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BH, SH, It is a pity he seemed to fall out with Todd and then got injurred at EF

Not sure AR if it was a falling out or Toddy wanted Melrose coming back from NM and EF wanted a player swap in return but it didn’t finish up well for poor Mark as he was badly injured in his very first game for EF from memory although he did attempt a comeback in 1981....but as SH has pointed out some of his goal hauls were remarkable for us in the late 70s.

BH: read an interview with Mark Olsen in the paper where he made reference to not getting on with John Todd for whatever reason. I remember speaking to an ex SD player in the late 1980s and he said - even at the height of his powers-- there was an anti Todd faction. I asked him what faction he was in and her firred back a quick response. 'I was always in the pro-Todd faction'. I enjoyed speaking with this former player a lot.

ArkRoyal wrote: BH: read an interview with Mark Olsen in the paper where he made reference to not getting on with John Todd for whatever reason. I remember speaking to an ex SD player in the late 1980s and he said - even at the height of his powers-- there was an anti Todd faction. I asked him what faction he was in and her firred back a quick response. 'I was always in the pro-Todd faction'. I enjoyed speaking with this former player a lot.

I have no doubt there would have been 2 factions AR as JT was a pretty tough stern coach especially on players he knew had the talent but maybe didnt work hard enough to maximise it, so only to get the best out of them really and not to waste their god given talent. I think Toddy's thinking was from his own personal frustrating experience where he won a Sandover at 17yo in his first season of WAFL footy and then severely damaged his knee the next year which unfortunately hampered him for the rest of his career.

BH: good post as always -- I agree with all that about John Todd; in the end, coaching is largely about motivation and he would have used both the carrot and stick approach to motivate his players over the years. I have always resented the Eagles players of the late 1980s for having him sacked.

AR I have no doubt WA coaching greats Todd, Bunton, Brown could have coached that WCE side of the 90s to 2 Premierships if not more than the Victorian bloke did!

ArkRoyal wrote: BH: good post as always -- I agree with all that about John Todd; in the end, coaching is largely about motivation and he would have used both the carrot and stick approach to motivate his players over the years. I have always resented the Eagles players of the late 1980s for having him sacked.

Maybe he didn't deserve to sacked, but neither did Ron Alexander.

Beasley Hutton wrote: AR I have no doubt WA coaching greats Todd, Bunton, Brown could have coached that WCE side of the 90s to 2 Premierships if not more than the Victorian bloke did!

As a genuine, long term WCE supporter, I will always be thankful for Mick Malhouse's tenure as head coach at the Eagles.

To quote wiki:

For ten years from 1990 he was senior coach for the West Coast Eagles. During his tenure as coach the Eagles made the finals every year, including 1992 and 1994 premierships and 1991 grand finalists.[4] Final minor premiership ladder positions were 3rd, 1st, 4th, 6th, 1st, 5th, 4th, 5th, 7th and 5th (1990–1999).

He has the runs on the board - could Todd or Alexander have done any better............. we will never know.

But I doubt it.

jack: don't foget the previous year Todd made the 'five' and they should have beaten Melbourne in the elimination final with a weaker side than Malthouse would inherit from him. Keep in mind too, that players, such as, Sumich, have stated plainly that Todd was their best coach. We know the senior players whom complainned to the paper about Todd at the time, but I will not name them, as one or two are household names in the state -- some people get touchy. What runs on the board did Malthouse have comparred to Todd? He had only made the finals with Footscray once himself.

Spot on AR, lets also not forget how many times Todd coached WA to the National Championship in the State Of Origin series in the 80s against that supposedly “far superior Vic side” with our side made up mostly of that supposedly far inferior WAFL boys!?