North Melbourne and football boss Dan McPherson have cut ties after less than a year, paving the way for Alastair Clarkson to bring highly-rated Todd Viney to Arden St.
The Kangaroos confirmed on Thursday that they had parted ways with McPherson, as well as assistant coaches Heath Younie and Anthony Rocca. AFL media reported that the trio were informed of the club’s call on Thursday afternoon, six days after Clarkson was unveiled as North’s new manager.
The Kangaroos only appointed McPherson, who played 111 games for the Swans, in October last year after the club’s football coaching role was split. McPherson was hired to oversee coaching, high performance and medicine, operations, player development and welfare, and softball management, while Brady Rawlings focused on recruiting, roster management and total player payouts.
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But under a new structure, Viney will oversee all on-field facets of the men’s and women’s soccer programs, including coaching, operations, high performance, medical services and player development. Rawlings will continue to lead the club’s recruitment and list management team, but will now report to Viney.
Viney will officially begin the part-time role on August 29th before transitioning to full-time on November 1st.
“Todd is a well-respected figure in the game with great footballing talent, and he will be a great asset to our club,” North Melbourne CEO Ben Amarfio said.
“Todd’s vast experience in different football roles has given him an understanding of all aspects of the game. We look forward to him leading our football program and working alongside Alastair.”
Todd Viney and Alastair Clarkson at Hawthorn in 2005. Source: News Limited
Younie joined the Kangaroos as an assistant coach in late 2020 just after David Noble was appointed coach, with the duo meeting after working together at the Adelaide Crows. Noble was fired in early July.
Rocca was also brought to the Kangaroos ahead of the 2021 season, taking on a development coaching role.
The club also parted ways with head of medical services Clint Frazer last week.
“Dan is a quality person who has worked incredibly hard this year and done a great job, but that’s the harsh reality of the industry when you restructure a football department,” Amarfio said.
“The same goes for Heath and Anthony, who have been wonderful contributors to our club and have shown great commitment to their roles.”
The expectation among the AFL world before Clarkson joined North was that if he was appointed to a senior coaching role, he would have a significant say in how the club’s football department would look.
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Clarkson spoke to several former lieutenants about their interest in joining him as part of his coaching panel earlier this month
One of those was Viney, who was Clarkson’s assistant between 2005 and 2009, has been sidelined since leaving Melbourne in 2019.
Former Melbourne team-mate Garry Lyon told Fox Footy earlier this month that Viney would be “perfect” for the Kangaroos.
“He (Viney) is a very, very simple man: ‘If you don’t compete, you don’t play’. He was big at Hawthorn as a premiership-winning assistant coach, he was big at Adelaide and Melbourne, that was the recruiting philosophy,” Lyon told Fox Footy.
“I think it would be almost perfect (in the north) … He has a property that’s on the other side of town, which I would have thought would be an easy drive to Arden St.
“If in fact that is what happens, Arden St would have the best manager and they would have the best man in the harness next to him, and that would be a coup.”