COACH Paul Roos says the Demons recently met with 2011 Geelong premiership captain and now Channel 7 commentator Cameron Ling to gauge his interest in his coaching aspirations.
With the Dees looking to appoint Roos’ successor in the near future, the club is starting to sift through a host of names, with Ling among them. But Roos said the catch-up with Ling was very informal.
“We’re respectful of other clubs as well, so there is no formal presentation, but Lingy is a bit different, because he’s employed by [Channel] Seven,” he said on Dee TV’s Roos’ Views.
“At the moment, it’s just having a couple of informal chats to a few people and there is no interview process.
“We’re doing a bit of work behind the scenes on certain coaches and we were able to catch up with Lingy the other day, just to get a feel for where he thinks he’s at and for him to get a bit of a feel for where the club’s at.
“It was pretty informal, as the chats will be with some of the guys that we do try and catch up with.”
Another player who has been mentioned as a possible coaching candidate down the track is St Kilda great Lenny Hayes, who announced he was retiring from the game at the end of the season.
Roos said Hayes was an outstanding player and potential coaching prospect and said he would’ve loved to have mentored the St Kilda star. And it could’ve happened after one of the game’s greats and former St Kilda coach Tim Watson said Hayes was almost traded to the Swans for Jude Bolton.
“It might’ve been before I was senior coach. I know at the time with Lenny – he’s a New South Wales boy and I think he was a Swans supporter from memory, prior to me taking over as coach,” he said.
“Jude came on and both clubs did really well out of it. The Swans did really well out of Jude Bolton and St Kilda did fantastic [with Hayes].
“He’s been a universally liked player – everyone that’s watched him play has respected [him]. I would’ve loved to have coached him and had Jude as well. It would’ve been good to have Lenny and Jude in the same team.
“He’s been an exceptional player and I think everyone wishes him all the best and if he wants to be a coach – an assistant coach – I’m sure there will be plenty of clubs queuing up for him, because he’s got such a great reputation, both on the field and off the field.”
Meanwhile, Roos said he was looking forward to the next coaches’ dinner with AFL chief executive Gill McLachlan, after he was unable to attend last Monday’s evening, due to Fox Footy commitments on AFL 360.
“I think there has been a bit of a follow-up email and the coaches that went really enjoyed it and it was a great initiative from Gill,” he said.
“From my point of view, it was something I would’ve loved to have gone [to], but the email was pretty clear. It was pretty informal and [it said on the invite that] ‘if you had something on, don’t change it’.
“I think they’re going to do another one later in the year and I think it’s just great to get all the coaches together, and great to cement the relationship with the CEO of the AFL.
“There’s been a bit of distance at times from coaches and administrators, so any dialogue is great dialogue and I’m sure the next one will be worthwhile.”
