New North Melbourne coach Jaymie Graham was told “to just be himself” by club officials before facing the media for the first time in his new role on Tuesday.
Truth be told, a relaxed Graham, 43, was already doing that for the previous 10 minutes, sipping on a coffee and enjoying a relaxed chat with midfield coach Michael Barlow at the back of the common room at Arden Street, as the bright lights awaited.
After the tumult of the Alastair Clarkson sacking last month, amid claims players were confused about the game plan and mixed messaging, the Kangaroos were after a strong but caring people manager, who could deliver a modern game plan understood by a younger generation of player, and their sometimes short attention spans.
In Graham, a former West Coast Eagles player, and a man just pipped at the post for the recent senior coaching roles at Carlton and Essendon, the Kangaroos believe they have the right man – their seventh coach since the start of the 2019 season, including Brad Scott.
“Throughout the process, it became clear that Jaymie had really strong values alignment to North Melbourne. He demonstrated a very clear vision for our football program and playing style, underpinned by his principles of high care and high accountability,” Kangaroos chief executive Jen Watt said.
This was a feel-good press conference, gone were the daggers club president Sonja Hood and football department boss Todd Viney threw, inadvertently or otherwise, at Clarkson last month.
Graham, most recently Fremantle’s forward-line coach, was flanked only by Watt. The symmetry wasn’t lost on anyone, nor was Clarkson’s departure, with Watt forced to answer multiple questions on why the four-time premiership coach (at Hawthorn) was dumped despite having a year left on his contract, and his emotional response.
Watt handled these diplomatically, and attention soon swivelled back to Graham, who hasn’t yet had a chance to say goodbye to the Dockers after their losing grand final barely 10 days ago.
Graham spoke of the influence his grandparents had on him while growing up in the Western Australia mining town of Kalgoorlie, his junior years with the Mines Rovers Football Club, his football life through the WAFL, his short 37-game career with West Coast, and his years as an assistant coach, beginning with St Kilda and culminating with the Dockers.
He said his journey had shaped him, for he could empathise with players. His career was impacted by injury, while there was heartbreak of a different kind in 2006, when he missed the Eagles’ premiership, making way for David Wirrpanda’s return in the grand final. Graham, a defender and ruckman, had played 24 of 25 games until that point of the season.
“All I’ll say is my experiences previously give my give me diversity as a coach. I didn’t have the 300-game, two-premiership playing career of some others, but I’ve got life experiences,” Graham said.
“I’ve been coaching for 15 years and been in a number of environments, and I just think it helps you connect. It helps you show empathy when you need to, and share your experiences and help guide these young people that we’re coaching.”
While Graham had recently been overlooked by the Blues and Bombers, he was highly rated by both, and was in the mix to replace Nathan Buckley at Collingwood in 2021. Now it was his turn to shine, having beaten Buckley, David Hale, Daniel Giansiracusa and Kangaroos assistant Xavier Clarke to lead a team which appears ready to, excuse the pun, make a leap.
In a damning assessment of Clarkson, Hood, the club president, had said players were a “little bit confused” by his instructions, and that the club “need to get right when we talk to the next coach to bring us in line with where the modern game is right at the moment”.
Graham didn’t provide specifics when asked what his version of a modern game plan looked like, but pointed to his time with the Dockers. Fair call. There was this caveat, however.
“There’ll be some new things that I’ve got philosophies on, and we’ll try and implement. And it could be a little bit clunky,” Graham said, with many players, including captain Nick Larkey and three-time best and fairest Harry Sheezel, having broken from their holidays to meet and greet their new coach.
“When I presented, [I said] it’ll be like driving a manual car, for the older people in the room that learnt with one, but, you know, it might be clunky a bit early days, but I’m sure, and I’m confident, that the people that we have in the room, the players that we got, and my philosophies will head in the right direction.”
He has already coached three games at AFL level, having covered for Adam Simpson at West Coast in 2018, and another two in 2022 for the Dockers when Justin Longmuir was unavailable because of COVID-19.
In a year when he has been in demand, Graham has racked up plenty of frequent flyer points , and now it’s time for his excited wife Kasey, daughter Neve, football-playing son Hudson and his much younger sister Candy to make the move. He said there were similarities between Fremantle, a “port city, blue collar” and the Shinboners’ vibe of Arden Street.
Graham has left “Wharfie Time” behind. It’s now time, as Watt put it, to get “Northie Time” moving. Let the music begin.
Jon Pierik is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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