Scott Lockhart reporting for AFANA from Perth.
Chris Connolly has quit as coach of the Fremantle Dockers after a tumultuous 2007 campaign that has seen the team slip from Premiership favorites to 13th on the AFL ladder.
Current Fremantle assistant coach Mark Harvey has been offered the position of caretaker coach for the remainder of the season.
Connolly was told that he would not be offered a new contract beyond this season following Fremantle’s heartbreaking four point loss to the Kangaroos on the weekend.
However, Connolly believed the club would benefit from his immediate departure.
“Then after Monday and Tuesday we just felt - I certainly did - that there's a big dark cloud over the club with the speculation, with the innuendo ... and I just felt moving forward that the players, the coaches, the administrators can't do their job properly," he said.
"So, whilst we're still in the Finals hunt this year and through the process we'll be setting up for next year, because you're always doing both at the same time, I just felt that people couldn't do their jobs.”
Connolly was appointed Fremantle coach in 2002 and with a win/loss ratio of 51% and two finals appearances is the clubs most successful leader.
Markey Harvey is the favorite to replace Connolly in 2008, with former Melbourne coach Neil Daniher another top candidate.
Source: The West Australian
Article last changed on Friday, July 27, 2007 - 1:38 AM EDT
