Roos have the cash to hunt coach
No restrictions on contract, says Buckley
NORTH Melbourne’s financial stability will allow it to negotiate with its incoming coach on a payout figure giving him the security to complete a lengthy rebuild.
Brisbane legend Jon Brown believes his premiership captain Michael Voss should not go for the Roos position if he can be sacked with only a sixmonth payout figure.
AFL clubs who are “assisted” by the AFL in their finances must insert a maximum six- month payout clause into contracts.
It means a coach signing a long- term deal at a rebuilding club would be aware they could sack him at any time in that rebuild, meaning that terms of the deal were irrelevant.
But North Melbourne will again declare a small profit this season, with chairman Ben Buckley confirming recently the club is “unassisted”.
All clubs receive annual special distributions from the AFL, but those deemed “assisted” have had to use the AFL to borrow extra money during the COVID crisis.
It means the Roos are free to offer the kind of deal that they will need to secure an elite senior coach without feeling candidates could back out because of the lack of security.
Player managers said this week without added security there was no way they would recommend their coaching clients apply for a role of that scope without added security.
Voss joined the Channel 7 special comments team for the AFL Grand Final and did himself no harm with an assured and insightful performance.
The Roos are expected to announce their panel for the senior coaching search by the end of the week, meaning they will not have a coach by the upcoming trade period.
Paul Roos is expected to be on that panel, along with CEO Ben Amarfio, board member Glenn Archer, footy boss Brady Rawlings and chairman Buckley.
Voss would be one contender for the role alongside Collingwood’s Robert Harvey.
Brisbane football boss David Noble confirmed on Tuesday he was pushing for a CEO’s role in coming seasons and would not be a candidate for the Roos role.
Buckley told the Herald Sun after Rhyce Shaw stepped down the Roos would be aggressive in their search but not approach contracted coaches in senior roles.
“We want to get moving quickly but we will take the appropriate amount of time to get it right. If it extends beyond the obvious draft or trade period then so be it,” he said.
“The challenge is there and coaches by their nature are the sort of people who want challenges so I don’t think anyone would be deterred by any of that.
“There is no one we won’t talk to. Everyone who is available will be in the frame.”
Buckley told the club’s members in a letter recently the Roos would declare an eighth straight profit and hoped to wipe all debt by 2021.
“Like the other unassisted clubs, we have not needed to access AFL funding assistance in 2020 from the AFL’s line of credit during this COVID- 19 period ( since April 2020),” he said.