Countless honours have come John Longmire’s way in his glittering 40-year football career………
From winning the Coreen League Thirds’ Goalkicking Award in 1984…..to becoming the 1990 Coleman Medallist and winning North Melbourne’s B & F in the same year…..
From booting 82 goals, aged 16 in his debut Ovens and Murray season with Corowa-Rutherglen in 1987……to playing 200 games with North, topping their Goalkicking on five occasions….and playing in the Roos’ 1999 Premiership…..
But ‘Horse’ can claim sole ownership of another distinction that will take some beating – he’s the only player to come through the O & M, and coach a VFL/AFL premiership side………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Fourteen players with O & M experience graduated to coach at the highest level…..
Some had been lured to the bush after spectacular VFL careers; being unable to refuse the generous offers from clubs which pinpointed them as the vital link in their search for premiership glory…..
For them, it was another stepping-stone in their football journey……
A few built their reputations in the O & M, then established themselves as stars in the ‘big-time’….and the rest became history……
Here is a pen-picture of those who passed through the O & M to become members of the VFL/AFL’s 365-strong coaching ‘Club’……
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
ARTHUR HISKINS: A member of a prodigious Rutherglen family of 14 – four of whom played League football – he was recruited to South Melbourne in 1908, aged 21, after becoming a star with the Redlegs
Versatility was a Hiskins trait, and he regularly swapped from defence to plug holes around the ground. In one such instance, he played at centre half forward in the Swans’ premiership of 1909.
His career was interrupted by the Great War, during which he served on the Western Front, but upon his return he immediately resumed his place in the South line-up.
Hiskins was appointed South’s captain-coach in 1920, but the side struggled and he handed over the reins, although still continuing as a player.
The last of his 185 VFL games was played in 1923.
VFL COACHING CAREER: 1920, 16 games, 7 wins.
DOUG RINGROSE: A classy 5’4” rover, Ringrose was aged 23 when he was appointed coach of Benalla in their debut O & M season – 1922…….Originally from Tasmania, he’d been playing with VFA club Brighton but made an immediate impression at Benalla, taking them into the finals.
He returned to Brighton after one season before being recruited by Fitzroy in 1928……The following season he coached the Gorillas………Ringrose was relieved of his coaching duties after just 10 games, but continued on as a player for the remainder of the 1929 season.
He lobbed at East Albury, as playing-coach in 1930, and later took charge of Gippsland club Yarram….
VFL COACHING CAREER: Fitzroy, 1929, 10 games, 2 wins.
PERCY ROWE: Regarded as one of the League’s best ruckmen during a tough era, ‘Oily’ Rowe had been recruited to Collingwood in 1920 after showing great promise with O & M club Lake Rovers.
Although standing only 6’0” Rowe was a fearsome figure, and when he departed to coach Albury in 1924, his loss was sorely felt by the Pies.
Wangaratta enticed him down the highway the following year…….He coached them to a famous flag, with his inspirational leadership being a key factor in their unbeaten run……..Wang were again Grand Finalists in 1926, but were outclassed by the dominant St.Patrick’s.
‘Oily’ returned to Victoria Park, to figure in Collingwood’s 1927 and ‘28 flags, then coached VFA club Northcote to three titles and two runners-up in his five years at the helm.
He coached Fitzroy in 1935, and held the reins at Carlton in 1937 before he was replaced by Brighton Diggins, who led the Blues to the 1938 flag.
Rowe also coached Coburg in 1944 and ‘45.
VFL COACHING CAREER: Fitzroy 1935, 18 games, 8 wins 1 draw. Carlton 1937, 18 games, 11 wins.
HAYDN BUNTON: Arguably the O & M’s finest-ever product, Bunton joined his brothers Cleaver and George at the Albury Football Club, where he became an overnight sensation.
He came under the notice of League clubs, aged 16, when he starred in a representative match for the O & M against a combined VFL side at Wangaratta, in 1928.
Albury also won the flag that year, and in 1929 Bunton was a key figure in West Albury’s premiership win.
Fitzroy won the race for his signature, and he repaid them with some astonishing form over the next seven seasons, taking out three Brownlow Medals – in 1931, ‘32 and ‘35………He was appointed captain-coach in 1936, but his individual brilliance failed to lift them, and he handed over the job after just one season.
Bunton headed to the west in 1938, and, in 72 games with WAFL club Subiaco, captured three Sandover Medals ( 1938, ‘39 and ‘41)……After returning home to complete an Army Training course, he added another two games to his total at Fitzroy, to finish with 119. He rounded out his playing career with a season at Port Adelaide.
Bunton’s association with football concluded after he had coached North Adelaide in 1947 and ‘48.
He was named in the VFL/AFL Team of the Century in 1996, and is an AFL Hall,of Famer.
VFL COACHING CAREER: Fitzroy 1936, 18 games, 2 wins.
HARRY HUNTER: Hunter was 19 when he was slotted into the Essendon side in 1921. He became a renowned defender – and regular Victorian representative – over the next six seasons, earning recognition as the finest Full Back in the game.
He accepted a transfer in employment in 1928, and Albury grasped the opportunity to appoint him captain-coach. With Hunter as a pillar in defence, and the dynamic Haydn Bunton almost unstoppable on the ball, it was no wonder that the Tigers stormed to a 17-point win over St.Patrick’s.
Harry Hunter was back with Essendon in 1929, and rounded out his 109-game stint with the ‘Dons.
He coached VFA clubs Yarraville and Preston for several years before returning to Windy Hill in a variety of off-field roles for the remainder of his life .
One of these included co-coaching, with Dick Reynolds, for two games, in a stand-in capacity, in 1939.
VFL COACHING CAREER: Essendon, 1939, 2 games, 2 wins.
BERT MILLS: Wangaratta scored a recruiting coup when the Mills family moved from Bethanga to a farm at Oxley.
It was early 1929, and they made a distinct impression…….. Arthur, a strongly-built ruckman, and his younger brother Bert, a brilliant utility player, came to the notice of talent scouts in a First Semi-Final at Albury.
Lowly Hawthorn swooped on the Mills boys, who couldn’t wait to high-tail it to the city to try their luck.
Arthur joked that he was the ‘set of steak-knives’ in the deal to get 19 year-old Bert to the Hawks…….He played 10 games before returning home, but Bert was to prove one of the VFL greats of the thirties.
Bert was only 5’11”, but had an exceptional spring, and could compete with the best of the big men, before heading to centre half back for a ‘rest’.
He assumed the captaincy in his third year, during which he won the first of his 3 Hawthorn B & F’s. He represented Victoria on 11 occasions……..When the battling Hawks handed Bert the coaching reins in 1940, it was applauded as an inspired appointment.
He guided them to seven wins – their most successful year ever – but at the end of the 1941 season decided that his time was up.
After playing just one more game in 1942 Bert Mills announced his retirement. He had made 196 appearances with Hawthorn.
VFL COACHING CAREER: Hawthorn, 36 games, 10 wins.
LAURIE NASH: It’s said of the great ‘LJ’ Nash that, whenever someone asked his opinion of the greatest footballer of all time he would respond: “I look at him in the mirror every morning when I’m shaving.”
Many experts agreed with that assessment. The 5’9” Nash had the unique honour of playing Test Cricket and League football, even though his career with South Melbourne lasted a mere 6 years ( 99 games ).
He could play anywhere, and lined up at centre half back in the Swans’ 1933 premiership win ( his first season ). Nash moved to Camberwell for several years, then returned to South, where he played a part in the famous ‘Bloodbath Grand Final’ of 1945.
Wangaratta snapped him up in 1946, and he led them to the O & M’s first post-War premiership despite admitting that he ‘played on one leg’……..In the same year, he acted as a part-time coach for Greta, who also took out the O & K flag.
Desperate to return to a competitive level, South Melbourne turned to ‘LJ’ in 1953, hoping that he’d be able to wave his magic wand…..Alas, they finished eighth, and his contracted two-year tenure ended prematurely.
VFL COACHING CAREER: South Melbourne 1953, 18 games, 9 wins.
BOB ROSE: He was regarded in some quarters as the finest footballer in Australia when the Wangaratta Rovers pulled off an outlandish recruiting heist in 1956.
The boy from Nyah West had played 152 games and won four B & F’s since arriving at Collingwood in 1946…..He originally intended to become a pro boxer, but the Magpies soon put the kybosh on that.
Rose took the battling Rovers to their first premiership within 3 years, then repeated the dose two years later ( 1960 ). He was a ‘box-office hit’ in his seven years with the Hawks; playing 126 games and winning two Morris Medals.
Upon his return to the city, he succeeded Phonse Kyne as coach of Collingwood in 1964, and endured the heartbreak of losing three Grand Finals ( 1964, ‘66 and ‘70 ) by a matter of points…….His first coaching stint with the ‘Pies lasted eight years……He moved over to Footscray for four years at the helm, then, aged 57, answered the call to return to Victoria Park during difficult times, for another two-year appointment.
VFL COACHING CAREER: Collingwood, 1964-71, 1985-86, 193 games, 121 wins, 2 draws.
Footscray, 1972-75, 89 games, 42 wins, 2 draws.
TOMMY LAHIFF: One of the game’s greatest personalities, Tommy ‘The Turk’ had already packed a swag of achievements into his sporting career before he arrived at Albury, as captain-coach in 1947.
He’d played 178 games with his home club, Port Melbourne, coached ‘The Burras’, also played with Essendon, South Melbourne and Hawthorn…….He assumed the Hawthorn coaching position for one season, in 1946, before heading to the bush.
Tommy was a 5’6” spirited rover, and made an immediate impact on Albury, whom he guided to the ‘47 flag, before heading back to the city.
He returned to the O & M in 1951, for a two-year spell as coach of Corowa, and had further spells at Sandringham and Port Melbourne.
Tommy was assisting an old family friend, Bobby Skilton, at South Melbourne, when he stood in as coach for one game in 1965……He became a media cult figure as an ‘around the grounds’ radio reporter for the remainder of his life.
VFL COACHING CAREER (Pre-O & M) Hawthorn 1944, 18 games, 2 wins, 1 draw.
(Post O & M) South Melbourne 1965, 1 game, 1 loss.
BILL STEPHEN: He’d become an institution at Fitzroy, where he’d played 166 games, coached them for three seasons, won 2 B & F’s, represented Victora on 14 occasions, and captained the state in 1956.
Yarrawonga made Billy an offer he couldn’t refuse, and he went straight from coaching the Lions to guiding the Pigeons in 1958.
Yarra had been starved of the ultimate success for three decades…..They responded to the quietly-spoken defender, who was the ultimate ‘nice guy’, and created history when they pipped Wangaratta Rovers in the 1959 O & M Grand Final, still rated among the greatest of all-time.
Stephen was at the helm of the Pigeons for seven seasons ( playing 97 games, and serving as non-playing coach in 1964)………When he returned to VFL coaching ranks he had two further stints at Fitzroy ( over eight years), and two years as coach of Essendon.
But coaching was in his blood……He served as an assistant at North Melbourne, South Melbourne and St.Kilda, and coached Victoria in 1968 and 1980…….A football fanatic, he passed away, aged 92, in 2020.
VFL COACHING CAREER: Fitzroy (Pre-O & M) 1955-1957. (Post O & M) 1965-70, 1979-80, 212 games, 67 wins, 1 draw.
Essendon: 1976-77, 44 games, 16 wins, 1 draw.
MURRAY WEIDEMAN: Remembered fondly for his reputation as Collingwood’s ‘enforcer’ during the fifties, ‘The Weed’ and his accomplice Barry Harrison famously brutalised Melbourne in the 1958 Grand Final.
He was an outstanding player, collecting three Copeland Trophies as the ‘Pies B & F, making 180 senior appearances in the Black and White, sharing in two flags and being inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame.
He left Collingwood in 1964 to assume the coaching position at Albury, who were battling at the time……The Tigers recruited far and wide and returned to the top in 1966, as they defeated Wangaratta in an anticlimactic Grand Final……The charismatic ’Weed’ had waved his magic wand.
He left in 1968 to coach SANFL club West Adelaide for four seasons, before Collingwood enticed him back as non-playing coach in 1975…….But things eventually went awry, and ‘The Weed’ was replaced by Tommy Hafey after two seasons.
VFL COACHING CAREER: Collingwood 1975-76, 45 games, 19 wins.
JEFF GIESCHEN: He was a serviceable VFL player with Footscray, chalking up 24 senior games after being recruited from Maffra in 1974.
Despite failing to cement a regular senior spot, Gieschen won two VFL Reserves’ Gardner Medals ……But in country ranks he was a champion…….A dual LVFL Medallist and 7-time Maffra Best & Fairest, he coached the Club for three seasons.
Wodonga, on the verge of a highly-successful era, appointed ‘The Giesch’ as coach in 1986…….He was a fine leader, and the Bulldogs won two flags in the six years he spent with them; the first in 1987, and the second, the infamous ‘Bloodbath’ of 1990.
He headed over to coach West Perth for three seasons, became an assistant at Geelong, then moved to Richmond, where he was as assistant to Robert Walls.
When the Tigers dumped Walls late in the 1997 season they called upon Gieschen to lead them to the promised land, firstly as a stand-in……He led them to four successive wins, and the fans launched a campaign for the Club to ‘Unleash the Giesch’…..
Richmond slumped to twelfth in 1999 and he was replaced by Danny Frawley, bringing to a close the Gieschen coaching reign.
AFL COACHING CAREER: Richmond 1997-1999, 49 games, 25 wins.
DAVID TEAGUE: The boy from Katandra was first induced to the Ovens and Murray when he was a member of the ill-fated VFL Reserves team, Murray Kangaroos.
Peter Tossol’s Corowa-Rutherglen snapped up he a few of his team-mates to use the O & M ‘Roos as their home Club…….He was a vital member of the Corowa-Rutherglen’s ground-breaking 2000 premiership side before being drafted to North Melbourne.
After 33 senior games Teague was swapped to Carlton, where he notched up another 50 games. ( and a John Nicholls Medal )……His coaching journey began as an assistant with Carlton, West Coast, St.Kilda, Adelaide, then back at Carlton.
He was in the right spot at the right time at Princes Park, when the Blues parted ways with Brendan Bolton……. 38 year-old Teague was jnstalled as their leader.
But he was unable to arrest their run of misfortune and Carlton turned to Michael Voss to guide them from the wilderness…….Teague has been an assistant at Richmond ever since.
AFL COACHING CAREER: Carlton, 2019-2021, 50 games, 21 wins.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
JOHN LONGMIRE: The Longmire association with Sydney has lasted 22 years…. and counting…..
The Swans recognised the potential of the 31 year-old New South Welshman, and appointed him as an coaching assistant in 2002……..As part of a succession-plan, Paul Roos agreed to promote him to ‘coaching co-ordinator’…….Longmire took over the job upon Roos’ retirement at the conclusion of the 2010 season.
Two years later, the Swans – and ‘Horse’ – reached the pinnacle when they defeated Hawthorn in a thrilling 2012 Grand Final.
They also appeared on the ‘big stage’ in 2014, 2016 and 2022, where they lowered their colours to Hawthorn, the Western Bulldogs and Geelong respectively.
In his 14 seasons as coach of Sydney, Longmire has coached 321 games, for 202 wins……an astounding record…..and one which is unlikely to conclude any time soon….
On present indications, ‘Horse’ seems to be on the way to nailing his second AFL coaching triumph in 2024……
ON REFLECTION 
<
div dir=”ltr”>
<
blockquote type=”cite”>