wanting to be together,” he said of Thomas. “The exact thing that Malcolm didn’t do.”

St Kilda played in the 2004 and 2005 preliminary finals, but while the fractured nature of the playing group was improved, Thomas’ own relationship with Butterss collapsed in a fallout that Burke said hijacked any hope of team success.

“There was a lot going on behind the scenes in that the coach and the president couldn’t be in the same room,” said Burke, who was an assistant coach to Thomas for two seasons.

“Both were happy to be the smartest person in the room.

“Thommo genuinely wanted to be CEO and coach at the same time. He said: ‘I can do it’, but I had my doubts.

“He was doing every contract. The marketing department would come and run things by him. The communications department would come and run things by him.

“He said: ‘I’m doing it anyway … make me the CEO and I can be the coach. As a coach, I’ll delegate more to you guys’ … He saw himself more as an English football manager.

“He wanted to reshape the way coaching was, but Rod Butterss and those guys were on a completely different page.

“They literally couldn’t be in the same room. I was the mediator quite often.”

Thomas was sacked by Butterss after the Saints lost the 2006 elimination final to Melbourne.

[bigcarl]

And here is a ithe excerpt, this one from the actual podcast. It’s available free online - you don’t need a HS subscription. Well worth the listen if you have the time.


Give us one of the great Tony Lockett stories

BURKE: Look, he was probably the most competitive player that I came up against. If there was a training drill, say lane work, Plugger would take three steps backwards and let the others go, and then he'd eventually have a go, because it was a training drill. It meant nothing.

But if you said, righto, it's a competition between this line and that line, so you can get the most kicks in the next five minutes … he'd go to the front of the line every time.

And that's just what he was. He was just a competitor, but he hated all of the other crap that went on with playing AFL football. And I didn't think he would leave and go to Sydney.

He hated all of the other crap that went on with playing AFL football. He was living out in Cranbourne by himself, in a sort of quiet area, coming in, playing football. I didn't think he'd go and be the marquee player in a place like Sydney. But as it turned out, it was the best thing for him.

He was getting stale. I think … ‘94, ‘95 weren't his greatest years, he had a lot of injuries. And certainly going to Sydney, we saw the best come back out in him. So, and I think he matured a lot as a person as well.

They managed him extremely well and let him sort of live out in barrel and sort of commute backwards and forwards.


But yeah, he is the most competitive bloke that I've come across.

Watching the footy the other day Carlton champion Charlie Curnow picked the ball up, one grab below his knees, and snapped the goal.

And the commentator said, “Oh, that's the modern day full forward for you. Aren't they great?” And I've gone, hang on, you don't realise how good Tony Lockett was below his knees.

Left foot, right foot, marking the ball in the air. He actually puts the modern day full forward to shame because he could do everything.

And he never missed, did he? He was one of the more accurate kicks you would ever see

No, never missed.

And in terms of skill, he's probably one of the most skilful players that I've played with because, as I said, you're marking the ball with Stephen Silvagni hanging on to you like a koala sitting on your back. The ball hits the ground and then you're picking it up, you're baulking around three blokes and snapping them on your left foot.

That's what he could do … a bloke of that size. So just enormous.

We talk about Gary Ablett Senior and we talk about Wayne Carey's aura and we talk about Leigh (Matthews). I'm not saying we discount what he's been able to do, but all the periphery, the crutch throwing and the failed comeback ... we probably almost discount some of his exquisite, you know, grandeur.

BURKE: Yeah, absolutely. And people say, who's the best player you've played with? The best player I saw by a mile. He did have those sort of down years, but when he was on song … first three games back, 31 goals. Yeah, incredible.

He kicked 127 that year and it averages out at seven and a half. If a bloke kicks seven and a half goals these days, he's a superstar. He averaged seven and a half goals a game.

I think that was the 91 season.

He kicked 127 during the year, and didn't kick a goal against Collingwood. That was when Tony Shaw got into him.

He just got inside Plugger's head. And he lost it that day. He didn't kick a goal. So (in 1992) we played them in a final.

And the rule was coming in was that we all had to ignore Shawy. You’re not allowed to talk to Shawy … don't fall into this trap again.

And then Spud went in to toss. And that was when Shawy walked up and actually punched him … sort of pushed him and started yapping off at Spud at the toss of the coin.

So then Spud came back to the huddle before we started. And he said, “You know that plan about ignoring Shawy. Let's forget that. Every time he goes near the ball, punch the s*** out of him.”

So he got under Spud’s (skin) just at the coin toss. The plan we'd set up the whole week to ignore him so Plugger can kick goals. (Lockett kicked five in St Kilda’s win)

What about the Plugger game in Sydney? you would have thought he would have been a million to one to ever play for Sydney after he nearly decapitated poor old Kenny in the stands. You guys were 48 points down.

BURKE: I think Plugger kicked 11 that game and that was the Peter Caven game.

But there's another little known fact. Before the game, you're walking around, Plugger checks out the goal square, and the Sydney cheer squad were getting into him. And Plugger's turned around to one of the old guys .. and he's gone, “I'm going to kick one straight at your head.”

“And if you watch the video of that game, it was probably the last or second last goal. He’s taken the handball over the top. Plugger turns around and kicks this low flat punt straight at the cheer squad. And after the game he said, “As soon as it left my boot, I thought I'd killed him. I've killed him.”

Who killed Kenny?

BURKE: It was old Kenny. And the following year - Jason Daniels was up there at the time - Sydney player. He said, look, they became best mates.


From SACKED: AFL: Nathan Burke - The Saint with the helmet, 6 Nov 2024

[Teflon]

Confirming my GT dislike for all these years utter megalomaniac “CEO and coach” what a knob jockey
Butters not much better but at least sacked him
Give Lyon that side with Hamil Gehrig younger Harvey Hudgton Pecket Jones plus kids like Roo , Dal etc when they all came in = multiple flags
Thomas didnt even have a game plan FFS
I knew the mi ure he said he’d only resign “if there was someone better credentialed but then went on to say there wasn’t ….we were in Trump land ….wasted years
Should stayed 1 year caretaker and **** off
But nope….power went to his fat head

[SydneySainter]

Confirming my GT dislike for all these years utter megalomaniac “CEO and coach” what a knob jockey
Butters not much better but at least sacked him
Give Lyon that side with Hamil Gehrig younger Harvey Hudgton Pecket Jones plus kids like Roo , Dal etc when they all came in = multiple flags
Thomas didnt even have a game plan FFS
I knew the mi ure he said he’d only resign “if there was someone better credentialed but then went on to say there wasn’t ….we were in Trump land ….wasted years
Should stayed 1 year caretaker and **** off
But nope….power went to his fat head

Power that Butters gave him.

[SaintPav]

Like Chris Connolly would have done better than Thomo.

At least the players loved him.

[skeptic]

Like Chris Connolly would have done better than Thomo.

At least the players loved him.

I recall reading somewhere words to the effect that GT tried to poach Lyon in the lead up to 04/05… somewhere in that time. Pbly the best version of how this could have played out was GT as caretaker for a year or two and giving up the reigns in 04.

[Yorkeys]

Maybe all this is another illustration of how complex AFL coaching is?
GT had on-field talent, huge discretion, an excellent grasp of business principles and people management, very confident man yet was unable to work with or around the President/Board, and failed spectacularly.
Seems he also lacked sufficient nous about fundamental playing tactics and principles e.g. that a competent ruckman is essential.
I wonder if GT could ever work in a hierarchical team oriented structure without being el supremo?

[bigcarl]

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/ ... 75d608333a


As Malcolm Blight was ushered into a private room in a Gold Coast Chinese restaurant in late 2000, a handful of senior Saints had to stand and applaud.

St Kilda great Nathan Burke told the Sacked podcast this week that of all of the bizarre moments he lived through in his 323 games with the club, it’s hard to go past what happened when the Saints flew north in a bid to convince Blight he needed to take over as coach.

You could put it under the ‘It could only happen at St Kilda’ file.

“There would have been four or five of us … Peter Everitt, Robert Harvey, Max Hudghton and myself flew up there and sat in a room with our ties on,” Burke recalled of the meeting.

“In walks Malcolm and his manager (Ron Joseph), and we have to stand up and give him a round of applause.

“Malcolm and ego, yes … both rather large and we needed to appeal (to him).”


Blight was playing hard to get. St Kilda president Rod Butterss was ready to pay up big time.

“Every coach I had had before was a first-time coach, so we (St Kilda) thought ‘Hey, let’s get someone who’s done it before … (who has) gone to the top of the mountain’,” Burke said.

“Malcolm was pretty happy with it. The red wines were flowing and it got to the point where Rod Butterss was writing numbers on a napkin, sliding them across to Malcolm … he would look at it and slide it across to his manager Ron Joseph.

“Ron would look at it, sort of frown and slide it back, and the players were sitting at the other end of the table, watching it happen.

“I was thinking ‘I think it’s time for us to leave’.

“It was good timing because Peter Everitt had just gone to the toilet … he had emancipated a lobster from the fish tank that was running around on the floor of the Chinese restaurant.

“It was a good time for us to get out of there. As it turned out, they eventually settled on seven figures that got the great man to the club.”


His unconventional ways, almost from the start, concerned Burke, including a decision to put away the footballs in the pre-season until the start of 2001.

“I know Malcolm rails at anyone who says he wasn’t fully committed,” Burke explained.

“But we didn’t touch a ball from the start of pre-season until Christmas … we just ran and ran and ran.

“He was living in Queensland and he’d come down two nights a week – at the most. Then (he said) ‘after Christmas, if you have got your time trial, you’re allowed to touch a football’.

“We were extremely fit. When you chuck a whole bunch of senior fit players a football and say ‘don’t go fast, though … go slow because your legs aren’t used to it’.

“It was almost like you could hear ‘ping’, ‘ping’, ping’ (with hamstrings and quads).”

Blight lasted 15 games – three wins and 12 losses – before he was sacked in one of the biggest coaching bombshell decisions this century.

For Burke, the “final straw” was easy to pinpoint, even if Blight didn’t see the axe coming.

“We saw Malcolm after one game and then the following week we played in Brisbane,” Burke said.

“The next time we saw him … was when he walked into the Gabba and he was putting the magnets on the wall.

“We didn’t see him in that period (between the games). He went back to the Gold Coast during the week and let his assistant coaches, Kenny Hinkley and those guys, run the ship. That was the final straw.”

Asked if he thought Blight could have turned the club around if he had been afforded more time, Burke said: “I don’t think so … It was definitely the right move (to sack him). You have got to be all in as a coach.

“I think he just thought it was going to happen. He probably didn’t pay enough respect to the mess that we were in. The mess of ‘99, coming last on the ladder, the fracturedness of the group, the selfishness of the group.

“You can’t go from being a really selfish team on the bottom of the ladder … to a “I’m here now, it’s going to be fine’ (attitude). You have to work on that mess to get it right.

“That’s the bit he missed out on.”

[B.M]

Burkey

I think you have been concussed a few too many times

You had a shitload of facts wrong

91 & 92 mixed up
Plugger having a poor year at StK in 95?
He kicked 120 at Sydney and won their B&F in 95

[SaintPav]

We beat Pies in the Elimination Final in 92. That was correct

[Waltzing St Kilda]

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the excerpts, bigcarl. Would like to know more about the "fracturedness" under Watson.

[bigcarl]

Burkey

I think you have been concussed a few too many times

You had a shitload of facts wrong

91 & 92 mixed up
Plugger having a poor year at StK in 95?
He kicked 120 at Sydney and won their B&F in 95

Well it was a long time ago Marto and he is just talking off the top of his head in a podcast.

Interestingly, at one stage he talks at length about his concussions, why he wore a helmet and the hit by Ablett Sr that put him out of the 1991 elimination final at Waverley. He say I think that he repeatedly got blurred vision after that. Plugger kicked 9.7 that day I think … but I may have the years mixed up. It’s a long time ago

[B.M]

Burkey had us finishing 6th in 91 (which is still and elimination final)

Actually we finished 4th and were eliminated after 1 finals game

[Dis Believer]

Burkey

I think you have been concussed a few too many times

You had a shitload of facts wrong

91 & 92 mixed up
Plugger having a poor year at StK in 95?
He kicked 120 at Sydney and won their B&F in 95

Well it was a long time ago Marto and he is just talking off the top of his head in a podcast.

Interestingly, at one stage he talks at length about his concussions, why he wore a helmet and the hit by Ablett Sr that put him out of the 1991 elimination final at Waverley. He say I think that he repeatedly got blurred vision after that. Plugger kicked 9.7 that day I think … but I may have the years mixed up. It’s a long time ago

That's correct, it was 91. Ablett Snr also cleaned up David Grant and he went off after being KO'd.....

[The_Dud]

Bill Belichick was both the Head Coach and General Manager of the Patriots and that worked out pretty well.

[Yorkeys]

Bill Belichick was both the Head Coach and General Manager of the Patriots and that worked out pretty well.

An example that's not a calculated delberate cheat might be more persuasive.

[bigcarl]

Burkey had us finishing 6th in 91 (which is still and elimination final)

Actually we finished 4th and were eliminated after 1 finals game

I wondered about that when he said it. I think they changed the system after that year?

Burkey said that year we could have won it had we gotten through as Lockett was at the peak of his powers and unstoppable

[The_Dud]

Bill Belichick was both the Head Coach and General Manager of the Patriots and that worked out pretty well.

An example that's not a calculated delberate cheat might be more persuasive.

I'll take the 6 titles thanks

[Yorkeys]

Bill Belichick was both the Head Coach and General Manager of the Patriots and that worked out pretty well.

An example that's not a calculated delberate cheat might be more persuasive.

I'll take the 6 titles thanks

That was down to Tom Brady.
Tom just manipulated footy air pressure so more of a solid citizen.

[The_Dud]

Roo could have been our Tom Brady?

[SAINT-LEE]

Confirming my GT dislike for all these years utter megalomaniac “CEO and coach” what a knob jockey
Butters not much better but at least sacked him
Give Lyon that side with Hamil Gehrig younger Harvey Hudgton Pecket Jones plus kids like Roo , Dal etc when they all came in = multiple flags
Thomas didnt even have a game plan FFS
I knew the mi ure he said he’d only resign “if there was someone better credentialed but then went on to say there wasn’t ….we were in Trump land ….wasted years
Should stayed 1 year caretaker and **** off
But nope….power went to his fat head

Hold on
Wait a minute
Back it up

My mum was a HUGE knob jockey.
Are you saying thats a bad thing?