by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago
Melbourne has welcomed back one of its own with the appointment of former player Todd Viney as general manager of player development. Viney played 233 games with the Demons 1987-1999, captained the team 1998-99 and coached in country Victoria before joining Hawthorn's coaching staff in 2004. He has been with the Adelaide Crows for the past two seasons.
Source: Jennifer Watt, Club Media Release
Former Carlton and Essendon player Scott Camporeale has been appointed as an assistant coach with Adelaide to replace the departing Todd Viney. Camporeale, a champion midfielder himself, will coach the Crows' midfielders. Camporeale played 233 games with the Blues 1995-2005 before being traded to Essendon. He played 19 games with the Bombers 2006-2007 but was forced to retire during the 2007 season due to a knee injury. Camporeale was a member of Carlton's 1995 Premiership team.
Source: Calum Young, Club Media Release
Former Lion Craig McRae, former Carlton player Matthew Lappin and the just-retired Tarkyn Lockyer have joined Collingwood's coaching staff. McRae, who played in Brisbane's three Premierships, replaces Luke Beveridge as development manager. He was an assistant at Brisbane before becoming Richmond's development coach. Lappin, who played 241 games for Carlton and St Kilda 1999-2007, has been an assistant at Carlton for the past three years. Lappin replaces Paul Hudson who has joined St Kilda as an assistant. Lockyer will coach Collingwood's VFL team, replacing former Magpie Gavin Brown. Brown, who played 224 games with Collingwood including their 1990 premiership, has joined Carlton's coaching staff.
Source: Nick Hulett, Club Media Release
Experienced assistant coach Brendan McCartney has left Geelong to join Essendon. McCartney has been with the Cats for 11 seasons, overseeing the development of many of the Cats' current stars after a previous brief stint as Richmond's reserves coach. McCartney was recently named assistant coach of the year by the AFL Coaches Association.
Former Geelong and Carlton player Adrian Hickmott announced his departure after three seasons to "pursue other opportunities". Hickmott served as development coach and also coached Essendon's VFL affiliate Bendigo.
Source: afl.com.au; Cara Pelchen, Club Media Release
Former Fitzroy, Brisbane and Hawthorn player John Barker has joined the Carlton coaching staff. Barker has been an assistant coach with St Kilda and Hawthorn since his retirement as a player at the end of 2006. Barker began his playing career with Fitzroy in 1993 but was sidelined with a back injury. He was dogged by injury over the next two seasons and managed just 47 games before Fitzroy merged with Brisbane at the end of 1996. Barker was one of several players allowed to join Brisbane when Fitzroy and the Brisbane Bears merged to become the Brisbane Lions. He played only eight games with the Lions and was traded to Hawthorn at the end of the 1997 season. Once he got over his injury woes, Barker developed into a dangerous center half forward. He played 113 games with the Hawks, retiring at the end of 2006 after another unfortunate run of injuries. He joined St Kilda's coaching staff immediately after his retirement and spent two years with the Saints. He then returned to Hawthorn as a forward coach and has been with the Hawks for the past two seasons.
Carlton has also gained the services of Alan Richardson, who has crossed from Essendon. Richardson was a candidate for the Essendon coaching job which went to James Hird. Richardson played 114 games with Collingwood 1987-1996. He coached East Burwood and Coburg before joining the Western Bulldogs as an assistant. In 2006, he returned to Collingwood as a player development coach and then joined Essendon in 2009.
Source: Ian Coutts, Club Media Release; afl.com.au
Former Essendon player Gary O'Donnell, has changed camps once again. O'Donnell has returned to Brisbane after three years at Essendon as an assistant. Prior to that, he was an assistant with Brisbane for six seasons. In that time, he was a member of the coaching staff with senior coach Leigh Matthews during Brisbane's 2001-2003 premiership years. At one stage during his playing career, Matthews rated him as one of the best players in the competition.
O'Donnell played 243 games with Essendon 1987-98 and captained the club 1996-1997. He won the club's best and fairest award in 1993 and was a member of the Bombers' 1993 Premiership team. In another twist, current senior coach James Hird succeeded O'Donnell as club captain in 1999.
Source: afl.com.au
The Fremantle Dockers have appointed former Kangaroo Jason McCartney as their development coach. McCartney has been with the Australian Institute of Sport-AFL (AIS-AFL) for the past 18 months as the Academy's high performance manager. Prior to that, he was the AFL's Youth and High Performance Coordinator. In that role, he conducted seminars across Australia and traveled to Ireland and Africa several times with the junior teams.
AFL General Manager of International and National Development David Matthews had nothing but praise for McCartney, whom he said had an excellent reputation for his work in developing young people, not only as players but in life as well. He described McCartney's impact on Academy juniors as "enormous". According to Matthews, some of today's budding stars were assisted by McCartney, among them Eagle Nic Natanui, Brisbane's Daniel Rich and Melbourne's Tom Scully.
McCartney debuted for Collingwood in 1991 and played 91 games before crossing to Adelaide in 1995. He played 37 games for the Crows before joining North Melbourne in 1998. In 2002, he was badly burned as he helped rescue people from a Bali nightclub after a terrorist bomb attack. He spent months in the hospital and in rehab but finally made his way back for one senior game in Round 11, 2003. After that game, in which he was allowed to wear a special badge acknowledging the number of Australians and total victims of that attack, he announced his retirement. He later wrote a book about his ordeal with all the proceeds going to a burns unit.
Source: Amanda Brookhouse, AFL Media Release
The Power has added Daniel Healy and former Swan Matthew Nicks to their coaching staff. Healy returns to the club, where he previously served as an assistant in 2008, as development manager. He has been coaching SANFL team North Adelaide for the past two years. Healy played 36 games with St Kilda 19961999 before retuning to SA to play with Central Districts. Nicks was recruited from SANFL club West Adelaide and played 175 games with Sydney 1996-2005.
Former Geelong star Garry Hocking (274 games 1987-2001) has been promoted from development coach to senior assistant. He has been with Port since 2009. He previously coached Peel Thunder in the TAC Cup in 2005, then coached TAC team Geelong Falcons 2006-2008.
Source: Daniel Norton, Club Media Release
Additional Information Sources: Encyclopedia of League Footballers, AFL Record Season Guides, AFL Grand Final Record 2010
Article last changed on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 - 12:11 PM EDT
