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400 reasons to celebrate
May 28, 2004
PAUL Roos had no idea tomorrow night's important clash against the Western Bulldogs would be his 400th AFL game as a player and coach.
The milestone had completely escaped the Swans coach, who admitted that all his focus had been on beating the Bulldogs at the SCG.
"My 400th game? Really . . . 400," said a surprised Roos.
And now that he knows, Roos still has no plans to celebrate the milestone but agrees a win will suffice.
"I don't expect a banner or anything," quipped Roos, who still falls into the rookie coach category.
Tomorrow night will be Roos's 44th game as Swans head coach since he swept into the top job on an enormous wave of public support for the "Choose Roos" campaign at the end of 2002 season.
During the campaign the Swans' office received more than 5000 faxes, letters and emails from fans demanding that Roos be retained as coach for 2003 ahead of former Western Bulldogs mentor Terry Wallace.
The people's choice proved to be the right one after Roos, in his first full season as a head coach, guided the Swans all the way to the 2003 preliminary final against the Brisbane Lions.
Sydney's stunning success story defied predictions of the wooden spoon and earned Roos the honour of being named the inaugural Coach of the Year by the AFL coaches' Association.
His ride in his second full season hasn't been as smooth after the Swans blew an encouraging 3-1 start to 2004 courtesy of a four-game losing streak.
Roos and the Swans corrected the slide ? only just ? with a heart-stopping one-point win over Hawthorn at the SCG on Sunday. The Swans need to keep the momentum going with a win over the Bulldogs if they are going to have any chance of beating competition leaders St Kilda at the SCG in round 11.
However, Roos ? a veteran of 356 AFL games as a player spanning 17 years ? has been in the coaching game long enough to know which one is tougher.
"There's no doubt you feel a lot more helpless as a coach," admitted Roos. "It's a lot more black and white as coach. It's a lot more frustrating because you can't have a direct input on the outcome of the game."
It might be a well worn sporting adage that if the team wins the players were great and if the team loses it's the coach's fault.
But Roos accepts that it's all part of the job. He has quickly learned that the only way to maintain his sanity as a coach is to maintain a cool detachment.
"If you are results driven all the time, one week you will be up then you will be as flat as a tack," Roos said. "At times you just have to detach yourself from the emotions of the game.
"It's hard but you learn to do that when you go through a losing streak because otherwise you'd just go crazy.
"You just have to cop it to realise you did everything you could but we were beaten on the day and you move on quickly."
Roos never won a premiership as a player but playing and losing the 1996 grand final against the Kangaroos was both the highlight and lowlight of his first football career.
In his second career, he now has a second chance as a coach and is building towards that goal, which is ultimately what great coaches are measured by.
In the meantime, Roos lists two events as his coaching highlights. The first was his debut win as head coach ? when the Swans beat Fremantle by 77 points at the SCG in round 13, 2002 after taking over from Rodney Eade.
His second highlight was last year's qualifying final victory over Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.
Roos hasn't been in the coaching game long enough yet to experience a real lowlight or to age quickly, even if a few more grey hairs are poking through.
"Has coaching aged me? Not really," he said.
"I'm still the same, I still play with the kids and they still see me in the same light.
"I still have a good time and still have a laugh and enjoy myself."
400 reasons to celebrate
May 28, 2004
PAUL Roos had no idea tomorrow night's important clash against the Western Bulldogs would be his 400th AFL game as a player and coach.
The milestone had completely escaped the Swans coach, who admitted that all his focus had been on beating the Bulldogs at the SCG.
"My 400th game? Really . . . 400," said a surprised Roos.
And now that he knows, Roos still has no plans to celebrate the milestone but agrees a win will suffice.
"I don't expect a banner or anything," quipped Roos, who still falls into the rookie coach category.
Tomorrow night will be Roos's 44th game as Swans head coach since he swept into the top job on an enormous wave of public support for the "Choose Roos" campaign at the end of 2002 season.
During the campaign the Swans' office received more than 5000 faxes, letters and emails from fans demanding that Roos be retained as coach for 2003 ahead of former Western Bulldogs mentor Terry Wallace.
The people's choice proved to be the right one after Roos, in his first full season as a head coach, guided the Swans all the way to the 2003 preliminary final against the Brisbane Lions.
Sydney's stunning success story defied predictions of the wooden spoon and earned Roos the honour of being named the inaugural Coach of the Year by the AFL coaches' Association.
His ride in his second full season hasn't been as smooth after the Swans blew an encouraging 3-1 start to 2004 courtesy of a four-game losing streak.
Roos and the Swans corrected the slide ? only just ? with a heart-stopping one-point win over Hawthorn at the SCG on Sunday. The Swans need to keep the momentum going with a win over the Bulldogs if they are going to have any chance of beating competition leaders St Kilda at the SCG in round 11.
However, Roos ? a veteran of 356 AFL games as a player spanning 17 years ? has been in the coaching game long enough to know which one is tougher.
"There's no doubt you feel a lot more helpless as a coach," admitted Roos. "It's a lot more black and white as coach. It's a lot more frustrating because you can't have a direct input on the outcome of the game."
It might be a well worn sporting adage that if the team wins the players were great and if the team loses it's the coach's fault.
But Roos accepts that it's all part of the job. He has quickly learned that the only way to maintain his sanity as a coach is to maintain a cool detachment.
"If you are results driven all the time, one week you will be up then you will be as flat as a tack," Roos said. "At times you just have to detach yourself from the emotions of the game.
"It's hard but you learn to do that when you go through a losing streak because otherwise you'd just go crazy.
"You just have to cop it to realise you did everything you could but we were beaten on the day and you move on quickly."
Roos never won a premiership as a player but playing and losing the 1996 grand final against the Kangaroos was both the highlight and lowlight of his first football career.
In his second career, he now has a second chance as a coach and is building towards that goal, which is ultimately what great coaches are measured by.
In the meantime, Roos lists two events as his coaching highlights. The first was his debut win as head coach ? when the Swans beat Fremantle by 77 points at the SCG in round 13, 2002 after taking over from Rodney Eade.
His second highlight was last year's qualifying final victory over Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.
Roos hasn't been in the coaching game long enough yet to experience a real lowlight or to age quickly, even if a few more grey hairs are poking through.
"Has coaching aged me? Not really," he said.
"I'm still the same, I still play with the kids and they still see me in the same light.
"I still have a good time and still have a laugh and enjoy myself."
