Friday 16 May 2014

2014 Round 10, Three quarter time.


Vale Tom Hafey.
The supporters of 4 VFL clubs, as well as many other Aussie Rules fans can be glad that Tom Hafey decided to don a pair of footy boots.
Always destined to be a Tiger, he was born in Richmond on 5th August 1931 and played his first football with East Malvern.

Tom actually had a fairly short playing career with only 67 games and 10 goals from 1953 to 1958 at Richmond.

 
His forte was obviously as a coach and he cut his teeth at Shepparton in the Goulburn Valley league.  He got them to the grand final in 1961 (which they lost) and then led them to 3 premierships in a row from 1963 to 1965.
Talk of his success got back to his old club and when they were looking for a new coach in 1966, Tom got the nod.  With his fitness regime being legendary, he imposed this on the players and it had great results as they won their first flag in over 25 years in 1967.
Leading the club to a further 3 premierships in 1969, 1973 and 1974 he coached them in a total of 248 games for 173 wins 2 draws and 73 losses; a winning percentage of 70%.
After 11 years at the helm, a poor performance in 1976 saw Tom move on from the club and take up the reins at Collingwood.
Tom was with the Magpies from 1977 till 1982 and from 1977 to 1981 they finished the season second on 4 occasions and third once.  His overall tally as coach there was 138 games for 89 wins 2 draws and 47 losses; a winning percentage of 64%.
Once again a bad start to the year in 1982 saw him replaced and he moved on to his third club at Geelong.  Here he was in control of 66 games between 1983 and 1985 for 31 wins and 35 losses; a winning percentage of 47%.
Coming off 9th position in 1982 the players seemed to respond to Toms coaching style and they won their first four games in 1983 but unfortunately from then on the consistency dropped and they again finished 9th.
In his last 2 years at the club they finished 6th on the ladder and could have done better had they not been hampered by injuries and suspension of top players.
In 1986 a cashed up Sydney were looking for a coach and Tom took the challenge to move north.  He was with the Swans from 1986 to 1988 and in that time they played 70 games for 43 wins and 27 losses; a winning percentage of 61%.
His cause was certainly helped by the ability to ‘go shopping’ for a number of out of contract or disgruntled players.  Two of these were Greg Williams, who had played under Tom at Geelong and Gerard Healy from Melbourne; both of whom became Brownlow Medalists (in 1986 and 1988 respectively).
Tom’s coaching career ended in 1988 with 522 games for 336 wins 4 draws and 182 losses; a winning percentage of 64%.
There is no doubt that Tom Hafey had an influence on many footballers from 1953 to 1988 and beyond, and will be remembered as a coach that, whilst sometimes hard, could really relate to his players and seemed to be able to get the best out of them.
He was recognised as a true great of the game by being inducted into the Australian Football Hall Of Fame in 1996.

Good bye Tom, and thanks for everything.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment

If there are any items about Aussie rules history/players etc. you would like me to present in my blog please let me know.