AFL 360 co-hosts Gerard Whateley and Mark Robinson have defended Greater Western Sydney caretaker coach Mark McVeigh’s passionate post-match press conference.
McVeigh drew criticism from some within the AFL world for his withering take on many players’ performance during the 73-point Sydney derby loss, which he labeled “embarrassing” and accused players of “checking out”.
The interim coach interviewed for the position on Tuesday, but Whateley was puzzled by those who took issue with McVeigh’s post-match comments.
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“I’ve been really surprised by the reaction to his condemnation of a pitiful performance by a team in a big game,” he said.
“If you’re going to be the coach, if you’re going to live the role of the coach, you have to impose these standards and be prepared to tell these home truths.
“As I understand it, this was all said behind closed doors before it was said publicly and the real feedback was player-to-player; they drilled each other. Then he gave public voice to that.”
Robinson was of the view that, if anything, McVeigh’s honesty publicly could help him in his bid to become the side’s permanent senior coach, saying “I would’ve put that in my offering of ‘I want to coach, here it is, what have you got? I’ve got that.’”
McVeigh, 41, has been an assistant coach at the Giants since 2015.
His longevity at the club, Whateley said, meant his comments were within reason.
“He’s got long-term relationships with these players, I don’t think any of that would’ve been damaged,” he said.
“If he’d gone ‘Do you know what? This is the end of the season, I’m the interim coach, lets just leave that’, I’d be going ‘mate, you can’t be a coach’.”
Giants caretaker coach Mark McVeigh’s brutally honest assessment that his players “checked out” in the club’s 73-point Sydney derby loss have raised the eyebrows of pundits including a call for rivals to leverage the situation to try and raid his talent.
McVeigh didn’t hold back in his assessment of his team’s post-match performance, labeling it “embarrassing,” and even saying only eight players “went to the wall” and that the club has “got to shift the standards.”
It comes as several stars including Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper face uncertain futures at Western Sydney and have been linked to trade talks.
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And former Melbourne skipper Garry Lyon believes rivals should look to take advantage of McVeigh’s post-match comments in their bid to lure players out of the club.
“In the ruthless industry that we’re in, those comments for me also give Richmond, just for example, if you were interested in Tom Green before the weekend and those comments, then now you are going as hard as you possibly could – or Taranto or Hopper for that matter,” he said on SEN Breakfast.
“Whoever the teams are that are interested in them, you’re going ‘righto, this is where they see you, and here’s your opportunity’.”
Several Giants including Hopper and Taranto have been linked to trades (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
It comes after St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt feared McVeigh’s comments could cost the caretaker coach a full-time gig in 2023.
The Giants have now fallen to 3-7 under McVeigh since he took over from Leon Cameron in Round 10 including dropping their last four consecutive games to slide to 16th on the ladder.
And speaking on McVeigh’s bold statements on Fox Footy’s First CrackRoos legend David King questioned whether an interim boss was in a position to launch such a scathing assessment.
“They’re huge statements, and this is a bit of an awkward situation, it’s a caretaker coach. I know he’s been (in charge) for 10 weeks and there’s some frustration there … but I’m not convinced that a caretaker coach can make those sorts of grand statements,” King said.
“I’m not sure he can question the standards of your football club and (say) that they’ve got to shift, he can name only eight players and isolate the rest.
“(Saying), ‘We’ve going to find players who want to fight it out,’ I’m comfortable with that, of course, that’s the gig. But questioning whether players have checked out — they’re pretty bold statements and sweeping statements that go across a club.
“Gee whiz, I wonder whether the footy manager would grab him and say, ‘hey, listen, (saying we) embarrassed the club’s a bit strong. We’ve still got three weeks to finish off here. We still need a positive environment, we still need to challenge everyone to get better, absolutely.’
“But saying, ‘we’ve got to shift the standards of our football club’ is a poor reflection on the total club, not just not just the representation on field for that two hours.”
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Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna believes isolating the performances of eight players was the most damning, saying it “threw the other 14 under the bus”.
“The eight he mentioned were the leaders including Lachie Whitfield and Josh Kelly, who I didn’t think they had a huge influence,” Montagna said.
“Basically he’s throwing all the kids under the bus — James Peatling, Jacob Wehr, Leek Aleer, Xavier O’Halloran, Lachie Ash and Tom Green. They’re all still trying to find themselves as players.
“To not include them almost saying, ‘well, they didn’t go to the well for the team,’ I thought was a bit unfair. Start with the leaders, they need to change the culture of the footy club. He did mention a few of the younger ones who are coming up, Sam Taylor and Harry Perryman, but I think it needs to start right at the top.”
The Giants are 3-7 under McVeigh (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
Former St Kilda and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon also wasn’t a fan of McVeigh’s post-match criticism.
“Instinctively I didn’t like it at all, because you’re individualizing the ones who did and the ones that didn’t, and you’re distancing yourself,” he said on Triple M.
“I think there’s conversations you have behind closed doors. I didn’t like it at all… there’s three rounds to go, there’s things you often want to say as the senior coach, but you can be too honest.
“You can’t do that to your playing group… you lose them straight away. What’s the reason they’re like that? Your job is then to dive in and try and get to that and turn it around. I don’t know how that’s being achieved by saying it publicly.
“At the end of the day you’ve taken the reins, it can’t be all care and no responsibility. When you put your hand up to take the chair you can’t separate yourself.
“He’s a really strong character and really well respected, but just saying it doesn’t mean things are going to.
Mark McVeigh’s brutally honest assessment that his players “checked out” in the 73-point Sydney derby loss could cost him the Giants’ senior coaching job, Fox Footy’s Nick Riewoldt has warned.
McVeigh did not hold back in his post-match criticism, as he labeled the performance “embarrassing” and “extremely disappointing”, while stating only eight players “went to the wall” for four quarters.
Speaking about McVeigh’s stunning statement, Riewoldt said he feared the comments could cost the caretaker coach the full-time gig in 2023.
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“I think it puts a line through it (his coaching aspirations at GWS),” he said on Best on Ground.
“If that’s the concession that you’re making as a coach, that you think some of your players have checked out and you are responsible for getting the players up every week, I think it becomes very difficult for the club to say: ‘You ‘re the man going forward’.”
McVeigh remains in the running for the full-time job next season, reportedly alongside four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson, Melbourne’s Adem Yze and Richmond’s Adam Kingsley.
Fellow panelist and former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said he admired McVeigh’s honesty.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard those comments,” he said.
“That’s as honest as you can get.
GWS Giants press conference | 10:43
“That comment… I love to see that because that is absolutely honest. If that’s his opinion of him, and you’ve got to take that at face value, it’s a real challenge.
The Giants were smashed in all the stats that mattered, down -117 in disposals, -33 in inside 50s and -24 in tackles – including laying just six inside 50 for the match.
Riewoldt said the result isn’t a direct reflection on McVeigh’s ability as a coach, but raised questions about his connection with the players.
“It doesn’t mean that he can’t coach. But the ability to get this group up … how can the Giants, if they think the players have checked out under his coaching, how can they have confidence to make that appointment?” Riewoldt said.
“I think it puts them in a really difficult position to go and appoint him after that.”
Buckley said he now wanted to see what sort of response the Giants players had in the clash with Essendon.
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“The next couple of weeks will be what tells you about Mark McVeigh’s bona fides as a coach and his connection with those players because they will respond to that? Because there’s always something to play for,” he said.
“The response is going to say more than the comment.”
Earlier this month, McVeigh confirmed he would enter the race to become the Giants coach for 2023 and beyond.
(The club hierarchy) have been very open with me and terrific, they’ve been amazing and they’ve supported me,” he said.
“There are other coaches that they’ll be talking to, which is absolutely right (to do), and I’m just another one of those that are trying to win the role.
“I certainly know where it sits and I’m very clear on the approach going forward.”
GWS will face Essendon, the Western Bulldogs and Fremantle in the final three rounds.
