AND with one more match remaining for the red and blue in 2016, so too is there one more game for Paul Roos as coach of the Melbourne Football Club.

It seems like yesterday that he was appointed coach of the Melbourne Football Club.

In actual fact, it was September 2013 – the day after Nathan Jones won his second Keith ‘Bluey’ Truscott Memorial Trophy.

Roos took over when the club had endured its fifth worst season in 114 years. That’s since 1897, when it became a foundation club of the VFL/AFL.

Ponder the challenges there for a moment.

That meant another crack at rebuilding the team – and the club – after some testing times since its most recent finals series in 2006.

At the time of his appointment, Roos agreed to two years with an option for a third, which he ended up taking.

He was clear and adamant from the start that he didn’t want the role for the long term – say a five-year deal or longer. Roos was prepared to set the foundations and then hand it over. He was wedded to a succession plan from the outset.

“I’m really excited in the short term. I’m very excited about setting a path and then handing it over,” he said at his media conference, when appointed coach.

“If it’s someone else who takes the glory – that’s fine.”

Given the club had landed one of the finest coaches of the modern era – remember, he was the one who coached the Swans to the 2005 flag, ending a 72-year drought (the longest in VFL/AFL history) – it was a massive get by Melbourne, led by chairman Glen Bartlett and chief executive Peter Jackson. 

Jackson was relentless in his pursuit for Roos – and he got his man.

It was seen as one of the great football recruiting coups in recent years.

Soon, the rest of the club was reshaped.

Josh Mahoney was locked in as general manager of football operations and the club executive, football department and administration was rejigged.

Roos revamped the coaching staff and after his first season at the club, his successor was found: Adelaide great Simon Goodwin, who had four seasons at Essendon as an assistant coach.

With a further two seasons working under Roos, Goodwin – who turns 40 years old this Boxing Day – has had six seasons to shape his coaching career. He is set to take over the reins, effectively from next week.

Goodwin has impressed significantly in his role as senior assistant coach and with some fine coaching figures in his corner, such as Brendan McCartney, he has served his apprenticeship strongly and will guide the club for at least the next three seasons – and hopefully for many more to come.

A great of the game

Roos came to Melbourne as one of football’s greatest names.

And if any further evidence was needed, he will be involved in his 624^th VFL/AFL game as player or coach this Saturday, against Geelong at Simonds Stadium.  

That puts him ninth on the list for the most VFL/AFL games coached and played.

Only Kevin Sheedy (929 games), Mick Malthouse (892), Jock McHale (877), Leigh Matthews (793), David Parkin (729), Ron Barassi (719), Norm Smith (662) and Allan Jeans (652) have been involved in more games as a player and/or coach.

It is an amazing statistic – and achievement.

When talking about Fitzroy’s greatest player, Roos has his claims. That’s how good he was as a player. He’s certainly in the discussion, along with the likes of Kevin Murray, Haydn Bunton Snr, Bernie Quinlan, Allan Ruthven, Garry Wilson and John Murphy.

His landing at Sydney – along with one of the greatest players of all-time, Tony Lockett – for the 1995 season, proved critical in helping the Swans to the 1996 Grand Final, which was its first since 1945.

Although he made a genuine impact in his last four seasons as a player with Sydney – he was All-Australian twice during that period – Roos’ biggest legacy came when he took over as coach and guided the Swans to the 2005-06 Grand Finals.

In his eight full seasons at the Swans – he took over midway through the 2002 season – Roos led the club to the finals every year, bar once. He then passed the baton to John Longmire in a succession plan that was part of the reason he was committed to see it happen at Melbourne.

History now shows Longmire is one of the finest coaches of recent times, with a premiership and two Grand Finals under his belt. A second flag is a genuine possibility in just his sixth season.

Still, there is no doubt Roos’ legacy lives on at Sydney today.

And that is most certainly the aim at Melbourne, with the Roos/Goodwin scenario.  

The first chapter

Roos’ first year at Melbourne in 2014 wasn’t all beer and skittles.

And nor was it ever going to be – remembering that the club was coming off two wins and a percentage of 54.

Roos oversaw four wins from his first 12 matches, which hardly sounds flattering, but was a good return, given where the team had been.   

His first victory over the Blues in round four also ended a seven-match losing streak over Carlton.

Three rounds later, Melbourne achieved its finest moment of 2014 – a three-point win over Adelaide at Adelaide Oval. It was Melbourne’s first win over the Crows in South Australia since round two, 2001.

Melbourne’s round nine win over Richmond was its first in three years, and when Christian Salem kicked the winning over the Dons in round 13, it was a moment to savour, given it had been walloped by the Bombers the previous season by 148 points.

Although the backend of the season was tough – Melbourne lost its last 10 matches of the season – progress was still made with double the wins and a considerable drop in points scored against (from 2691 in 2013 to 1954).  

Improvement made

Roos’ second year at the club started in the best possible fashion, when he guided his side to a 26-point win over the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG. It was Melbourne’s first round one win since 2005.

Melbourne’s next two wins came over eventual finalists: Richmond and the Western Bulldogs.

The win over the Tigers was most impressive, given it was on the big Friday night stage, the ANZAC Eve match. A 39-point win over the Western Bulldogs in round eight was also strong.

Undoubtedly, Roos’ finest moment as coach in 2015 came at Geelong, when Melbourne won its first game at the Cattery in 10 years. In the process, it also snapped a 10-game losing streak against Geelong.

Although the Cats just missed the finals – for the first time since 2006 – it was still a moment to remember for any red and blue fan.

Melbourne ended another ‘hoodoo’ when it defeated Collingwood for the first time in eight years.

A five-game losing streak against the Brisbane Lions and a four-game losing streak to Greater Western Sydney also came to a halt. The win over the Giants at Etihad Stadium was its first at the venue in 22 matches, back when Mark Riley was caretaker coach in 2007. 

Overall, seven wins were achieved in 2015 – almost more than double from 2014 and five more than 2013.

Success achieved

It’s important to remember, in assessing Roos’ time at the club, that success was never going to just happen. He effectively stated that at his first media conference. Had Melbourne made the finals this year, it really would’ve been a bonus.

After all, only 34 victories had occurred from 2007-13 at an average of 4.85 wins per season.

And with one game remaining, Roos has 21 victories from almost three seasons – at least an average of seven per season.

With 10 wins coming so far this season – its best effort in a season since 2006 – it has been a most positive year, even if a few disappointing losses have still occurred.

But given the list is still one of the youngest in the competition – for example, from rounds three to 15, it fielded the youngest 22 of all 18 teams – it is an exceptional achievement from a list assessment point of view.

Until last weekend, Melbourne was a chance to play finals for the first time in 10 years.

Although it missed a big opportunity – it still needed to overcome Geelong this round and needed North Melbourne to lose to Greater Western Sydney – the fact that Melbourne was in the finals conversation in round 22 was something that hasn’t happened for 10 years.

Again, there have been some major hurdles to overcome in 2016.

It managed to beat Greater Western Sydney, Collingwood (twice), Richmond, Gold Coast Suns (twice) and Brisbane Lions – teams that Melbourne has now won its past two or three games against.

Despite a tougher second half of the season, Melbourne produced its best 2015 results in this period under Roos.

It started with its first win over Fremantle since 2011 and its first victory in the Northern Territory in five years. And after almost overcoming the West Coast Eagles at Patersons Stadium – it fell short by six points – it bounced back a couple of rounds later to knock off Hawthorn for the first time in 10 years.

The win over the Hawks was significant, given Melbourne had endured a horrid time against the brown and gold since 2006.

A win over Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval the following week – where Melbourne defeated the Power for the first time in South Australia since 2000 – was another massive tick. It also resulted in three consecutive wins for Melbourne – something not achieved since rounds 17 to 19, 2010.

Six losses by four goals or fewer shows how much Melbourne has closed the gap – and how expectations have risen. Those losses were against Essendon by 13 points, North Melbourne (five), Hawthorn (18), Adelaide (22), West Coast Eagles (six) and Carlton (20).

The three big hoodoos that remain are against North Melbourne and St Kilda – Melbourne hasn’t defeated them since 2006 – and West Coast since 2009. Still, falling short by two points against the Saints in round 11 last year, and suffering two narrow losses to the Kangaroos and Eagles this year were as close as any Melbourne team has got to defeating them since their most recent wins.

Another win at the Cattery this round would be the icing on the cake to Roos’ red and blue journey. And 11 wins would be an outstanding achievement, when it could muster just two victories three years ago.

Rejuvenating the list

During Roos’ tenure, the list has changed significantly.

Only 17 remain from when Roos joined the club, with 28 players being recruited in his time.

They are: Angus Brayshaw, Tomas Bugg, Sam Frost, Jeff Garlett, James Harmes, Liam Hulett, Jayden Hunt, Ben Kennedy, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Max King, Mitch King, Heritier Lumumba, Oscar McDonald, Jake Melksham, Viv Michie, Alex Neal-Bullen, Ben Newton, Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Christian Salem, Joel Smith, Billy Stretch, Dom Tyson, Aaron vandenBerg, Bernie Vince, Josh Wagner, Sam Weideman and Mitch White.

It’s been a major credit to the list management/recruiting team, headed up by Mahoney, Todd Viney and Jason Taylor.

The bulk of that squad will play a major part in Melbourne’s fortunes under Goodwin, with many already prospering under Roos’ guidance. Experienced types such as Max Gawn, Neville Jetta and Jack Watts have also thrived under Roos.

Gawn is expected to be named All-Australian this year, with the likes of Nathan Jones and Jack Viney not without a chance.

In 2015, the club gained two top five finishes in the NAB AFL Rising Star, when Hogan became the second Melbourne player to win the award, behind Jared Rivers in 2004, and Brayshaw finished fifth.

This year, Melbourne has seen Oliver, Harmes, Petracca and O.McDonald claim nominations, with Hunt desperately unlucky not to claim one yet – unless he can land one in the final round this weekend.

Player development – now headed up by McCartney – has been a massive focus area under Roos and it has shown.

Making his mark

When the great Ron Barassi was coaxed out of retirement to coach the Swans from 1993-95, he set the foundations for the club, which we know today.

Rodney Eade took Sydney to its first Grand Final in 51 years, before Roos achieved the ultimate success. That has since continued under Longmire.

In many ways, Roos has done what Barassi did at the Swans.

Both took over at a time when their clubs needed a figure-head, a coach with an aura and someone who had tasted the ultimate success.

Barassi did that for three seasons, before handing it over to Eade, a successor ready to launch his senior coaching career and who is now just behind Roos for the most games played and/or coached in VFL/AFL history.

For the record, Barassi managed one win in his first season (although he took over from round seven, 1993), before gaining four victories in 1994 and eight in 1995. Given he took over when the Swans had won just three games in 1992 and had lost their opening five games in 1993 by an average of 79.6 points – Barassi’s return was undoubtedly a success.

And it set the scene for the next 20 years at the Swans, which has seen the club win two flags, play in five Grand Finals and miss the finals just three times since 1996 – a remarkable achievement. It could be six Grand Finals and three flags judging by Sydney’s 2016 form.

Anyone with red and blue running through their veins could only dream of that scenario for the next 20 years. But with what Roos has been able to achieve and with Goodwin being a genuine coach on the rise, there is plenty to look forward to in the coming years for Melbourne – even if there will be further hurdles and challenges along the way to success. That’s just par for the course for any side on the rise.

Roos is set to leave Melbourne with the list, the team and the club in far better shape than when he arrived, which is what he set out to achieve when he took on the job.  

His legacy will prove that.

Congratulations Roosy!