SEN’s David King has named his top five coaches through the first five rounds of the 2023 AFL season.
King has ranked those coaches five to one, with number one the boss he’s been most impressed with so far.
“I think it’s a good time now, five weeks in, to have a look at how your coach is travelling,” King told SEN Breakfast.
“How is your team performing? Are they playing the way you want them to play? Are you seeing what you were seeing during the pre-season? Are they delivering?
“I’ve done a five, four, three, two, one – a top five for me.”
Check out King’s top five below.
5 – Ken Hinkley (Port Adelaide)
“At five, the fifth best this year, I think Ken Hinkley got through a sticky draw.
“We talked abut this at the start of the year, the walls could have come tumbling down by now if they were 1-4.
“But they’ve found a way, they’ve got a new midfield and health on their side, but they’re performing.”
4 – Craig McRae (Collingwood)
“At four, I’ve got Craig McRae, he’s introduced this analytics around outnumbering at contests and those types of things to our code.
“The likelihood of how many consecutive contests you can win if you continue to outnumber.
“I think this is revolutionary and something they can see more of.
“They haven’t absolutely shot the lights out but they’ve been pretty good.”
3 – John Longmire (Sydney)
“At three, I’ve got John Longmire.
“I think it was exemplified last week, to orchestrate a victory without a full-back, centre-half back, an All-Australian back pocket type and Lance Franklin in the forward half.
“I think they’re doing better than what we’re recognising at the moment.
“John is a large reason for that.”
2 – Brad Scott (Essendon)
“At two, I’ve got Brad Scott.
“I didn’t think Essendon were going to be playing this type of footy, this early.
“They’ve reworked the way they defend, they defend their defensive 50 exclusively.
“You can move the ball against them, but it’s hard to score, it’s hard to put it on the scoreboard.
“What they’re doing offensively is quite brilliant. They’ve always been a good ball movement team but this is done in a different way.”
1 – Ross Lyon (St Kilda)
“At number one I think we have to recognise what Ross Lyon has done with St Kilda.
“Complimentary ball movement and a contested possession profile that most clubs would die for.
“They’re not winning it necessarily on the inside because they’re down a few members.
“But Steele is back this week, Membrey is back this week … we’re just going to see little additions week on week of prime talent.
“He’s already got them flying.”