Someone who, when they spoke, people listened.
Like Meninga, who will coach the start-up Perth Bears, Sheedy was in his 60s at the time – 61 to be exact.
After coaching Essendon to four premierships in a glorious 27-year run, Sheedy had been out of the caper for two years when appointed in 2010. He had two years to get GWS ready for its first premiership match in March of 2012.
Many in AFL circles thought he was too old. By the time the Giants played a competition match, it was four full seasons since his last match as head coach. In the cut and thrust of the AFL, that was seen as an eternity.
Meninga is 65 next month, and will turn 67 during the Bears first season.
He has not coached an NRL team since the Raiders in 2001 and was not successful. His coaching success came with the Maroons’ golden run in State of Origin, and, to a lesser extent, the Kangaroos.
As coach of Australia, he suffered some significant losses to Tonga and New Zealand over the years, but he did a wonderful job restoring the Kangaroos’ ‘brand’, and driving the return of the Kangaroo Tour to England, which will take place later this year, now with a different task master.
New frontiers … Mal Mennga and Kevin Sheedy.Credit: SMH/Aresna Villanueva
His age should matter little, as Sheedy proved. Throw in Wayne Bennett (75) and Craig Bellamy (65) and we have enough evidence the job can be done by those of pension age.
The question remains though about his lack of NRL head coach time. Representative coaching and club coaching are two vastly different beasts, as Michael Maguire can attest to.
The GWS podcast explores how Sheedy went about his role. Yes, he was head coach, but he was surrounded by assistants who did most of the heavy lifting.
Key was Mark Williams, the Port Adelaide premiership-winning coach, who acted as much more than assistant.
Sheedy spent most of his time whipping up a frenzy about the new team in a hostile environment.
Meninga can handle himself in the media. But Sheedy is a master.
He got stuck into the Swans, rugby league, rugby union, even AFL head office which appointed him. He was in search of buzz and noise. One-liners made front and back page news. Any publicity was good publicity.
He took no prisoners but he was also humorous, and the way he went about it was likeable.
With unending energy, he spent significant time nurturing sponsors and wooing business heavyweights.
Before taking the role, Sheedy and his wife Stephanie were considering a six or 12-month sabbatical in the south of France or Italy as they headed toward retirement, free from the day-to-day rigours of a high-profile role at a massive club in the AFL. A decompress.
When he decided to take the job, he and Stephanie threw away their romantic idea of a European sojourn and were in, boots and all.
They moved to Sydney immediately, a full two years ahead of the team’s entry into the competition.
‘Sheedy had no interest in taking the job to boost his retirement savings. He wanted to be the ultimate disruptor.’
Rather than strolling through the vineyards of France or Tuscany, the pair woke each morning and drove to different parts of Western Sydney, and did this for months. From Richmond in the north, west to the foot of the Blue Mountains and down to Campbelltown in the south west.
He was able to rattle off the suburbs like the alphabet.
They set about finding out what made the area tick, what sort of people lived there, what businesses were there. What were their dreams and aspirations? What would make them want to support a new team in a code foreign to most of them?
Sheedy had no interest in taking the job merely to boost his retirement savings. He wanted to be the ultimate disruptor and set the club up for the future.
Meninga, who has a young family with three kids aged nine to eleven with second wife Amanda, has to do the same.
Boots and all.
There has been some talk he will stay in Canberra initially as the club begins recruiting in earnest, but that won’t cut it.
The Bears have a shorter lead time than GWS did, and AFL was better established as a brand in Sydney thanks to the Swans, than the NRL is in Perth where the Bears will be the ultimate outsiders.
Sheedy was also known better in Sydney than Meninga is in Perth. He commanded an immediate presence.
Yes, finding players is a major part of the job. Finding fans and corporate support is bigger.
When the Bears run on, there have to be big crowds in attendance week-in, week-out, otherwise the NRL’s 18th team will sink like a stone.
Luckily he has a blueprint to work from. The AFL and Sheedy wrote it for him.
