Melbourne Demons coach Paul Roos denies that the club is attempting to lure Essendon interim coach Mark Thompson to be his successor once his current deal runs out.
Roos is guaranteed to lead the Dees for two seasons and the team’s recent success under the former Premiership coach will likely see him opt in for a third year, but talk of bringing in Thompson as a long-term replacement was shot down by the 50-year-old on Tuesday.
“We’re not going to talk to anyone (at the moment) and we can’t, unless they’re not coaching,” Roos said. “You’re not going to disrespect any other football clubs.”
Roos said the coaching search is yet to take off but is something being jointly considered by chief executive Peter Jackson and will be determined upon where they believe the list is at further down the road.
“l’ll have a say, but I suppose it’ll be more in the hands of other people.
“We’re trying to put in a place an eight-year structure, which is so much more stability than any club ever really has.”
Cameron Ling has been one name attached to the job in recent weeks, however the former Sydney coach told Dee TV last week that he was strongly considering staying on for the third year, something that will be hard to pass up should the roster continue to develop at its current rate.
The Dees have won three of nine matches already this season, one more than last year’s disastrous season. One beneficiary has been 23-year-old Jack Watts, who is averaging 17 disposals and a career-high 2.9 tackles per contest in the early going.
After years of being lamented by Melbourne supporters, Watts appears to have found a refreshing role under Roos.
“In my opinion I don’t think it was managed well at all,” Nathan Jones said recently of Watts early career under different coaches in an interview with 7Mate’s Talking Footy.
“I think one thing Roosy’s addressed this year was there’s not going to be a saviour or the young players aren’t going to come in with great expectations.
“They’re going to learn their role and play their role down at Casey if they have to and then they’ll come in (to the seniors) and be ready to play footy without the expectation and pressure on them to lift the club to where we want to get to.
“I think Wattsy found himself in that position.”
The Demons face the top of the table Port Adelaide at Traeger Park in Alice Springs on Saturday.
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