RICHO’S TOP 10: John Longmire is best option for an experienced coach, but Carlton should go for a rookie

1. If I was helping Carlton pick their next coach, I would say look at the assistant coaches in the long-term successful sides such as Sydney and Geelong as I think a first-time coach is who they should go for.

Their success may not have come straight away but Chris Fagan was a first-time coach, so was Damien Hardwick, Craig McRae, Adam Simpson and Chris Scott. There are no premiership coaches on their second go around recently. Blues CEO Graham Wright was at Hawthorn when Sam Mitchell came through and at Collingwood for McRae. Wrighty has a bit of history of finding the next best coach. It is risky as you know and John Longmire, Nathan Buckley and Ken Hinkley can all coach. Out of that group I would pick Longmire as he has won a flag. But they need to go find the next best coach. Carlton have gone both ways before. Brendon Bolton didn’t work and they’ve tried Denis Pagan and Mick Malthouse as well. Blues fans will need to prepare themselves for a longer wait for success and some of the senior guys such as Jacob Weitering and Patrick Cripps need to decide if they want to be part of a rebuild or look elsewhere.

2. No wonder Kane Cornes stepped down from the All-Australian selection squad.

He stated it was because he had to choose between it and a role at Sportsbet, but he could be forgiven for stepping down because of the looming decision they have in selecting a number one ruckman. You currently have three outstanding candidates in Max Gawn, Brodie Grundy and the phenomenal Luke Jackson. Each different in the way they play the ruck role. If I had to choose right now, I’d go with Grundy and Jackson on the bench making Gawn incredibly unlucky to miss out. It’s an easy for me as I’m not a selector. This debate could rage for a long time during the final selection meeting.

3. Football teams are so well drilled now.

Team structures and focusing on your own game are paramount. Consistency in how the messages are delivered to players is so important. Know your role, play your role. Because of this you feel at times coaches are loath to throw the magnets around and try players in different positions. Back in the day, great coach Kevin Sheedy loved making changes mid game to try and swing a result. Chris Scott does it a bit these days and so does Sam Mitchell. I’d like to see more of it during a match and mid-season. It can rejuvenate the team on game day or reinvigorate a career during the season. It has worked a treat with Luke Parker going into North Melbourne’s defensive line. Same with Lincoln McCarthy at the Lions and Noah Balta at the Tigers moving into the ruck from the back line. A change is as good as a holiday. Terry Wallace sent me to the wing in my second last year when I was struggling forward. It turned out to be an enjoyable year.

4. If I asked 100 casual footy fans who had the most score involvements in the AFL, I don’t believe many would guess Sydney’s Justin McInerney.

What a season he is having. A career-best year so far. He is averaging eight more disposals this year than his career average. But score involvements has been his great strength at 9.6 per game, making him numero uno in the competition. Has to be just about the most improved player in the league and at just 25 he can improve even more.

5. Remember the days of the one out full forward inside the 50m arc?

Tony Lockett, Jason Dunstall and Gary Ablett Sr. An absolute nightmare for a full-back. These guys were unbeatable one on one. Then defences started pressing up the ground and forwards were forced to follow to make it 18 against 18 in one half of the ground. I often wondered why coaches didn’t just send their most dangerous forwards to the goal square to stretch the ground back out. Make the opposition coach make a decision to roll a defender back or back your team defence to not let it through. Well Mitchell is doing just that with Jack Gunston. When the ball does get through, he is just about unstoppable one out with the 50 to work in. I love this tactic and think it will become the norm again. Ben King at the Suns is holding deep as well. Ditto Logan Morris at times for Brisbane.

6. Last Friday flying up to the Gabba I watched the first episode of a documentary on Brazilian soccer great Ronaldinho.

This episode focused on his early years. This was a supremely gifted footballer. Incredible dribbling ability with supreme passing skills and vision, who was also able to regularly score as a midfielder. He loved the no-look pass he perfected after watching Magic Johnson in the NBA and adapted it for football. My mind went to the AFL game the night before and I started thinking of Fremantle young gun Murphy Reid. He has the same traits. Beautiful touch kicking, outstanding footy IQ and vision to bring teammates into the game. He also hits the scoreboard. Yes, this is a huge comparison. Ronaldinho won the Ballon d’Or as the best player in the world in 2005. I’m not saying Murphy will be the best player in the AFL. But oh boy he’s tracking very nicely.

7. Flagmantle is definitely back on.

As the king of Perth Basil Zempilas once said, “here come Fremantle”. Eight on the trot now and they should have beaten Geelong at the Cattery in round one. They want for nothing now. This Dockers side feels different. It hasn’t been easy the past two weeks. They came from four goals down in the second quarter against the Bulldogs to be 30 points up in the last before the Dogs got back within a goal with enough time left to win. But Fremantle steadied and won. They then had to fight and scrap for 45 mins in the second half against Hawthorn, eventually breaking the Hawks to score the last five goals of the game in half a quarter. This was a crucial win and franked the maturity in this team. All the big names stood up at pivotal moments. Start believing Dockers fans, this is a very good team.

8. The rebranding of the Greater Western Sydney Giants has been a topic of discussion, with the club wanting to simply be known as the Giants.

Eddie McGuire suggested they could be the NSW Giants. This makes a bit more sense to include the whole State. This is why the Tasmania Devils are going to be a huge success and will be embraced by the whole State, even if most of the games will be in Hobart. I can guarantee it would not have worked if the club was called the Hobart Devils. It would have alienated most of the State. Why should the Giants narrow themselves into a pocket of Sydney? Why not the whole State to continue to grow. Plus, they already have a strong foothold in Canberra. I like this idea.

9. The AFL has wanted to get players out of the habit of trying to draw high free kicks.

Ditto flopping for frees. In Brisbane last Friday night, Levi Ashcroft did both in the space of a minute and got two shots at goal in the process. That’s OK, players will try and draw free kicks at times. I did it heaps in my career. Most players have. The umpires just need to not fall for it and call play on. The AFL then put a clip of the frees up online, promoting it as a bit of sizzle from Levi. Do they want to rub it out or not?

10. Scott Pendlebury will soon be the AFL games record holder.

He will not play this weekend against Sydney and will break the record in front of 90,000 Collingwood supporters on Saturday week at the MCG against West Coast. How good will it be - a packed stadium in black and white. Whether this was the initial plan or not, who cares. Some critics say he should play against the Swans on Friday night as it’s a crucial game. This is a once off occasion and he should be breaking the record at the MCG. In front of as many family and friends as possible. Plus, he’s 38 and would have been playing off a short break tomorrow night. I also love the gold number idea. Let’s celebrate this occasion as best as we possibly can. It will be a long time, if ever, to break this remarkable achievement again.