Chris Scott needed just two words to identify what made John Longmire an AFL coaching great …. evolution and adaptation.
The man who made his coaching debut with Geelong on the same weekend as the now former Sydney coach, and coached against him more times than anyone else, is an unashamed Longmire fan.
Having coached against him 24 times, the current Geelong coach said of Longmire today: “Consistency is the impressive part. There was never any doubt he was good but to continue to excel requires evolution and adaptation. He’s done that as well as anyone.”
Alastair Clarkson, a long-time close mate who matched wits with Longmire in the coaches box 23 times to rank #2 on his opposition list, echoed the Scott sentiments and told of the origins of the Longmire coaching principles.
It goes all the way back to 1987 when as aspiring North Melbourne teenagers Longmire and Clarkson travelled on the ill-fated ‘Battle of Britain’ tour for a so-called ‘friendly’ against Carlton at Lords, which become more a ‘foot-brawl’ and ended with seven players reported on 16 charges.
“Horse and I were really lucky that the first coach we played under (at North Melbourne) was John Kennedy Snr. And the thing ‘Kanga’ indoctrinated into us as players, which we took into coaching, was a fierce loyalty to club and teammate,” said the four-time Hawthorn premiership coach now in charge at North Melbourne.
“It’s got us into trouble occasionally, but our club has never been in any doubt about where we stood and what was most important.
“The other thing that always made him (Longmire) hard to coach against was his unerring commitment to the contest,” Clarkson said.
“Trends demand that you play a different way at times, but the lowest common denominator with him has always been a willingness to sacrifice for the team.
“The other thing he took from ‘Kanga’ is a hatred of white ants who eat away at your culture. ‘Horse’ has always been great at ensuring they didn’t each away at the Bloods’ culture.
“And if you’ve got those things in your make-up you’re always going to give yourself a chance, and he always did.”
The Longmire coaching journey, a week longer than the entire existence of the Gold Coast Suns and a year and a week longer than the GWS Giants, began in Round 1, 2011 when Sydney played Melbourne, coached by Dean Bailey, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the MCG.
It was the same day James Hird coached Essendon for the first time after Scott had taken charge of Geelong for the first time two days earlier to begin a season in which the coaching line-up included Neil Craig (Adelaide), Michael Voss (Brisbane), Brett Ratten (Carlton), Mick Malthouse (Collingwood), Mark Harvey (Fremantle), Alastair Clarkson (Hawthorn), Brad Scott (North), Matthew Primus (Port Adelaide), Damien Hardwick (Richmond), Ross Lyon (St Kilda), Rodney Eade (Western Bulldogs) and John Worsfold (West Coast).
A week later Guy McKenna led the Gold Coast Suns as they became the League’s 17th team, and 12 months on Kevin Sheedy was at the helm as the GWS Giants and made it 18 teams.
It’s a tough, tough caper which, when the ‘now’ factor and the game-by-game emotions and memories are forgotten, is all about numbers. And Longmire’s numbers are truly remarkable.
The now 53-year-old coached the Swans 333 times for a 208-3-122 win/loss record against 51 different opponents at 18 different venues.
Among 385 AFL coaches all-time, of which only 25 have coached 300 games or more, only 13 have got to 400, and only seven went beyond 500, Longmire is 22nd all-time at 333. And he’s one of only nine coaches to go 300-plus at the same club.
Of 56 who coached a minimum 150 games Longmire’s 63 per cent success rate is sixth best behind only Chris Scott (68.11%), Dick Reynolds (66.99%), Jock McHale (66.06%), Frank Hughes (65.08%) and Tom Hafey (64.75%).
His 28 finals, which delivered a 14-14 split, is ranked 11th all-time list behind only McHale (58), Mick Malthouse (52), Sheedy (43), Hafey (42), Allan Jeans (41), Reyolds (37), David Parkin (36), Ron Barassi (33), Hughes (30) and Chris Scott (30).
And among 44 Swans coaches all-time his 333 games is more than twice as many as all but Paul Roos’ 202. Rodney Eade (152), Ian Stewart (111) and Charles Pannam (108) are the only others to coach the red and white 100 times.
The 2012 premiership coach shares with Roos (2005), Jack Bissett (1933), Bert Howson (1918) and Charlie Ricketts (1909) the honor of taking the Swans to a premiership, and with five grand final appearances he heads Bissett (4), Roos (2), Ricketts (2), Eade (1), Bill Adams (1), Vic Belcher (1) and Bert Howson (1).
The Beginning
The John Longmire era at the Swans began in 2002 when he accepted an assistant-coaching position under Paul Roos. He replaced his long-time mentor in 2011, coaching his first game the day after Kristina Kennelly was tipped out as NSW Premier in the 2011 State election, to be replaced by Barry O’Farrell.
An MCG crowd of 33,951 saw Sydney and Melbourne play a draw to open their 2011 season after the Swans had led by 25 points just before three-quarter time.
Andrej Everitt, recruited from the Western Bulldogs over the summer, made his first appearance in Sydney colours to become Swans player #1367 and teenager Byron Summer, recruited from Woodville in the SANFL and the uncle of 21st-gamer Lewis Jetta, played his first and only game as player #1368.
The first Sydney side coached by John Longmire and captained by Adam Goodes and Jarrad McVeigh, in notional positions was:
FB: Nick Smith, Heath Grundy, Marty Mattner
HB: Jarrad McVeigh, Ted Richards, Rhyce Shaw
C: Lewis Jetta, Jude Bolton, Andrejs Everitt,
HF: Kieren Jack, Sam Reid, Ryan O’Keefe
F: Ben McGlynn, Adam Goodes, Gary Rohan
R: Shane Mumford, Josh Kennedy, Dan Hannebery
INT: Paul Bevan, Jesse White, Byron Sumner, Mark Seaby (sub)
Fittingly, Josh Kennedy won the first Sydney possession of the Longmire era, shooting out a handpass from the first bounce to Kieren Jack for the first kick.
Jarrad McVeigh fired a beautiful pass to Ben McGlynn for the first goal before McGlynn laid off the second goal for Adam Goodes. Second-gamer Sam Reid kicked the third and Everitt the fourth as it was Sydney by 13 points at quarter-time, nine points at halftime and 14 points at three-quarter-time.
Melbourne’s Lyndon Dunn kicked the first major of the final term before Jude Bolton converted after a brilliant one-handed mark falling backwards and Liam Jurrah goaled for the home side.
Brad Green, now president at Melbourne, soccered one off the ground from the goal square to put his side in front for the first time.
From a ball-up 15m from Sydney goal Shane Mumford tapped it cleverly to Ryan O’Keeffe but his hurried left-foot snap flew just left and there it finished. It was 11.18 (84) apiece.
O’Keefe had 31 possessions (21 contested), 10 clearances and seven tackles – all game-high – to collect three Brownlow Medal votes, while McVeigh (22), Jack (21) and Grundy (21) also topped 20 possessions. McGlynn kicked a game-high three goals for one medal vote, while Brent Moloney polled two votes for the Dees.
This group, from 19-year-olds Reid, Gary Rohan and Sumner to 31-year-olds Bolton and Goodes, were the first 22 of 113 players to play under Longmire over 14 years. Or 7.77 per cent of the all-time Swans playing list.
Luke Parker, who debuted in Longmire’s seventh game in Round 8, played most games under the man known throughout the football world as ‘Horse’, and kicked the last two goals of the Longmire rein in the 2024 grand final. He was one of 26 who played 100-plus games in that time.
The “Longmire Long-Termers” were:
293 – Luke Parker
251 – Dane Rampe
249 – Jake Lloyd
253 – Josh Kennedy
208 – Harry Cunningham
201 – Isaac Heeney
186 – Heath Grundy
185 – Kieren Jack, Tom Papley
182 – Nick Smith
180 – Sam Reid, Dan Hannebery
178 – Jarrad McVeigh
172 – Lance Franklin
168 – Ollie Florent
163 – Will Hayward
162 – Callum Mills
132 – Tom McCartin
128 – Ted Richards, Nick Blakey
120 – George Hewett
117 – James Rowbottom
113 – Ben McGlynn
107 – Lewis Jetta
105 – Robbie Fox
104 – Martin Mattner
As he stepped down from the top job this week Longmire had coached through the reign of six NSW Premiers – Keneally, O’Farrell (2011-14), Mike Baird (2014-17), Gladys Berejiklian (2017-21), Dominic Perrottet (2021-23) and Chris Minns (2023-now). And he’d worked through seven Australian Prime Ministers – Julia Gillard (2011-13), a returning Kevin Rudd (2013), Tony Abbott (2013-15), Malcolm Turnbull (2015-18), Scott Morrison (2018-22) and Anthony Albanese (2022-now).
The Longmire Era – The AFL landscape
John Longmire coached through a period in which 1288 players made their AFL debut, 1893 AFL players wore new colors for the first time, and 18 AFL clubs shared 76 different coaches.
In contrast to Sydney and Geelong, who had one coach through this period, Adelaide and Essendon have had eight, Carlton, Melbourne and North Melbourne seven, and Gold Coast six.
Sydney has ‘blooded’ the least number of new players during the Longmire era at 87, including 22 imports, which is two fewer than Adelaide and four fewer than Geelong. Gold Coast (149), GWS (129) and Carlton (113) sit at the other end of the scale.
The Longmire Era - Finals
During Longmire’s 14 years in charge Sydney made the finals 12 times – equal with Geelong (12) and ahead of Collingwood (8), GWS (8), Richmond (8), West Coast (8), Hawthorn (7), Port (7), Bulldogs (7), Brisbane (6), Essendon (5), Fremantle (5), Adelaide (4), Carlton (4), Melbourne (4), North (4) and St Kilda (3).
Sydney has played 28 finals – second only to Geelong (30) and ahead of Collingwood (21), GWS (21), Hawthorn (19), West Coast (17), Brisbane (16), Richmond (16), Port (15), Bulldogs (13), Fremantle (11), Adelaide (10), Melbourne (10), Carlton (8), North (8), Essendon 5) and St Kilda (4).
And Sydney has won 13 finals – equal with Geelong (13) and Hawthorn (13), and ahead of Collingwood (12), GWS (10), Richmond (10), Brisbane (9), West Coast (9), Bulldogs (7), Adelaide (5), Fremantle (5), Carlton (4), North (4) and St Kilda (1).
The Longmire Era - Venues
Longmire has split his 333 games as coach over 18 venues, headed by 137 games at the SCG – more than any player except Adam Goodes (143) has played there. Michael O’Loughlin (136) and Jude Bolton (128) are next.
His game count at other venues is MCG (43), Marvel Stadium (40), Olympic Stadium (22), Adelaide Oval (14), Gabba (12), Carrara (12), Geelong (10), Subiaco (10), Perth Stadium (9), Sydney Showgrounds (8), Football Park (5), Launceston (3), Hobart (3), Cairns (2), Canberra (1), Mt Barker (1) and Wellington (1).
Of the ‘active’ AFL venues during his time, he never coached at Alice Springs, Darwin, Ballarat, Townsville or Norwood Oval.
He had a 50 per cent record or better at every venue except the MCG, where he was 20-1-22 from 43 visits, and was unbeaten in Hobart (3-0), Canberra (1-0) and Wellington in New Zealand (1-0).
And he was a delight for Sydney-based Swans members, delivering a twice in every three times his side played within driving distance at the SCG, Olympic Stadium and Sydney Showgrounds, going 110-2-55 for 66.7 per cent strike-rate.
Elsewhere on a state-by-state basis, he was unbeaten in the ACT and New Zealand, went at 83.3 per cent in Tasmania, 60.0 per cent in South Australia, 57.9 per cent in Western Australia, 57.7 per cent in Queensland and 57.6 per cent in Victoria.
The Longmire Era – By the Margins
In 333 games under Longmire the Swans had an aggregate percentage of 119.6 per cent. They topped 100 points 114 times while conceding 100 points just 42 times, were 6-1 in games decided by 100 points or more and were 59-11 in 50-point games.
Highest Score & Biggest Win
The Swans highest score and biggest win under Longmire were both recorded in his 297th game which was against West Coast, coached by his long-time North Melbourne teammate Adam Simpson, at the SCG in Round 15, 2023.
The Swans won 31.19 (205) to 5.4 (34) to inflict the biggest loss and highest opposition score on the club with which they shared an extraordinary rivalry through the mid-2000s, when six games in a row between the clubs were decided by four points or less. Sydney won the 2005 grand final by four points and West Coast won the 2006 grand final by one point.
The Swans kicked the first two goals, conceded one and kicked the next eight. But when the Eagles kicked the next three to make it 10.6 to 4.1 midway through the second term it was at least a contest between sides that sat 15th and 18th on the ladder.
But the Swans piled on an astonishing 18 goals in a row from 15 minutes into the third quarter until 15 minutes into the last. And after Oscar Allen momentarily stemmed the onslaught the home side kicked the last three.
Among 12 different goal-kickers Isaac Heeney bagged an equal career-best five to lead the way from Logan McDonald (4), Joel Amartey (4), Errol Gulden (3), Justin McInerney (3) and Hayden McLean (3).
In a team possession count that favoured the Swans 440-300 Chad Warner (33) and Errol Gulden (32) topped the list from seventh-gamer Angus Sheldrick (29), Luke Parker (28) and James Rowbottom (27). And the Brownlow Medal votes went to Gulden (3), Heeney (2) and Warner (1).
It was the biggest win in Swans history and the second-highest score, behind only the 36.20 (236) to 11.7 (73) against Essendon at the SCG in 1987.
Opposition Coaches
Longmire coached against 52 different opposition coaches. Chris Scott (24) and Alastair Clarkson (23) head the games list from Leon Cameron (19), Damien Hardwick (17), Brad Scott, Ken Hinkley and Ross Lyon (15), Luke Beveridge (14), Adam Simpson and Nathan Buckley (12), Simon Goodwin (11), John Worsfold and Brett Ratten (10).
He had a 50 per cent win/loss record or better against all but 11 opponents, and was unbeaten against 20 of them. He was 6-0 against long-time assistant Matthew Nicks, Swans predecessor Rodney Eade and Alan Richardson, 4-0 against Kevin Sheedy, Guy McKenna and Brendan McCartney, and 3-0 against long-time mentor Paul Roos, Sam Mitchell and Justin Leppitsch.
Oddly, the only three opposition coaches he never beat were Richmond caretaker coach Andrew McQualter, who will take charge at West Coast next year, Fremantle’s Mark Harvey, and Richmond’s 2024 wooden-spoon coach Adem Yze.
Club by Club
Longmire enjoyed a positive win/loss record against 13 of 17 opposition clubs. He enjoyed his best record against the club where he played 200 games – North Melbourne – going 16-3. And he was 12-3 against West Coast, coached for a long time by his ex-North teammate and good friend Adam Simpson.
He coached most often against GWS, enjoying a 19-10 record against the cross-town rivals.
The four clubs where he finished at less than 50 per cent were Geelong (47.9 per cent), Port Adelaide (47.1 per cent), Richmond (44.4 per cent) and Hawthorn (44.0 per cent).
Finals
In the cut-throat world of AFL finals, where a 50 per cent split is better than most, he was 2-0 against Collingwood and Adelaide, 1-0 against Essendon, Melbourne, Port Adelaide and St Kilda, and 1-1 against Carlton and North Melbourne. He went 1-2 against Geelong and Fremantle, was 1-3 against Hawthorn and GWS, 0-1 against Brisbane and the Western Bulldogs, and never coached a final against Richmond, West Coast and Gold Coast (as the latter have never played finals).
Streaks
Longmire’s longest winning streak was 12 games in a row from Round 5-17 in 2014, and 16 from 17 when, after a 10-point loss to Hawthorn, Sydney won the next four. He also won nine games on the trot from Round 10-19 in 2012, and in 2017 won seven straight from Rounds 12-18 and then 12 from 13 after a six-point loss to Hawthorn.
He was six years in the job before he lost three games in a row, and only twice lost four or more in row. His worst losing streak was seven games from the 2016 grand final through to Round 6 in 2017, when the Swans defied the odds and went on to play finals.
