John Coleman (Australian Footballer) - Coleman The Coach

Coleman The Coach

Coleman's business and family life took an unexpected turn in 1961, when Essendon — who, in recent times, were being increasingly referred to as "the Gliders", rather than "the Bombers", because of their poor performances at the business end of the season — considered replacing Dick Reynolds as coach (he had been at Essendon for 27 years, 21 as coach), and declared the coaching position open. Essendon received three applications for the coaching position: 1960 coach Dick Reynolds, 1960 team captain Jack Clarke, and John Coleman (then 32 and out of football for 6 years), who had been persuaded to apply despite having no coaching experience. Coleman was not the committee's unanimous choice, with both Reynolds and Clarke receiving some support, but he received almost a two to one majority of the final vote.

Coleman was appointed coach on a day of mixed emotion; his father had died the day before.

Coleman's brief was to inject more vigor into the side and get them to play as Coleman had done. He proved to be a clever tactician, eschewing the histrionics of a "hot-gospelling" style, instead concentrating his efforts on quietly harnessing the individual talents of his players, expressing the view that team spirit was, to him, just as important as physical fitness for eventual team success.

Coleman was unable to supervise his first training session until 6 April 1961 (the first home-and-away match was 15 April 1961), because he had come down with hepatitis on his return to Australia, following a two months holiday with Monica in India and Sri Lanka.

After a disappointing first season when the team seemed to have trouble adjusting to his style (having had 22 years of Reynolds' approach, that is not astonishing), Coleman surprised many by leading the Bombers to the premiership in 1962. The team performed brilliantly, losing only two games for the year and crushing Carlton in the Grand Final.

During his playing days Coleman had developed a special loathing for umpires and they were often the target of his venomous tongue as a coach.

Essendon suffered a premiership hangover and finished fifth in 1963, then were eliminated in the first semi final of 1964. Another flag followed in 1965, when Essendon achieved the rare feat of winning from fourth place. With two premierships in the bag as a coach, Coleman could rest assured that his reputation was secure.

By now, his health had begun to cause him some concern. The knee injury prevented him from actively participating in training and he suffered badly from thrombosis. He reluctantly agreed to return for the 1967 season. The Bombers missed the finals, and Coleman then handed the coaching job over to Jack Clarke.