THEY might be sworn enemies for 120 minutes each weekend but the AFL’s 16 senior coaches are a close-knit bunch off the field, Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos said on Monday.

Roos revealed he had exchanged phone messages of support with embattled Richmond coach Terry Wallace in the wake of the Tigers’ round-four loss to Melbourne.

And he expressed sympathy for first-year Brisbane Lions coach Michael Voss, whose side suffered a 93-point loss to Geelong at Skilled Stadium on Sunday.

“There’s a lot of sympathy in the group because we’ve all been through it at different times in our careers,” he said.

“Even for the young guys with Vossy; he had a tough weekend and he’s learning the caper as well. I know Terry got a lot of phone calls from some of the other coaches.

“All the coaches have been really good at sticking together and have been pretty sympathetic when things don’t go the opposition teams’ way for a number of weeks.”

Roos said life for a coach of an elite sporting team was challenging and it was important to receive encouragement from others who had first-hand experience of those challenges.

“Unless you’re the coach of an AFL club… there’s not too many of us in Australia that know,” he said.

“You get great support generally from your own club and your assistant coaches, but it always helps to get some support from coaches who have been through – or are possibly going to go through – some of the situations you’re going through.”

But the Swans coach was happy to admit that his concern for the wellbeing of his fellow senior coaches only stretched so far.

“No disrespect to [North Melbourne coach] Dean Laidley, but I’m not unhappy I’m not playing against another team that’s 0-4 or 0-5,” Roos said, referring to Richmond’s drought-breaking win against the Kangaroos on Saturday night.

“Certainly the pressure’s a little bit off Richmond but we still know they’re going to come and play some really hard, tough footy.”