Kingsley’s Giant job, keeping the star Richmond is trying to capture
Incoming GWS Giants coach Adam Kingsley is about to flip from poacher to gamekeeper.
Kingsley has made a name for himself as an assistant coach at finals-bound Richmond, who are attempting to lure GWS’s midfield star Tim Taranto.
Newly unveiled GWS coach Adam KingsleyCredit:Phil Hillyard
But the minute the Tigers’ campaign comes to an end, Kingsley will turn his focus to ensuring Taranto and other vital Giants players are locked away.
During his official unveiling as coach at the Giants’ Sydney Olympic Park headquarters on Tuesday, Kingsley said he would be meeting with the club’s football and list manager Jason McCartney once he had finished up at Richmond.
“We’ll work through what the list looks like and have those decisions,” Kingsley said. “At some point, we’ll have that discussion and try and work out where we both stand on it and what the plan is moving forward.”
Kingsley is a former premiership player and club champion with Port Adelaide, where he played 170 games, before moving into assistant coaching roles with Port, St Kilda and Richmond.
Giants midfield star Tim Taranto is being pursued by Richmond.Credit:Getty Images
Club CEO Dave Matthews said he did not know if Taranto would be at the Giants next season.
Retaining players in the non-AFL states of NSW and Queensland has always been an issue, as the Giants have found with regular departures including key forward Jeremy Cameron to Geelong last year after nine years with GWS.
The Age reported last month that important quartet Taranto, Jacob Hopper, Tanner Bruhn and Bobby Hill were all looking to leave, even though Hopper remains under contract.
“I think we’ve got a really good track record in retaining the players we’ve wanted to retain,” Matthews said. “Occasionally players have moved for a variety of reasons.
New GWS Giants coach Adam Kingsley with club CEO Dave MatthewsCredit:Phill Hillyard
“But what we don’t want is that they see either the culture or the prospect of success as factors in their decision. That’s certainly been the core of what has been able to attract them.
“And I also think this is an amazing place to live, Sydney. I think we’re over the hump in terms of being a startup club. We’ve got a great young club here, we’ve got a great culture, the workplace is fantastic.”
Kingsley replaces caretaker coach Mark McVeigh, who took over after Leon Cameron stood down mid-season despite taking the Giants to finals in five of the past six seasons, including the 2019 Grand Final.
That was the year Kingsley started at Richmond. He will be looking to bring some of the success he’s experienced as part of Richmond’s coaching group with the 2019 and 2020 premierships to the Giants.
“There are a lot of things at Richmond that are outstanding, whether it’s off the field, culture-wise or the connection of the group, so there’ll be a lot of stuff that we [Giants] do that is similar to Richmond,” Kingsley said.
“But there’ll be stuff that I have ideas around that we’ll do. On field, it’ll look similar. We’re trying to play that fast, attacking style of footy.
“I think that’s an attractive brand to play and it’s certainly great to watch and it’s fun to play.
“That’ll be the plan in the early stages, but once we’ve assembled our coaching group and put our brains together, we’ll come up with a plan that we think is going to work and be successful in finals.”
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