Essendon great Matthew Lloyd believes the Bombers shouldn’t treat Ross Lyon any differently to other candidates in their search for a new senior coach.
After parting ways with Ben Rutten after two seasons, Essendon President Dave Barham stated the club were after an “experienced coach” to fill the vacancy.
With 13 seasons of coaching experience under his belt, Lyon appears to be the strongest candidate to fill Essendon’s criteria, yet Lloyd doesn’t want his former club to change their process to secure Lyon’s services.
“A process will be run, and (Lyon will) have to go up against others and maybe present three or four times, is he willing to do that to try and win the job?” Lloyd said on Sportsday.
“Ross might, at his level, where he’s been a coach for well over a decade at two clubs, he might think ‘they know what I can do, I don’t need to go in a process.’
“You’ve got to be all in and not be ashamed if you do miss out on the job.”
With Lyon’s former mentor Robert Walls being named as part of sub-committee in charge of appointing the next coach, Lloyd believes the veteran coach would have “great confidence” securing the job should he want it.
Walls played a key role in appointing Lyon in his first senior coaching role at St Kilda, however Lloyd doesn’t want the selection process to rush into repeating the same outcome.
“Times changed, Walls appointed Ross Lyon how many years ago, 15 years ago, so the game changes,” he said.
“What club you’re coaching, what type of list you’re coaching, what they think they need, I’d like to think you just open it up and may the best candidate win.”
As part of this selection process, Lloyd wants to see Essendon consider as many different names as possible.
“Ask the questions of many, interview Mark Williams, what have you got to lose interviewing Mark Williams, if they like Leon Cameron do it, try Brad Scott, James Hird, whoever is in that, don’t just limit yourself to one (coach),”
“It needs to be opened up to guys who have been in the system for a long period of time, for example (Adam) Kingsley has just got the job, (Craig) McRae has just got the job, I think that should be a factor.
“It’s such a big decision… get your coaching right, don’t rush this at all.”
Essendon’s coaching search will headline the club’s activity in the offseason, as the Bombers will be looking to turn things around after their tumultuous year.