Hi all,

Just been doing some fascinating research (well fascinating to boffins like me) when thinking about how the premiership coaches learn their trade.

Lots of this thinking comes from the death of Yabby Jeans, and hearing of the way he influenced many future premiership coaches.   One might have been surprised to learn that Mick Malthouse, the Tigers premiership player was actually first mentored in the art of coaching by the great Jeans.

So I did what has probably been done countless times before, and I looked at each Premiership Coach from history, then worked out where their lineage came from.   There were some interesting and not altogether surprising results.   (Note: For the analysis below, a premiership could count in numerous streams if the coach had been previously mentored by two others.)

The dominant stream over football history I have dubbed the Tulloch, after Collingwood skipper and AFL grand final umpire, the great Lardie Tulloch.   It also gives the name a regal feel, after the awesome TJ Smith horse which was known as one of the best in history.

The Tulloch stream merged in with the Worrall/Clark and the Ricketts influenced many of the greatest coaches of the game.  They included Worrall, McHale, Minogue, Hughes, Bentley, Smith, Barassi, Walls, Blight, Roos and Clarkson.   This stream accounts for 46 of the premierships to have been decided in history.

For an analysis of current coaches (and future) and the other dominant streams, look over the break...

<!--more-->

So the Tulloch stream with 46 (Worrall stream 38, Ricketts stream 34) is the dominant stream of all time.  But recently, there have been other streams that have shone.  And there were decent streams in the past we must look at as well.

There was the Reynolds stream with 6, the Clymo stream with 5 and the Brosnan stream with 3 for those who have won more than 3.   These were in the years largely post-war, and were nipping at the heels of the great Tulloch stream without making great inroads.

However in 1961 came the beginning of a new dominant stream.   The Kennedy.   Winning 16 premierships from 1961 (15 since 1971 v 11 from Tulloch in same time period), the master John Kennedy not only turned around the game at his own club, Hawthorn, but made a massive impact on the entire competition.   Out of the Kennedy stream have come such dual premiership coaches as Parkin, Matthews and Joyce.   Not to mention Clarkson thanks to his time at the Kangaroos (though hes not a dual premiership coach yet).

Rivalling this stream came their competitors in 1966 (Jeans) and 1967 (Hafey).   Like most modern day coaches, Jeans and Hafey were back pockets who started coaching early after injuries curtailed their careers.

From the Jeans stream have come 13 premierships.   Jeans himself obviously did a large number, but then we see Matthews and Malthouse, the recent legends of the game.   From Matthews line also bring Williams as in the Kennedy line.  From Malthouse comes Worsfold.

The other dominant line has been the Hafey with 16 premierships from 1967.   Hafey directly influenced Sheedy (Thompson), Malthouse (Worsfold) and Williams

This then leads us to an interesting analysis.   What line do current coaches come from?   Are they coming from the legendary Tulloch line, or do they hold from the three recent dominant lines, or are they trying to come and create the first new line in many years.    Indeed since Jeans in 1989, no coach who has not played for a premiership coach has won a flag.   This is very important food for thought.

Neil Craig - Did not play AFL.  Not part of a line.
Michael Voss - Tulloch/Jeans/Kennedy - (Walls, Matthews).  Great breeding.
Brett Ratten - Kennedy (Parkin)
Mick Malthouse - Jeans/Hafey
James Hird - Hafey (Sheedy)
Mark Harvey - Hafey (Sheedy)
Chris Scott - Tulloch/Jeans/Kennedy - (Walls, Matthews).  Again, great breeding.
Guy McKenna - Jeans/Hafey (Malthouse)
Alistair Clarkson - Tulloch/Kennedy (Pagan).  Great breeding from Alistair and an inspired pick from Hawthorn at the time
Dean Bailey - Hafey (Sheedy)
Brad Scott - Jeans/Kennedy (Matthews)
Matt Primus - Jeans/Kennedy/Hafey (Williams)
Damien Hardwick - Jeans/Kennedy/Hafey (Sheedy, Williams) - Great breeding, and you know theres also the Clarkson influence there as an assistant (which Ive not recorded here)
Ross Lyon - Tulloch/Kennedy (Walls, Parkin) - A good selection of players will have this collection
John Longmire - Tulloch/Kennedy (Pagan) - Surprisingly in the start of his career, Longmire actually played under Kennedy at North
John Worsfold - Jeans/Hafey (Malthouse)
Rodney Eade -  Jeans/Kennedy - Played for these two, and Parkin.
Kevin Sheedy - Hafey - the absolute Hafey disciple...

Now for some other coaches to be...

Mark Neeld has been well regarded as an architect of the Pies game plan.  Played under Blight, so would be considered a true breed Tulloch.
Simon Goodwin also played under Blight, Ayres and Craig.   This would make him Tulloch/Kennedy (JUST)/Jeans.   This is great breeding, regardless of what people might think of Neil Craig.
Mark Ricciuto - ditto Goodwin.
Mark Bickley - No Craig, but otherwise the same.   So maybe he avoids the defective Craigie genes...haha
Ken Hinkley - played under Blight and Parkin.  Tulloch with an extra dose of Kennedy.
Brian Choco Royal - Jeans/Hafey out of Malthouse, and a touch of Kennedy from Joyce in his final year.
Barry Mitchell - Jeans/Kennedy - from Matthews and Parkin
Alan Richardson - Jeans/Kennedy from Matthews
Gavin Brown - Jeans/Kennedy/Hafey - from Matthews/Malthouse
John Barker - Tulloch/Kennedy from Clarkson
Scott Camporeale - Kennedy/Hafey - from Parkin/Sheedy
Matthew Lappin - Kennedy (Parkin)
Leon Cameron - Kennedy (Joyce).  Interesting that only a few years as a young player is his only link to flag success
Garry Hocking - Tulloch/Kennedy/Jeans (Blight/Ayres)
Dean Laidley - Jeans/Hafey/Tulloch (Malthouse/Pagan)
Wayne Campbell - Jeans/Tulloch (Walls)
Robert Harvey - Tulloch (Blight) - What a  shame the Saints sacked Blight before he could positively influence Harvey more
John Blakey - Tulloch/Jeans/Kennedy (Pagan/Walls/Matthews) - Huge credentials.

But ... who might have the ultimate breeding?  Who might be either the supercoach, or a Frankenstein...?

Coached by Walls... Therefore Tulloch
Coached by Matthews... Therefore Jeans/Kennedy
Coached by Malthouse...  Therefore Jeans/Hafey

Nathan Buckley.   Given one of the stronger lists, one of the best mentoring lists of any coaches in history (also mentored by Mark Williams at Port in 1992), could Buckley be in the perfect position to rectify the missed premiership as a player?   As a passionate Collingwood fan, I sure hope so!