Swan Districts sacked Adam Pickering today with a year to go on his contract.
https://www.sportfm.com.au/post/swan-districts-sack-coach-adam-pickering
Not really a surprise. I thought they might give him one more year given that he is contracted and set some specific KPIs on him but the fact that they didn’t make finals was obviously not acceptable. So now there are 3 teams looking for a new coach, possibly 4 if the rumours about Subiaco are accurate.
I wonder if they might make a play for someone like Peter Germon or maybe Trent Cooper, as the AFLW season will be done by November which would be when Swans Pre-season starts. Would Pickering now be a candidate for the East Perth or Perth positions? Will be an interesting few weeks.
Agree Mike probably not a great surprise in the end.
After 5 seasons in charge for only 1 Final which was a loss, a 40% winning record, it is not really good enough at the end of the day and well below expectations from SD members & fans and now the board.
Obviously the 6 losses this season by 18 points or less has come back to bite the coach, but I still really am bemused why we re-signed him for another 2 years last season when at that stage we had a worse record?
The next coaching appointment could well be the most important decision we make in our club’s history as the talent is there to be a Top 3 WAFL team it is whether we get the right coach in to lead, harness, develop and steer us there!
Agreed BH, should never have been resigned, I didn’t think he was a bad coach and we were competitive most weeks but our only improvement came when we had more talent, was never from any changes to the way we played.
The EF game was the final straw for me
Geez, obviously a contract is not worth much. Been a big week in the coaching circle.
Not a bad thing, but more concerning is that Jones and Fisher might be returning to Victoria due to the poor coaching. I hope that decision by the men was made before Pickering was asked to move on and that they’ll reconsider. Both are important.
Swans are a far more attractive option for guys like German than either EP or Perth. The basis of a very good team is already there and the club now seems to be very stable and well run.
German might see swans as an attractive option but I hope the club doesn’t see German as an option, done nothing since he left Subi and we need modern ideas.
The big question now is who do we look to appoint as our new senior coach?
The useless local media will no doubt throw up the usual names but none really appeal to me!
Thanks to Adam for his time at Swans.
I would personally source a coach from the East Coast.New person with new ideas from outside Swans and Wa.
Swans have been going around in circles for years now.Just scraping in the finals or just missing out.
There may be some likely types coming out of the AFL assistant coach role having all the latest techniques and game plans which would be useful.
I wonder if the recent departure also of Greg Harding from the club and the early season form of Freo AFLW could now pave the way for Trent Cooper to return to the club.
I hope not Danger, one good colts season and coaching womens footy doesn’t hold any relevance for me
I assume they would go through a selection process rather than just head hunting someone. I guess we will know more when the club make an official announcement.
and… just after I wrote this the following email turned up in my inbox from the club
Swan Districts Football Club and the club’s WAFL League Coach Adam Pickering have both acknowledged that it’s time to part ways.
Pickering has been at the helm for the past 5 seasons and has helped the club rebuild its WAFL program.He was appointed as Senior WAFL Coach for the club in 2017 prior to the 2018 WAFL Season. His contract was renewed in 2019 and again in 2021.
He was an integral part of the team responsible for delivering the club’s Football Strategic Plan 2020 – 2024.“We’ve all had a very strong relationship with Adam over the past 5 years. He’s been a dedicated and loyal servant of the club. We wish him the very best in whatever he chooses to do in the future and trust he has fond memories of his time at our club”, says Swans President Peter Hodyl.
“I would like to thank Swans for their unwavering commitment to me and my family. It’s sad to bring this journey to the end and I wish the club every success in the future”, says Pickering.
The club will commence recruiting a new WAFL Senior Coach immediately.
I would assume the club has found the finances to settle Adam Pickering’s contract prior to the decision. I think finances again are going to be a factor to a new coach. We will need some if we want an experienced coach. I hope the new coach can bring at least one experienced assistant with him that can also coach the Reserves.
I would be interested to see if Heath Younie who was recently relieved of duties at North Melbourne as an assistant would be considered a candidate.
Interesting when you look at the age profile/experience of the current WAFL coaches (#2022) and when they began their senior coaching at WAFL level-
WP- Darren Harris (53) 2002-
EF- Bill Monaghan (54) 2009-
CL Ashley Prescott (50) 2004-
SF- Todd Curley (49) 2006-
PT- Geoff Valentine (52) 2019-
Outside of Rob Wiley at the WCER the other WAFL coaches were far younger and less experienced in the caper.
Valentine who is working for Fremantle had been coaching WAFL Reserves since the mid 2000s when Harris was at his first WP coaching stint so he is now greenhorn in the caper either.
All have quite experienced offsiders in the coaches box with them.
Do we at Swans need to look for a more experienced coach to take on the role with our young group?
Also looking at our scoring this year we do need to look at how we can increase our scoring capacity as we only scored 100 points in 1 game this season and with that we are vulnerable late as we constantly leave our opponents in the game in which they were able to pinch late wins due to not putting them away on the scoreboard despite dominating large parts of the game.
Yes that’s pretty telling that the coaches of the top 5 teams all have a lot more experience than the ones of the teams in the bottom part of the ladder. I think there is no point in getting rid of Pickering and replacing him with an inexperienced coach.
Our young group need someone with a bit of authority but who is also able to communicate openly with the players. Also able to respond quickly when a game is getting away, which I think was Pickering’s major weakness and also be able to be firm when he needs to be. A tall ask but I think this is probably the most crucial coaching appointment by the club since Todd took over in the late 70’s. If we can get the right person and with a bit of targeted recruitment I think we can be in the frame for a flag in the next few years.
Pickering coached Swans 81 times for 33 wins and 48 losses for a 40% record
Harding had 68 wins and 78 losses (46%). His record was spoilt somewhat by a horrendous 2016 season which would have to go down as one of the worst in the clubs history.
Brian Dawson had a winning percentage of 64% in his 3 year stint. Surely he would have coached the club for a decade if his university commitments had allowed him to.
Toddy coached Swans for 18 seasons in 3 stints 1977 - 1987, 1990 -1993 and 1999 - 2001. He would have coached another 2 years in 88- 89 if he had not been at the West Coast Eagles. He had a winning percentage of 53% which was lower because of his first few years where they only won a handful of games and the last stint where he came back to help a struggling club. Take these years out and he was well over 60% As well as this there were 4 premierships and 11 finals appearances.
The other premiership coach Haydn Bunton coached 4 seasons for a winning record of 58%.
On the other scale Swans have had 34 coaches in the 89 years they have been in the WAFL, A few only lasted half a season They have had some good ones and some absolute duds (Stuart Mcgee in 1976 springs to mind as a poor choice)
Pickering is not a dud and I think he can be a good coach at another club, but Swans now need a guy who can take the group to the next level ( consistently making finals and being a realistic challenger for a flag.)
Hopefully our next coach will be a 50% + man
John Todd had signed a contract to coach Woodville in the SANFL for the 1988 season. He was ready for a new challenge and if it wasnt for Bill Walker contacting Bill Kerr at West Coast, he would have been coaching in the SANFL in 1988.