Longmire and Jetta recognised
THE AFL Coaches Association (AFLCA) have recognised Sydney Swans coach John Longmire as the Allen Jean Senior Coach of the Year.
Voted by his coaching peers, Longmire won the AFLCA Award in only his 2nd year as a Senior Coach.
Longmire holds an impressive coaching record with 31 wins from 48 matches with a 64 per cent winning record.
Longmire told the Daily Telegraph that coaching under Paul Roos has been his greatest influence.
“Paul Roos has been an enormous mentor in a lot of ways,” Longmire said.
“When I came to Sydney I was very strong-willed in how the game should be played.
“Roosy was able to impress on me the many aspects of coaching, the man management and your absolute reliance you have on key staff.”
Longmire who hails from Corowa in New South Wales was an assistant coach to Paul Roos for eight years before taking over the head coaching position in 2010. He started his playing career playing for the Corowa-Rutherglen Kangaroos in the Ovens & Murray league before progressing on to the North Melbourne Kangaroos where he played from 1988-1999, winning the Coleman Medal for leading goalkicker in 1990.
“He taught me coaching wasn’t just about working with your assistant coaches but boards, management and the players, particularly the players,” Longmire told the Daily Telegraph.
On the same night, Swans superstar Lewis Jetta received the 2012 Deadly Award for Outstanding Achievement in AFL.
The Deadly Awards are the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander music, sport, entertainment and community awards.
Jetta who has had a breakout season with the Swans beat a strong field of nominations in Hawthorn’s Lance Franklin and Cyril Rioli, as well as Essendon’s Paddy Ryder and Carlton’s Eddie Betts.
The Deadly Awards recognise the outstanding contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to the community and to Australian society by identifying them as national and local role models.