Coaches' chief OK with Brad Scott's departure from North Melbourne
AFL Coaches Association chief and former North Melbourne director Mark Brayshaw is comfortable with the manner in which Brad Scott departed Arden Street, as the Kangaroos declared they had the resources to find the best available person to be their coach in 2020.
In a room at North headquarters packed with club staff and players, Kangaroos chairman Ben Buckley confirmed the poorly-kept secret that Scott would be departing the club via a mutual agreement after nearly a decade at the helm, despite the coach having previously re-signed until the end of next season.
Assistant coach Rhyce Shaw will take the reins as caretaker, starting with North’s clash against Richmond at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
Buckley and Scott confirmed that the move for the parties to part ways was precipitated by discussions a few weeks ago between Scott and the North board about the club’s future. A mutual parting of ways was agreed on Friday. The news then emerged that Scott would depart, leading to a strange build-up around the Kangaroos’ clash with the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.
In addition to working to find a replacement, Buckley also announced a full review of the club’s football department, to be conducted by former KPMG chairman Peter Nash, club great and former director Glenn Archer, and current North board member Brian Walsh.
Buckley would not reveal details of Scott’s payout including potential implications towards the club’s football department soft cap.
So quickly did the situation between Scott and North escalate, Scott did not tell his players, wife Penny, or mum Lynne before the decision for him to leave the club was made.
Even more remarkably, Scott said he hadn’t even told his manager, TLA supremo Craig Kelly, in a move which had echoes of Ross Lyon’s defection from St Kilda to Fremantle.
Scott explained that he had chosen not to tell Kelly in order to protect his reputation.
"I didn’t want any insinuation that circumstances had been manipulated,” Scott said.
Scott strongly refuted suggestions that he had spoken to any other clubs about possible vacancies that could arise ahead of next year.
Carlton’s Brendon Bolton and St Kilda’s Alan Richardson are both widely viewed as being in jeopardy of losing their coaching positions ahead of next year. Both are also managed by TLA, with Tom Petroro managing Bolton and Gerard Sholly acting on behalf of Richardson.
Scott, also close friend of Saints football department chief Simon Lethlean, wouldn’t declare what his future held, other than playing more golf and spending more time with his family, but he looms as a likely candidate for any senior coaching vacancies that arise this year.
Brayshaw, who was on the North Melbourne board that appointed Scott, said he was comfortable with the circumstances of Scott’s departure, although he declined to comment on the lack of communication between Kelly and Scott.
“I’m comforted by the fact TLA is a very thorough, professional management company and that North Melbourne is a class act. So I’m not surprised the settlement is amicable,” Brayshaw told The Age.
Premiership coaches Alastair Clarkson, John Longmire and Adam Simpson - all of whom are ex-North players - loom as potential coaching targets for the Roos.
"We will leave no stone unturned," Buckley said.
"We have all the resources that we need to be competitive. We've worked very hard over the last 10 years to put those building blocks in place, with the facilities, the staffing levels, the ability to spend right up to the soft cap and the salary cap."
Scott said he had done “what’s right, not what’s easy.”
"We don’t want tumultuous times, we want a smooth transition to the next era … I just couldn’t provide the fresh air that was needed,” Scott said.
“There’s nothing but blue sky ahead for this club. While I would love the opportunity to coach this football club with all the impediments removed … the time was right for the club to get the fresh air that it needs."
Scott also noted that North's recruiters had been done a disservice during his time at the club by dint of the fact the Kangaroos hadn't had many early draft picks, relative to other clubs.