Andrew 'Mini' McQualter

[Ghost of 29]

Have been on the record stating we need a clean break from Dimma and still feel this way.
However Mini is doing a mighty job. Tactically we are much more like 2020, the endeavour is huge and the players appear to be really happy and enjoying their footy. That’s about as much as a coach can do to make a team successful.

 

[bengal tigers]

Mini is going well,but can he coach in his own right,he is still using the Dimma game plan with a couple of tweaks .
Can he be that coach that takes us forward into the future .
Looking at the post game interview with Cotch,he doesn't look that assertive .

 

[17]

Mini is going well,but can he coach in his own right,he is still using the Dimma game plan with a couple of tweaks .
Can he be that coach that takes us forward into the future .
Looking at the post game interview with Cotch,he doesn't look that assertive .

Because he didn't talk over the 300 gamer?
Methinks you may be reading a tad too much into that.

 

[Tigertool]

Normally you want a new coach to bring a new regime and sweep major changes. Due to this I've always been against caretaker coaches getting senior gigs.

However caretaker coaches aren't normally stand-ins for triple premiership coaches and I think given the buy in players had from Dimma that a small refresh and new message is the best option. Mini has seen what didn't work from 2014-16 and what worked from 2017-20. Paired with the fact the other assistant coaches out there probably don't have his experience and the players seem to love him it's starting to look like a no-brainer

 

[Ice]

Tom Morris on SEN (yeah I know, I know), but I heard him say that the odds of success from an interim coach who becomes permanent coach are very low (only Poosy succeeded at the Swans),

I hear this comment often but what about the odds of success of a 'new coach'. Not many of them turn out very successful.

Noble, Neeld, Rohde, Leppitch, Voss, Bailey, Primus, McKenna, Dew, McCartney, Richardson, Knights, Rutten, Watters, Harvey, Ratten, Longmuir, Cameron, Sanderson

 

[TigerForce]

Weird presser.
(referring to what was shown on FTA as I assume it was only a portion of it)

Mini took first 2 or 3 questions then Cotch seemed to do most of the talking.

Typical to a Gilquarters style presser you could bearly hear the questions.
Don't know if they were ALL directed to Cotch or he was steeping in and answering them.

Couple of times I actually thought he was the Coach.
Mini certainly dried up towards the end.
Spent most of it looking down and straight ahead.
If they had covered up the scoreboard you would have thought we lost.

Very strange presser.

He hasn't passed 7 minutes in his 4 games so far. He won't suck into them as Dimma did in the past with his humour.

 

[TigerForce]

I hear this comment often but what about the odds of success of a 'new coach'. Not many of them turn out very successful.

Noble, Neeld, Rohde, Leppitch, Voss, Bailey, Primus, McKenna, Dew, McCartney, Richardson, Knights, Rutten, Watters, Harvey, Ratten, Longmuir, Cameron, Sanderson

Yeah, stats schmats. Everyone's a 'new' coach whether you were previously interim or not. I always thought Clarko would be a failure but never was. Strange fact would be that top players fail more as coach as hacks did. I'm glad Mini wasn't a top player.

 

[AngryAnt]

Surprisingly good article for the AFL

The McQualter effect: How 'Mini' made a massive impact on Tigers

In three games, Andrew McQualter's tactical tweaks have revived Richmond's season. Cal Twomey investigates

www.afl.com.au

site... definitely explains our better ball security and fewer goals from turnovers. Putting Dusty and Cotch (along with Chimpa's better form) helps explain more clearances/contested ball wins but Mini has definitely made some significant changes while keeping the guts of the Tiger way he inherited from Dimma.

 

[AngryAnt]

Because he didn't talk over the 300 gamer?
Methinks you may be reading a tad too much into that.

Agree.

People used to over-analyse every utterance Dimma ever made when it was super-clear he had an standard narrative but then said anything that occurred to him at the time broadly within that.

 

[gold1]

Has there ever been a coach that has taken over the reins mid season and won a flag?What a story that would be...................

 

[CarnTheTiges]

Tom Morris on SEN (yeah I know, I know), but I heard him say that the odds of success from an interim coach who becomes permanent coach are very low (only Poosy succeeded at the Swans), HOWEVER, word is that Mini's situation with the players is totally different and way better with his players as Rhyce Shaw and Teague were with their players when transitioning to permanent coach.

A big difference is also how #lolnorf and Carlton parted with their former coaches as opposed to us. Shaw even said at the time he got the gig that he didn’t think he was ready.

 

[artball]

i like the way Mini is handling the press ...

remember he's a bloke that has stepped in unexpectedly as coach, but has been around the club 10 years ..

it's a curious mix.. but he knows the drill .. staying a bit quiet during the press conference was classy ..

 

[Baloo]

Not sure comparing mini to other stand-in coaches really holds much water. What transpired at Punt Rd was unique. A 14 year triple premiership coach decided he just didn't have it in him anymore and pulled the plug in the first half of the season. This is despite having the cattle to contend again this year. Most stand-ins are after a coach has been sacked and by that point the club/team would have been underperforming and in some turmoil when the stand-ins took over.

Mini is doing alright. Whether he gets the gig or not will depend on how good other candidates might be, but I reckon if he continues like this it will be tough to find someone better qualified.

If Mini is to stay, I reckon the key to his success will be the new assistants we get for him. Would love to see us lure Leppa back to be Mini's right hand man.

 

[St Kevin]

My theory is that the pressure was getting to Dimma after almost 14 years in the job. Remember, it took a long time to get us out of the quagmire we had been in for decades, then lift the team to the middle and eventually the top. I reckon he was stressed and tired and it rubbed off on the players.

Dimma took on a really difficult and challenging role, it was always going to be a long term project. Once they had reached the top he was probably ready to collapse from exhaustion.

McQualter is not the permanent coach, in some ways he's on a hiding to nothing, but in others he gets a certain freedom. The players look to be enjoying the game more, they look less pressured, and so does Hardwick. I reckon Hardwick is likely realising now just how much stress he has been burying for a long time and he needed and needs a fair break.

DS

Agree with all of this apart from the Mini piece. He's not your normal stand in, as Dimma's was not your usual coach departure. I think he's absolutely under consideration for the senior job.

 

[year of the tiger]

Why have most of our senior players gone from looking like they are all cooked and should all retire, to looking almost back to their very best? Is Mini that good a coach? or were they sick of listening to Dimma?

I’m finding the stark difference to the team since dimma left as bewildering.

It wasn’t bewildering to Dimma - he is a smart and honest coach, he could see it and that’s why he left.

He did what he thought was the best thing for the club imo, leaving so early meant the season was still alive.

 

[BillyJean17]

Mini is going well,but can he coach in his own right,he is still using the Dimma game plan with a couple of tweaks .
Can he be that coach that takes us forward into the future .
Looking at the post game interview with Cotch,he doesn't look that assertive .

Coll and Pa are using dimma game plan too , so your next point is ,

 

[BillyJean17]

Not sure comparing mini to other stand-in coaches really holds much water. What transpired at Punt Rd was unique. A 14 year triple premiership coach decided he just didn't have it in him anymore and pulled the plug in the first half of the season. This is despite having the cattle to contend again this year. Most stand-ins are after a coach has been sacked and by that point the club/team would have been underperforming and in some turmoil when the stand-ins took over.

Mini is doing alright. Whether he gets the gig or not will depend on how good other candidates might be, but I reckon if he continues like this it will be tough to find someone better qualified.

If Mini is to stay, I reckon the key to his success will be the new assistants we get for him. Would love to see us lure Leppa back to be Mini's right hand man.

There’d be very little chance of that as he’d be committed to McRae to see it thru ,,,lambo is a very good start , if Grigg was keen I’d snap him up or newy

 

[Baloo]

There’d be very little chance of that as he’d be committed to McRae to see it thru ,,,lambo is a very good start , if Grigg was keen I’d snap him up or newy

I'd prefer we get people with experience at other clubs and under other coaches. Especially the more senior assistant

 

[The_Celebrant]

the players appear to be really happy and enjoying their footy.

What was particularly telling was the sheer joy and excitement they all had when Vlastuin kicked his goal. That said a lot to me, as they all would have been extremely tired and soaking wet by that stage of the game.

 

[Brodders17]

Agree with all of this apart from the Mini piece. He's not your normal stand in, as Dimma's was not your usual coach departure. I think he's absolutely under consideration for the senior job.

Also I don't reckon most coaches who take over poor sides mid year are usually the highest regarded assistant coaches- not that their no good, but McQualter would have been a high chance to get any coaching gig that became available at the end of this year, even if Hardwick didn't pull the pin early.