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‘Best appointment in 25 yrs’: How Dons pulled off shock ‘Hail Mary’ as club eyes key trade move
Essendon’s John Longmire coup has been lauded as the club’s “best appointment in 25 years” as the Bombers look to bounce back from one of their lowest ever ebbs and a second wooden spoon in a decade.
VIEW ALL SCORES WHAT'S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au. Longmire will oversee game strategy, player development, leadership, the coaching group, performance analytics and strength and conditioning, with the club still set to appoint a more traditional footy boss to handle day-to-day operations.
Above all else, the premiership coach adds a certain level of credibility and authority the Bombers have been lacking in recent history.
“We all thought Essendon was in some way interested in James Hird. But what we also knew was they were looking for top four caliber people, people from elite clubs,” Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph said on Fox Footy’s“It emerged across the weekend that had some interest or he spoke with the club, then solidified that view.
“It is a GM of performance role, so they’re all the high-ticket items; development, game strategy, leadership, coaching and performance — all the stuff that Essendon has been, let’s face it, fairly miserable at recently. “It’s the perfect role, we know the affiliation there with Mark McVeigh. ”It marks the third ex-Swan to join Essendon after the club also added Shane Mumford to McVeigh’s coaching staff.
It came after Longmire was linked to the Tasmania and North Melbourne coaching vacancies, though he ultimately decided against entering the Kangaroos search. An unknown element to Longmire’s situation was that he was prepared to work in clubland in a different role than senior coach. Longmire’s manager, Liam Pickering, said the much-respected figure “warmed” to the Essendon gig in recent times, before he agreed to join the club over the weekend.
“It was really through his relationship with Mark McVeigh. Obviously they’re great friends and they worked together at the Swans,” Pickering said on Seven’s“He just warmed to the role over the last couple of weeks, then agreed pretty much over the weekend.
“He’s not really the footy boss, he’s really going to be in charge of performance. The logistics will be more the other role, but this role will be working with the coach and the general excellence of the club. ” Asked if this was his first step towards going back to senior coaching, he said: “I’m not sure about that... it could wet his appetite, but at the moment, that’s not really what he’s doing.
“He’s going there to give himself a good chance at helping out the Essendon footy club get back to where he needs to be. “He’ll be a great sounding board for ‘Spike’ McVeigh. They’ll work really well together, they’ve worked together in the past. I think it’s a terrific get by Essendon and I think it’s a terrific opportunity for John to get himself back into the day-to-day of footy.
”The 55-year old stepped down as Sydney coach at the end of 2024 after one premiership including five grand finals as the club’s longest-running coach. Essendon legend Tim Watson was full of praise for what he declared is the club’s best appointment in a quarter of a century.
“This is great. This is the club’s best appointment in the last 25 years He is exactly what our football club needs,” Watson said on“I was really surprised. It was good fortune, too, because obviously he was in for the Tassie job and then he didn’t like the way North Melbourne were going about their selection search for a coach.
“I spoke to a bloke who knows him very well late last night and he said he still has that itch. He’s still got that fire in the belly and that itch to want to be involved in a really intimate way of the game.
“But all the things that he brings to Essendon are exactly what ‘Spike’ McVeigh needs around him. Because as he said when he was appointed, this is a much bigger job than just one person, this is a whole football club type job.
“Hopefully they’re going to make some other changes there and bring some other people in as well, because I don’t think it’s finished yet. But this is a great way to reset the football club and the football department. ”Another Bombers great, Matthew Lloyd, thinks Longmire will be a great asset for McVeigh and the wider club.
“That was probably a bit of a fear for me that Mark McVeigh was going to have to do too many things. Other than just do what he needs to do as a first-time coach; coach the club and coach the players,” Lloyd said on the“Having Longmire come in, it does help me, with my red and black heart, to put my head on the pillow tonight.
I’m pleased for Mark, who’s one of my best mates, to have someone like John Longmire in his corner and do some of the heavy lifting. ”co-host Gerard Whateley questioned if North Melbourne made an error in effectively missing a chance to have premiership coaches and club greats Longmire and Adam Simpson as a potential duo.
“Are we thinking North Melbourne has let their two walk past them? When one was absolutely prepared for the top office, and the other wanted to be coach,” Whateley said. With Essendon’s new footy department coming together, next month’s trade period will soon take centre stage. The Bombers are looking at premiership Demon Jack Viney to add some much-needed leadership, particularly with the looming departure of ex-skipper Zach Merrett.
Viney, 32, reportedly also has interest from West Coast, having worked with Andrew McQualter from the Eagles coach’s time at Melbourne.
“Essendon also believes Jack Viney has some interest in joining them. He would be absolutely elite with Zach Merrett moving on,” Ralph added on“The challenge here is Andrew McQualter is also really keen on him. He will fly to West Coast in the next 24 hours to meet with them.
“He’d be perfect at either club, but it feels like Essendon would just be so good to have that valuable experience. When there is a bit of a leadership vacuum around. ” Four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis believes the additions of Longmire and Viney would be super valuable for the Tullamarine-based club.
“I think Longmire gives them credibility, which is something they haven’t had for a period of time,” Lewis said. “If they could get Longmire and Viney, I think it would be brilliant for the organisation, on and off the field. ”
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