In a major restructure of the AFL Coaches Association the current board and chairman David Parkin will be removed by the end of the season and a full-time chief executive installed to oversee the push for compulsory accreditation of all senior coaches within two years.
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Premiership coaches Alastair Clarkson and John Longmire along with Fremantle's Ross Lyon have stepped onto the coaches' board until the end of the season following the departure of all directors except for Parkin and Graham Billings, who will quit for the overhaul by October.
Interim coaches' CEO Mark Brayshaw has confirmed that the coaches have pushed for a full-time chief, at least three positions on the AFLCA board and remain determined to bring in an accreditation system comparative with European and Premier League soccer.
Brayshaw said he would not be pursuing the position but would help oversee a new constitution for the coaches' body and help lead the search for a new chairman, who is expected to come from the corporate world.
The changes follow a review of the coaches' body by Brayshaw - who is a North Melbourne director, and former Kangaroos' player and Richmond chief executive - and former West Coast coach John Worsfold.
It is significant that Clarkson and Longmire, former North teammates who also overhauled the AFL Players Association and set about Andrew Demetriou's rise to the most powerful role in the competition, have taken on interim directorships when the coaches ' body is being rebuilt.
The association's finances are also being addressed after a $150,000 loss last year that has been put down to the swelling of membership numbers - 180 across the competition - coupled with the $1500 of development funding provided to all coaches. The coaches had also struggled to attract significant sponsorship although outgoing boss Danny Frawley's negotiations with Chemist Warehouse recently led to a new agreement between the two bodies.
Frawley's departure in May was closely followed by that of his assistant Paul Armstrong and several board members. The senior coaches in March expressed their disappointment at the association's handling of the James Hird scandal.
Clarkson led the push for accreditation early this year following the Hird suspension with the view that players must be protected from overzealous boards appointing favourite sons with little coaching experience. He drove that point in an address to the AFL Commission in February.
Eleven AFL coaches attended a private dinner at the home of new league boss Gillon McLachlan on Monday night at which three non-Victorian clubs were represented in Greater Western Sydney (Leon Cameron), Adelaide (Brenton Sanderson) and Gold Coast (Guy McKenna).
McLachlan has expressed the hope that the game can produce consistently more attractive football while the coaches remain sensitive to suggestions they do not hold dear the game's best interests.
