AFL Coaches Association chief Danny Frawley talks about the role of the association, coaching reviews, the media's treatment of Terry Wallace in his last months at Punt Road and whether he could ever see himself back at an AFL club.

You are just over six months into your job. How are you finding the role as chief executive of the AFL Coaches Association?
It's certainly all-consuming, but in saying that, it's also very exciting. Since its inception in 2002, it's probably fair to say we haven't all been on the same page as coaches, but I think now we've really been able to cement the association.

The 16 senior coaches are probably what gives the association its profile, but we've now got over 100 full-time assistants, so it's really grown.

The AFL has given us some funds and what we're about is trying to grow the game. We want to make sure that our coaches are accessible to the community, so we go out to things like coaching courses and award nights all over Australia.

One of our main priorities is working to create a clear pathway to coaching. This year, with Sportsready and the AFLPA, we're putting Adam Simpson through a pilot program to give him some coaching education and a real feel for what it's like to coach while he's still playing. So when he retires he's got something underneath him to go on with.

One of your goals when you took up the job was to work on getting some minimum terms and conditions in place for assistant coaches in the AFL. Have you been able to make any progress there?
We like to refer to them as guiding principles rather than terms and conditions and we have, but it's still an ongoing process. We thought it would have been a little bit simpler, but it is very hard to please everyone. By that I mean the AFL and more importantly the 16 AFL clubs.

We want to make sure that the coaches – who have an average age of about 38, with young families, doing an all-consuming job – get a day off in season and that probably hasn't been happening.

It's also important that we establish a minimum contract of two years because we want to make sure that they have that security.

You've also spoken a lot about helping coaches through the transitional period after leaving a job. Using Terry Wallace as an example, what sort of concrete things can you do to help a senior coach through that period?
One thing we did was to get people ringing Terry to help him work out where he wanted to take the chapter of his career.

We'll have some consultants in to help with that because all that's confidential. We've got a very good program that the Slade Group put together with Chandler McLeod and Drake, so we've got some really good companies for him to call on.

They'll go through a process of where they want to be in three or four years time and sometimes that can take three or four months for a senior coach because when you're coaching you think you're going to coach forever.

But the average lifespan of a coach is six years, so it's not a long time as far as their whole journey in life goes. There are some exciting things out there but it is pretty daunting, so we've got some really good practical measures in place.

Given that Terry took over from you at Richmond, have you found it a slightly strange scenario to be in?
No, not really. I'll just deal with it as a professional. I suppose the beauty of what I went through is that it's something that I can call on for the guys just to give them some hints on what they may or may not feel. There is a down time in an emotional sense because you're adrenalin is on fire win, lose or draw as a coach.

You know what's happening from one minute to the next as a senior coach and when that's taken away from you, you've just to keep active and keep in front of people.

It's important not to jump at the first thing that comes across the table. Coaches are competitive beasts and they want to be seen to be very active. From that perspective I've got some experiences I can draw on because I've been through that scenario.

But it's just a coincidence that Terry was the first senior coach I helped transition.

Dean Laidley has also departed his club recently, but on his own terms. Does that make any difference to the process and services that you offer?
No, it doesn't. We've had them both in and we're going through that process with both of them.

The AFLCA had previously looked favourably on the idea of giving senior coaches a deadline clause in the final year of their contracts before Laidley and North Melbourne parted ways. Did the way his departure play out cause a rethink?
Yeah, we've had a chat about it since the Dean Laidley scenario and we're getting rid of that clause for senior coaches. What we're going to put in for assistant coaches is an August 1 deadline because we think they should be given some indication of how they're going by then.

But a senior coach's contract will be between his management, the coach and club. If they want to put a clause in like that then that's fine, but we don't think the clause is great because it puts too much pressure on the club and the coach.

The clause is great in theory, but the media love it. If the coach has got a clause where he needs to know by July 1, then it's great for him if he's flying and he's got a couple of club's that want to get him. But if he's in the last year of his contract and he's not going well both he and the club will find themselves under a lot of pressure.

Also what'll happen is down the track clubs will say, 'okay if you want a clause in to know by July 1st then we'll only give you a two-and-a-half year contract. We'll contract you until July 1st and if you're not going any good then we'll just get an assistant in for the rest of the year'.

It's been a bit of a test case actually. We had a look at it and it looked good in theory, but it's out now.

You've obviously got a media profile yourself with your work on radio and television, how have you found the two roles have sat together?
It's AFLCA Monday to Friday and it works well because I'm talking footy all the time. I think it actually adds to both areas, to be perfectly honest. I get a great insight into what happens at the AFL and at AFL clubs that I can translate into the media and can also boost the profile of the association through the media.

I've always been a guy when I'm working in the media that looks at the positives rather than the negatives. I think there's enough negative publicity, press and media scenarios going around without me jumping on board. I'm a strong advocate of coaching and so I should be.

I've been a coach, I've been transitioned and now I'm working with them. I think it's a win-win for both parties.

You mentioned that there's a heap of media comment on coaches whether they be good, bad or indifferent. Have you ever found yourself in an uncomfortable situation where, for example, your colleagues are being critical of a coach?
I just back it up with the facts. People talk about Mick Malthouse and we want Mick to coach for the next 10 years.

We find it frustrating as an association how everyone's jumped on board getting young coaches. Yes, they're very good, but in soccer is Alex Ferguson, who just coached Manchester United to the title, a good coach? Is Phil Jackson, who just coached the Lakers to the NBA title, a good coach? The answer is yes. Are they older? Yes. Does the same apply to AFL football at the moment? No.

Why? There's a perception out there and the average age of a coach has dropped from 49 since the days of Kevin Sheedy, David Parkin, Leigh Matthews and Denis Pagan, down to 44 now.

We think Mick's an outstanding coach … he's coached for 26 years and out of those 26 years he's had 22 winning seasons. We look at a coach as having a winning season with a win-loss ratio of 50 per cent or better.

Has Mick coached as many premierships as Kevin Sheedy? No. Has he got a better winning season scenario than Kevin Sheedy? Yes. We think that Mick Malthouse has been an outstanding coach and will continue to be so.

We just find it quite interesting how clubs put a criterion in that they want a young developing coach, but I would have thought clubs want to get the best coach.

In rugby league, for example, they haven't put a young coach in for 10 years, but they've probably gone too much the other way. As an association we just want to see a balance.

We just find it amazing that a coach like Neale Daniher, who had an outstanding record of six finals series out of 10 seasons and would be better for the run second time around, we find it interesting how his name doesn't get mentioned in dispatches.

The media coverage of Terry's last month or so in charge went a bit over the top at times. Does the AFLCA have a role to play in trying to speak out to dampen that sort of frenzy or is it just the nature of the beast?
We could try and I think the coaches were really supportive [in speaking out against] a couple of headlines, but the media are there to do a job. The coaches understand that and they want to get a balance, but they don't always get that.

As an association I think we'll just support behind the scenes. I don't think we can put a dampener on anything and I think the media has got the right to call it as they see it. The coaches need to understand that.

They also need to understand that the reason they're getting so well paid is because of the broadcasting rights. You can't have your cake and eat it too and I think they're getting more savvy with that.

The coaches are required to make themselves available for a certain number of media appearances pre- and post-match. Has that been universally accepted by the group?
The access policy of the broadcaster was an interesting one. Probably the timing of it wasn't great, but in saying that, coaches have to understand that with the next broadcast rights – let's hope that it's greater than what they're getting now – because if it's not the first thing to go will probably be a few assistant coaches if the economy stays the way it is.

The senior coaches have to be really supportive of trying to build up the broadcasting scenarios. Gillon McLachlan and Sam Walch came over to our meeting in March and it was a pretty spirited meeting, but in saying that, in the end the coaches agreed to do an extra six scenarios for each broadcaster which was outstanding.

The players do a lot and try to beef up the broadcasters to make sure their coverage is world's best practice and I think it is. I think the coaches now see that they're all fluffy pieces and a few may have thought there were going to be a few negative stories there, but I think the broadcasters and the coaches should be commended because they've been portrayed in a really positive light.

I'm fascinated by the dynamics of a meeting involving the 16 AFL coaches because they're all very strong-willed individuals.
I think the first one was very spirited, but I think the main thing we need to do in the future is leave the egos at the door. Leave the ego at club land and we're all here on the same page for a couple of hours.

I think that's going to get better and I know I'm going to be better for the run after the first meeting.

They're not going to be rolled over by any stretch, nor do we expect any coach to, but we've just got to make sure we speak for the majority. We're a collective voice on behalf of the coaches and if there's one or two issues that a coach has got then they need to bring that up.

If there's a scenario where a new law is going to be brought in and most coaches don't agree with it then it's our duty, on behalf of all the coaches, to be a collective voice.

That's a bit of a juggling act, but at the end of the day, we're all here for a common purpose – to make sure that AFL is the most-watched sport in Australia.

Have you found that the coaches are taking up that opportunity to use the association as a forum to air their views?
I have. There have been some really good scenarios where we'll flick out an email and we'll get a really good response.

One of the positives of our Association this year is that we've formed a partnership with the Justice Department and the Victorian Government in being ambassadors for the Championship Move initiative.

It's all about targeting 18 to 25-year-olds and I think AFL coaches are a good fit for that because they're dealing with 18 to 25-year-olds every day of their working life.

Yes, they're elite performers these guys, but I think we can send a really strong message for the community to say that the landscape has changed out there and you need to look after your mates. It's as simple as that.

Be a leader and if there is trouble, get them out of there, and try and diffuse the situation.

What's the biggest challenge for the association moving forward?
Eventually we'd like to be like the League Managers Association in England or the NBA Coaches Association where coaches are employed for a certain amount of time and they get superannuation that reflects that.

There's no superannuation in football and, yes, they get well-paid, but we've got to understand that guys like Tony Elshaug and Mark Riley have been very good assistant coaches for 20 years, but once they leave there's no golden handshake.

We'd love to be able to provide some funds for those guys going forward for their years of service.

Unfortunately we haven't got the funding for that at the moment, so that's the big challenge for us.

Finally do you ever foresee a time when you'd go back and work at an AFL club? 
No, not really. I really enjoy what I'm doing and I have a really good balance at the moment with work and family.

I enjoyed my time in club land and I've had a few knocks on the door, but at this stage I'm really happy and enthusiastic about getting the association off the ground. I'm pretty lucky to be still involved in football.