St Kilda will provide two of its assistant coaches with the opportunity to take control of the senior side during the upcoming NAB Challenge series.
Director of Coaching and Development Danny Sexton will take the reins in the Saints opening NAB Challenge game against North Melbourne this Saturday, while Senior Assistant Coach Adam Kingsley will lead the club in a fortnight’s time against Brisbane.
Providing assistant coaches with a chance in the hot seat during the NAB Challenge series isn’t a new concept, but something Senior Coach Alan Richardson believes is critical for developing key personnel which should result in providing the playing group with better equipped coaches.
“Something we are really strong on is we want to keep developing our people,” Richardson told saints.com.au on Tuesday afternoon.
“Both Danny Sexton and Adam Kingsley are really strong, impressive coaches who have been in the game a long time.
“They will grow and learn out of this and if they are going to learn to become better coaches given the influence they have on our players, then that’s a win-win from my perspective.”
Of the existing coaching structure, Sexton has been at St Kilda the longest having joined the club at the end of 2006 in a development and welfare role. Since then he has worn many hats, working as an opposition analyst, a midfield and defence assistant coach, before taking up his current role overseeing the coaching hierarchy.
A teacher by trade, Sexton is essentially the conduit between the players and the coaches. He is there to impart knowledge and communicate; to ensure the football department runs like a well-oiled machine.
For a coach experienced in the game but inexperienced in the role, Richardson values the wealth of knowledge Sexton brings to his role, lauding his ability to teach coaches and players how to improve.
“He’s a very experienced person; he’s been here for a long time, played many roles. He’s a very structured person, a brilliant communicator,” Richardson said.
“He’s got a teaching background, so his ability to go from the white board, training track to game and be able to maximise the transfer is as impressive as I’ve seen in my time in footy.”
Having narrowly missed out on the Adelaide coaching position to Don Pyke, Kingsley’s standing in the game has risen externally. Rarely is the public aware of how assistant coaches are rated, but given how strongly considered the Port Adelaide premiership player was for the role, he is clearly a senior coach in waiting.
Richardson is confident Kingsley is ripe for the picking given his sound coaching grounding and on-field experience. Although, the Saints coach admits Kingsley’s chances of earning a senior gig would be boosted if St Kilda enjoyed more success.
“He’s been in the system for a while now, he’s just about ready to go,” Richardson quipped.
“He knows we need to have some success probably for him to get a bit more exposure and a bit more opportunity to coach his own team, but he’s certainly heading in the right direction.
“Adam was in the mix for the Adelaide Crows job, so from an industry perspective he’s fairly highly rated.
“He did the level four (coaching course) of which I think there was only eight or nine chosen, so he’s got some reasonable credentials.”
