INJURIES to North Melbourne coach Brad Scott and Collingwood mentor Nathan Buckley have reminded Paul Roos of the time he tore his Achilles, when guiding the Sydney Swans in the 2003 finals.
Speaking at AAMI Park on Thursday, the Melbourne coach said he felt for Scott, who will miss the next four matches, due to back surgery, and Buckley, who ripped his hamstring playing touch football earlier in the week.
Buckley is now likely to coach the Pies against the Demons at the MCG on Monday, but if he isn’t right, Collingwood senior assistant coach Robert Harvey will step-up and coach his first AFL match.
“I go back to my three-point shot [when I was playing basketball] back in 2003, when I ripped my Achilles, so it brings back not great memories,” Roos said.
“I was on crutches for the final, so we’ve all done [injuries after our AFL playing career], because we’re all idiots and we all think we can do more than what we can.
“I’ve certainly got sympathy for the boys (Scott and Buckley), because I didn’t miss a game, and I don’t think Bucks will, but Scotty will.”
Roos said it shouldn’t make a massive difference if the senior coach was absent for a short period of time. But he added the scenario would be different if the coach was sidelined for a longer timeframe.
“We saw Clarko (Alastair Clarkson) [was unavailable to coach] last year – and Bucks and I spoke about it ironically, on the back of Scotty doing it. It’s not a bad thing for senior coaches, because what it highlights is the importance of the assistants and the system, rather than just the senior coach,” he said.
“The senior coach gets most of the credit and most of the criticism, but we all know that inside footy clubs that it’s a real collective thing and one coach doesn’t coach.
“The majority of the coaching, to be honest, is done by the assistants anyway. So I don’t think any team suffers when their senior coach is not there, providing it’s not for a prolonged period of time.
“We even saw Bomber (Mark) Thompson take over for 12 months, so I think it highlights the collective that we know inside footy clubs. I think it’s good for the public to be aware of it also.”
