Damian Drum - Football Career

Football Career

In 1994, Drum moved to Sydney, taking up a position as the assistant coach of the Sydney Swans Australian Football League club, under coach and former player Ron Barassi. After five years in this role, Drum was approached by Fremantle, who had not renewed the contract of their first coach, Gerard Neesham. Drum had been one of the most highly anticipated coaching recruits of the season, and some were surprised that he signed with the struggling Dockers. He had been expected to sign with the Collingwood Football Club the previous year, but the deal had fallen through.

Drum coached Fremantle for three seasons, in which the side suffered a marked lack of success. In his first season, the club finished 15th (second-last). Though there was some slight improvement in his second season, in which Fremantle won several high-profile games, the club nevertheless struggled, and finished twelfth. However, it was the 2001 season, in which Fremantle lost the first 9 games under Drum that sealed Drum's fate. He was dismissed after Round 9, and replaced by former Fremantle player and inaugural club captain Ben Allan, who didn't fare much better, with the Dockers still winless after Round 17 in a 22-round season.

After losing the Fremantle job, Drum moved back to Victoria, and took up a position as coach of the Bendigo Diggers team in the Victorian Football League. The situation was similar to Fremantle – the Diggers, a relatively new club, lost the first eleven games of the season. At the end of the season, Drum decided to retire from football and move into politics, successfully seeking National pre-selection for the Victorian Legislative Council seat of North Western Province at the 2002 state election.