Spalding backs players to lead Demons revivalTuesday, October 21, 2014 - 11:49 AM - by Chris Pike

EARL Spalding has waited more than a decade for a second crack as a WAFL coach but the AFL and WAFL premiership star is excited at the chance to rebuild Perth and is calling on the players to be honest with themselves and take more responsibility for the club's plight along the way.

Spalding was last week announced as the new coach of the Perth Football Club after Damien McMahon left his post midway through the 2014 season with Trevor Williams taking over in a caretaker capacity in a year where the Demons lost its last 14 matches to finish last.

Captain Paul Bevan and key defenders Jared Risol and Nick Kane, and experienced former AFL half forward Matt Moody are among the players to have already decided they are leaving before the new coach was announced as well, but Spalding does take over with impressive credentials.

Spalding had an outstanding playing career beginning with Perth in the WAFL in 1983 and he went on to play 63 games with the Demons before departing for the then VFL with Melbourne in 1987.

He played 109 games and kicked 63 goals with the AFL's Demons, including five straight years in the finals and the 1988 grand final, before crossing to Carlton in 1992 where he added another 102 games, kicked 106 goals and was the centre half-forward in the Blues' premiership of 1995.

He left the AFL at the end of 1997 and returned to the WAFL with East Fremantle where he added another 32 games and 41 goals, including the 1998 premiership, before retiring at the end of 1999.

All in all, his playing career saw him play 306 WAFL/VFL/AFL games while winning premierships in the AFL in 1995 and WAFL in 1998, but it's not just those playing credentials that stand him in good stead to try and ensure the Demons are a competitive force once again.

Spalding began his coaching career as reserves coach at East Fremantle in 2000 before taking over the league side for the 2001 and 2002 seasons where he finished with a record of 15 wins from 36 matches and a finals appearance in his second year.

He then joined Fremantle as an assistant coach from 2003-09 while also having a stint with the Swan Districts Football Club in 2004 and 05.

Upon finishing up with the Dockers at the end of 2009, Spalding took on the senior coaching job with Wesley-Curtin in the amateurs firstly winning a B-Grade premiership in 2012 and then an A-Grade flag in 2013, and again making the grand final in 2014.

That gives him a terrific playing and coaching resume heading into taking over at Perth, but the 49-year-old is under no illusions how big a job it is with a Demons team coming off yet another wooden spoon and without a finals appearance since 1997 or a premiership since 1977.

However, what Spalding is looking from his Perth playing group is for them to be honest with themselves more than anything in an effort to improve and hold themselves accountable for their performances.

"I like to think of myself as a pretty approachable coach and I really value honesty in the group, and that's a bit of a cliché as a word but players need to be honest with me, with their teammates and most importantly honest with themselves," Spalding said.

"A lot of players kid themselves that they are trying hard but can do a lot more. I will certainly be using the most of our resources and there are a lot of people who want to get involved, and help out.

"I will be using all of them that I can along with video help to show players that you can't argue with the vision. That can show why you aren’t being successful and what you need to do differently."

Spalding isn’t shying away from the fact that he is taking over the toughest job in WAFL football to try and make Perth a success again, but he will be throwing his full support behind his playing group to lead the revival.

"It's obviously in my mind a pretty big job but I don’t think it's as bad a position to start from as a lot of people will have you believe," he said.

"Off-field the club is in pretty good shape and on-field is where the issues have been for quite a while, but I think we have a reasonable squad and we are still trying to add to that as every other club is at the moment through recruiting.

"I'm just trying to get my head around the group we've got and meet them all, have a chat and see where they are all at. The few guys I've had a chat to so far are really keen to get going and get the club going forward, and it will be a player-driven push for us to improve and I'm looking forward to it."

As evidenced by recent player-driven coaching changes in the AFL, Spalding knows that the landscape as a senior coach in today's world is much different than when he played but he feels he is adaptable enough to work with the players to build a successful culture with the Demons.

"Footy, like society, has changed a hell of a lot over the past 20 or 25 years since I started playing. Back then we were told what we were doing by the coach but now it's more about the coaches and players sitting around the room discussing what to do," he said.

"I do have my ideas as a coach, but unless the players buy into that they are really worthless and that’s why I need to talk to all the players one-on-one, and get across to them what I want to do and hopefully they buy in. I think they will because it's a pretty basic game plan but all about them taking responsibility out on the field and hopefully from that success will come."

Recruiting will be an immediate focus for Spalding with a focus on finding midfield support for fairest and best Dene White, mid-season East Fremantle signing Aidan Tropiano and the returning Brett Hodge who missed all of 2014 through injury after winning the 2013 Butcher Medal.

Finding a key position defender and forward is already a major priority for Spalding and the Demons.

"All the other clubs would put their hand up as well and say they need some key forward and good mids, but our midfield was decimated a bit through last year with injury and players leaving so we need to bolster that area and a couple of talls at either end would be nice as well," Spalding said.

"We were the most scored against team last year by quite a bit and over the last five years we've always been in the bottom three in terms of scored against so we need to fix that and a lot of that comes down to tightening things up I would imagine."