PAUL Roos says he’s not worried about confirming a third season as Melbourne coach – at the moment.
Speaking on 1116 SEN on Thursday, Roos said he had fully committed to the club and locking in a third season would sort itself out.
“When you’re doing it, I’m invested and I don’t even really think about it – the third year,” he said.
“All that someone needs to say is ‘we need to know by a certain date’ and then you actually sit down and say ‘ok, am I going to do it or not’. The reality is I’m there and I’m working and I’m trying to fix the club and trying to work as hard as I possibly can to get the club up.
“So it’s just not something that you think about, other than when someone says ‘oh mate, we need to know’. In reality, we’re still 18 months away, but I understand the speculation and equally, I respect the club.
“If Peter [Jackson] said ‘Roosy, we just need to know by this date’, then I don’t have a problem sitting down with the family and having a chat and coming back to the club and saying ‘yeah or no’. It’s just not an issue for us, but I can understand it’s more of an issue for other people.”
In regards to speculation surrounding Brett Kirk and Cameron Ling as potential Melbourne coaching successors, Roos said it was too early to tell who would take over.
“Some coaches are already contracted and Cameron Ling’s a little bit different,” he said.
“At the moment, we’re making some enquires on certain people.”
But Roos said there needed to be an apprenticeship for prospective senior coaches.
“Some people might need to do five to 10 years, but others might need to do two to three years,” he said.
“I still think there needs to be an apprenticeship because it’s a vastly different job from being a player to be an assistant coach to being a senior coach.”
Meanwhile, Roos said Melbourne’s half-year review showed a significant improvement to the same stage in 2013.
He added that building the players’ self-esteem and “making them feel like they belong” in the AFL had been a key focus this year. Roos added that the team was on the right track.
“Most people probably thought four to six wins for the year and we don’t really set those types of targets,” he said.
“Initially, it was trying to be really, really competitive and I think we’ve done that. From rounds four to 15, we were really consistent and really good, but we’ve dropped off a little bit in the last couple of weeks against good sides.
“So I think we’re heading in the right direction, but it’s probably for others to say whether it’s a pass or fail.”
