WHEN veteran football coach John Northey sat down with Ballarat Football Club president Shane Manley one night to calculate just how many games the former Sydney, Melbourne, Richmond and Brisbane head had coached, they weren’t entirely sure what numbers they would come up with.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But, after crunching numbers for all AFL, AFL pre-season, international, VFL, WAFL, QAFL, Sydney District, VCFL interleague and Ballarat league games over 41 years, and not including practice matches, the pair discovered it would pass the 800 mark this season.
By happy coincidence, Northey will help direct the Simonds Swans at Alfredton Oval for game number 800 against Redan, the club that was his first coaching commission in Victoria back in 1974 after moving home from Sydney.
While technically Shane Hutchinson has been the “senior coach” at Ballarat the past two years, just as Shaun O’Loughlan was prior to that, Manley says the numbers are valid as Northey has remained the “head coach”.
“As far as we’re concerned it is a continuation of his record, in addition to allowing our young playing-coaches to assume more responsibility,” Manley said.
“He is still actively involved at selection, on training nights and on game day, managing things from the bench.
“He’s still revered in the same light here as he was seven years ago.”
AT A GLANCE
JOHN NORTHEY
Coaching: 799 games, including: 315 AFL games, 36 pre-season, six international, 40 VFL reserves (St Kilda), 240 BFL (with Redan and Ballarat), plus WAFL, QAFL and representative games.
None
Follow @GavMcGrath17
None
