It's the year of the Dog, but 'Macca' should take a bow

[chef]

Thanks BT.

I am very blad Bevo's our coach now, just think Macca deserve's a little credit.

[jeemak]

Macca seemed limited, we learnt contested ball to the point we were #1 in the league but we were still losing games, and by the end of his time we were losing players too

Good assistant coach is probably a fair description

This is probably fair enough in hindsight. The comments from previous Geelong players who spent time at the Dogs during his tenure was that he's softened up a lot, compared to how he was at Geelong.

It tells me he was a pretty good "head kicker" or "bad cop" at Geelong, which would have left Thomspon to present a more positive message.

[LostDoggy]

The way I see it, Macca was an outstanding and proven development coach but, ultimately, a limited head coach.

Worked out perfect really, he put a couple of great early years into the Stringers, Wallis', Dahls, McRaes, Bonts, etc, laid a really solid contested base and then moved on for a younger head coach with a sharper game plan and a more compatible man management style.

I reckon Macca did a lot of good for our club, and does deserve a part of the credit for our current success, but his limitations were such that it was right for him to leave when he did. Thankfully we were able to find a perfect replacement to build on his solid foundations.

[jeemak]

I think a big part of the problem with Macca's era was timing. He came in at the height of the draft concessions to the new teams that severely limited our ability to transition the team. As a result guys like Markovic and Austin were given extended opportunities that otherwise would not have occurred. I'm sure Macca was aware of their shortcomings but there were not a great deal of other options.
As for trying to reinvent guys like Boyd and Picken as Bevo has been able to do, he's had the luxury of a clean slate to operate in. No Cooney, Griffen, Higgins or Libba to fit in has provided him with the necessary environment to experiment. I recall many here, including myself who had great skepticism in Beveridge's moving of Boyd to the half back line. It looks a genius move now, but i can only imagine the howls if Macca had flagged that move at the beginning of last year.

As much as the decision to part with Macca has worked out well and Beveridge is looking like a great replacement, I equally think that Macca's legacy is strong and that if he had've had his opportunity to coach at a time other than when he got the job his coaching journey would've been more successful.

I don't think there have been too many coaches who got their jobs in the era of expansion teams and the ensuing draft and player concessions made it through with their careers in tact. Waters, Neeld, Macca, all took on teams either bottoming out or already bottomed out and were all unable to build a squad capable of quick success -which is what poorly performed teams need to do in order to keep the pressure index on the coach from blowing out. Yet all 3 did play a part in providing their successor with a platform to build upon once the impact of the expansion team player drain eased. This has allowed those teams to now bring in better quality players, instead of having to settle for guys like Markovic & Austin.

Excellent post.

[GVGjr]

There's set-up aspects, both defencive and offencive that Beveridge has added that have made a huge difference. And a few positional changes have taken us another step forward.

Of the good games we played under McCartney the helter skelter or manic forward movement and chaos brought about from an unpredictable and oddly sized forward line are prevalent under Beveridge. Beveridge's message for this to become the norm and for players to be more positive has clearly been communicated well to the playing group, which I think probably helps them buy into the "system" approach to the game.

The hard work and set-up at stoppages was something McCartney worked on, and the team wouldn't be where it is today without it.

We'll never know the impact of having Cooney, Jones, Higgins, Griffen and Minson together on the one playing list from a cultural perspective, though with Minson the only one left of those guys it's hard not to see it having an impact.

I think Bevo would acknowledge that he inherited a team that was close to elite with the defensive efforts, stoppages and set-up and while he may not be fully aware but losing Griffen, Cooney and to a lesser extent Higgins helped him bring players into the midfield that would run hard both ways which is what McCartney could not achieve.

Having said that, Beveridge has taken things a lot further than McCartney could have achieved and he shouldn't live in the shadow of McCartney past this season. This is no doubt Bevo's team now and in the future.

[Go_Dogs]

It's an interesting one. Everyone has rightly got behind Bevo, it's hard not too. He's an engaging speaker, he's likeable and on top of that, he has (to date) exceeded our on-field expectations. Macca polarised a lot of the supporters, so I think it's difficult for there to be objective discussion around what influence he may or may not have had.

The majority of young footballers who come into the AFL system take some time to develop the contested and defensive skills required in the modern game. I feel that Macca really wanted to ensure that all of our kids had those cornerstones covered - and yes, that meant some players got dropped at times (think Macrae, who Bevo also dropped for a few weeks this year for similar reasons) and some played in different positions (think Stringer down back). I think players like Roberts benefited from not being gifted senior games and earning their stripes in the VFL.

Some of our biggest improvers have taken giant strides this year, but how much of that is simply part of their natural footballing progression? Mitch Wallis wasn't as good a midfielder 2 years ago as he is now - he's developed into a very good one. A number of posters on WOOF thought he was never going to make it, but through hard work and opportunity over a period of time he's now a well rounded player at senior level. JJ had a good 2013, but then after his shoulder injury he struggled the following year - he's now really found his feet as a footballer. Easton Wood has finally got some continuity with his football which is no doubt a reason he's had a great season. This is of course not to downplay the work the coaches have done with all of these blokes over the past 10 months - they have done a brilliant job - but history suggests players develop at different rates and become more consistent once they've played a bit of senior footy and have confidence in their bodies.

We will never know whether having a different coach for 2012-2014 would have meant a different outcome for the side, whether it would have meant we'd be where we are now - whether we would have progressed more quickly. At the end of the day, we have transitioned our list well throughout the Macca era, we now have a very young core of players who are going to continue to improve as they develop, get more senior experience and mature as people and footballers.

We've 123.20% made the right decision bringing Bevo in, however I'm reluctant to say our players, and Club, received nothing of benefit during the Macca era.

[Maddog37]

I hated watching our team play when Macca coached. He sucked all the joy out of footy and I feel the players felt the same.

He got us a VFL team, he oversaw a more rigid recruiting model and helped clean out a lot of dead wood so he was important for the club moving forward but his match day work was deplorable IMHO.

[Go_Dogs]

Having said that, Beveridge has taken things a lot further than McCartney could have achieved and he shouldn't live in the shadow of McCartney past this season. This is no doubt Bevo's team now and in the future.

Well said, as always, GVGjr.

[Ghost Dog]

I think Bevo would acknowledge that he inherited a team that was close to elite with the defensive efforts, stoppages and set-up and while he may not be fully aware but losing Griffen, Cooney and to a lesser extent Higgins helped him bring players into the midfield that would run hard both ways which is what McCartney could not achieve.

Having said that, Beveridge has taken things a lot further than McCartney could have achieved and he shouldn't live in the shadow of McCartney past this season. This is no doubt Bevo's team now and in the future.

It's sort of ironic that Griff fell out with Macca, because he became a much better player under him.

[bulldogtragic]

He got Crameri, Dickson and Campbell from Essendon links. That's very impressive, but that's about it. Let's look forward, there a lot to look forward to.

[Ghost Dog]

I hated watching our team play when Macca coached. He sucked all the joy out of footy and I feel the players felt the same.

He got us a VFL team, he oversaw a more rigid recruiting model and helped clean out a lot of dead wood so he was important for the club moving forward but his match day work was deplorable IMHO.

Yea, as I think I have mentioned before, I took a heap of international students to a game thanks to the Dogs community program, and they all wanted to leave at half time. It was just all bums in the air.

But maybe we had to go through that to get where we are.

[Twodogs]

Macca gets an invite to the premiership celebration. Gold embossed.

[HOSE B ROMERO]

Haven't read all the posts but in my opinion it's not a great leap to suggest that Macca set the foundations and Bevo is building on that with his skills. Timing is everything when you come into a club as coach whether you're Rocket, Plough, Rhode etc.

[AndrewP6]

The gulf between the Dogs of 2015 and the Dogs of 2012-4 couldn't be greater, IMO. Likewise the gulf between what McCartney gave the team and what Bevo has bought. For the bulk of three years, football became a chore to watch, and in this short time, Bevo has shown that it doesn't have to be that way, and you can still win. McCartney didn't have what it takes to be a senior coach, Bevo most certainly does. Credit to McCartney for bringing the hard-nosed contest, but that's all he brought, IMO. It was an absolute howler to extend his contract, and absolutely the right move to show him the door. May Bevo be the one to bring us the ultimate.

[Bulldog4life]

the article was written by Gareth Andrews, who was a highly influential off field figure (vice president) at Geelong when Macartney was there, so it will have a biased opinion in my view. All the Geelong people love macartney and fair enough.

Like a lot of our posters