Curley refreshed, energised to return to coaching ranks with Bulldogs

NEW South Fremantle coach Todd Curley feels refreshed after a break from top-level from football for the first time in 20 years and takes over at the Bulldogs having learned plenty with no doubt he will be an improved senior coach the second time around.

Curley made his WAFL debut with West Perth as a player back in 1991 and from that point up until the end of the 2005 season, played 266 senior matches made up of three with Collingwood, 115 with the Western Bulldogs and 148 with the Falcons.

He then went straight into taking over as senior coach at West Perth in 2006 immediately after playing and did well in that three-year stint making the finals in two of the three seasons, narrowly missing making a grand final and only just missed making the finals the other year.

Curley then took up an assistant coaching position with the Fremantle Dockers in the AFL at the end of 2008 and remained there until the eve of the 2012 campaign, and he's now enjoyed the break from top level football to recharge his batteries since.

However, the 41-year-old was certainly feeling the itch to get back involved and as a result put himself forward to coach South Fremantle, and was subsequently appointed for at least the next two WAFL seasons with an option for a third.

While Curley did well while in charge of West Perth between 2006 and 2008, he does feel like he's learned a lot from that and in particular he feels he can do things a lot better, and different, in terms of man management this time around.

"I certainly learned a lot from that experience itself about how much work you have to do at the club apart from just footy," Curley said.

"There is a lot of man-managing to do with the different personalities and egos you have to deal with, and the different factors that affect everyone on the playing list from day to day.

"Since coaching West Perth, I've learned a lot more about how I'd want to go about it as a coach but the coaching tactically side of it is a lesser part really than managing the group to make sure they are all going in the right direction."

Having been involved in either the WAFL or VFL from 1991 up until 2012, Curley does feel that his break from the game a the top level has been good for him as well and he feels ready to return, and in a position to know exactly what needs to be done in order to coach well at the Bulldogs.

He also believes that it's the perfect time to get back involved with his children now having grown up a little compared to when he was at West Perth and even Fremantle. Before he had to leave them at home, but now they are at ages where they can enjoy coming to the football.

"I definitely feel recharged and I need that break after those 20 years of being involved, and especially the last three at AFL level because that is pretty hectic," Curley said.

"It is only the last 12 months that it's probably become something that I discussed doing again at home. I then made the decision to pursue it if the opportunity came up so I'm now really looking forward to it a second time around.

"I'm obviously a bit older and more experienced, and I'm hoping to enjoy it all a bit more and the main thing is being a bit more relaxing. I was told in a really nice way that I am a happier person when I am involved in footy.

"The kids are a bit older now and they love going to the WAFL so they will be involved, and post-match I'll be able to spend it with them. I think it's a really good fit for where I'm at now with work and my family to be a senior WAFL coach at a really good club. It's a really good fit and I'm excited about it."

Reflecting back on his three years coaching West Perth, Curley felt it was very much a learning curve for himself given he came straight out of playing to take on the job once Darren Harris departed to join the West Coast Eagles.

It was also difficult coaching teammates, some of which were premiership teammates, and dealing with senior players nearing the end and also with others living in the country, so it certainly had its challenges and he learned a lot from the whole experience.

However, he still managed to coach a team that was more than competitive the whole three years and he still feels that 2008 was a great missed opportunity to not at least make a grand final after leading Swan Districts by 35 points during the third quarter of the preliminary final.

"The three years was a huge learning experience especially the first year when I inherited an interesting list that was quite an old and mature list with a lot of guys who had achieved success," he said.

"I had quite a few guys travelling from the country which was all pretty challenging as well. Then in the second year we had a quite a few retirements and didn’t really have a great year, but in 2008 we had a really good year.

"I think Subi was clearly the best team, but then we came up against a Swans team in the prelim where we dominated the first two and-a-half quarters but kicked too many points and left the gate open.

"We then got a couple of injuries with big Seabs going down and Tom Crossland got knocked out, and they had some pretty talented kids like Naitanui, Yarran, Banfield, Clancee Pearce, Garlett and they had nothing to lose, got up and running and took the game on, and we couldn’t hold off their momentum. That was a learning experience but hopefully the pain that the club suffered that day helped them win last year."

Curley then enjoyed moving back into the AFL system after a tremendous playing career with the Western Bulldogs where he played 115 matches and between 1996 and 2001 was one of the very best mid-sized defenders in the entire competition.

He then joined up with the Dockers to work under Mark Harvey for three years and learned plenty from his time there.

"The biggest thing I learned at Freo was the amount of time you can spend getting to know the players as a whole," he said.

"You obviously have more time, but there's so many different things that can impact on how they are going with their footy and whilst I've always been someone who put family first and then work before footy, you go at footy 100 miles an hour.

"I think to get the best football out of someone they need to be in a really good space holistically as a person and that's an area I'll now be working on pretty hard."

While Curley has been involved at AFL clubs Collingwood and the Bulldogs as a player, and Fremantle as a coach, he has never previously been involved with any other WAFL club aside from West Perth.

As a player, he racked up 148 games with the Falcons, played in the 1995 and 2003 premierships, was captain and then coached the club for another three seasons.

His brother Adam also is a premiership player and life member of West Perth so the red and blue blood runs deep in the Curley family, but he is simply looking forward to the challenge that awaits as coach of South Fremantle.

"There's no doubt that when you spend your whole life barracking, playing and coaching for one club it's going to be really different going to another WAFL club, but I'm at Souths now and that's now my team and club," Curley said.

"It probably will be a bit strange the first time we play them up at Joondalup, but hopefully we beat them, stay for awards and I can catch up with some old faces there as well."