MELBOURNE has appointed former Western Bulldogs coach and highly-regarded development mentor Brendan McCartney to its coaching panel.
McCartney has joined Melbourne in the role of development and strategy coach and will then step-up as a mentor in line with Simon Goodwin’s appointment as senior coach from 2017.
“We are delighted that Brendan McCartney has agreed to join us in the role of development and strategy coach,” manager of football operations Josh Mahoney said.
“He has a proven record and reputation in developing players and his appointment adds valued experience to our development program.
“Adding resources to our development area was a key focus for the club this off-season.”
McCartney will join Brett Allison, Brad Miller and newly appointed full-time Casey coach Justin Plapp in Melbourne’s development team for 2015.
“Brendan will work in development for the next two seasons before moving into a mentor and management role in-line with Simon Goodwin’s first season as senior coach for the 2017 season,” Mahoney said.
“Simon has previously worked with Brendan while at Essendon and identified him as the ideal candidate for that role to assist his transition into senior coaching.
“Following George Stones retirement, Brendan provides almost 20 years of experience to the coaching group.”
McCartney, who is one of only a handful of people to have coached at the highest level without playing a VFL/AFL match, has an outstanding coaching background in various forms of the game. For the record, his father Graham McCartney played one match for Richmond in 1957.
Originally a player with Newtown/Chilwell in the Geelong Football League, McCartney later coached Ocean Grove to four successive premierships in 1994-95-96-97.
He then became Richmond’s assistant and development coach from 1998-99 under former coach Jeff Gieschen.
From 2000-10, he was an assistant coach throughout Mark Thompson’s entire tenure at Geelong. McCartney played a pivotal role in Geelong’s two premierships in 2007 and 2009, and his legacy continued into the club’s 2011 flag.
In 2010, McCartney was named the AFLCA’s assistant coach of the year.
He joined Essendon for one season under senior coach James Hird – the same time as when Thompson returned to the Bombers in a coaching capacity.
At the end of the 2011 season, McCartney was named coach of the Bulldogs.
He coached the Dogs for three seasons, before recently resigning.
McCartney’s experience and knowledge will be invaluable for Melbourne and he will be an important part of Goodwin’s transition to becoming a senior coach.
McCartney will start with the club in February 2015.
