See you Sydney, next stop … Tasmania? I have to ask John Longmire the question we are thinking of everyone

When Longmire arrived here for the first time in 2002 as an assistant to Paul Roos, the AFL was simply not cool. “I went out for lunch when I moved here, I sat next to a school principal and said:” How is your AFL program go? “And he started laughing at me,” he says.

Now, the swans feel organically Sydney. They have the largest crowds of any team in the city. Their games have become social events among the eastern suburbs. And on the field they were a formidable side for more than two decades.

Longmire allows me to manage food. I’m fine. For our appetizer, I go with a little bread, butter and burrata, with rockmelon and ham, which leads us to travel. In particular, Italy during the European summer; our winter. As a coach, and previously, a player for North Melbourne between 1988 and 1999, is something that Bongmire simply could not contemplate.

“I’ve never been to Europe in summer. I’ve never been to my life,” he says. “I have been to football since I was 16 years old, so for 38 years I have never done it. I have not organized anything; my daughter is still ending the year 12, so we are not doing it this year. But I want to go to Italy, I want to spend some time there. It’s what I can’t wait to be more honest.”

It was in Europe, after the final of the FL of last year, when Longmire realized that he was cooked like the entire Bannockburn chicken that we are about to tear, together with some chips, sauce and lettuce Cos.

When Longmire signed an extension of the two -year contract in 2023, he agreed with the CEO Tom Harley who would be his last. Having benefited from a non -solution of continuity from Roos in 2011, he wanted to make sure Dean Cox, who had been identified as his successor long ago, had the same luxury.

In the middle of last year, the swans were 12-1 and flew to the top of the scale. He was enjoying the race, but he felt something inside.

“I needed rest,” says Longmire. “I talked about it with Tom. We arrived at the end of the house season and away, and on the eve of the finals, we made another chat, we went for a ride in the car and we had another chat about it, and we thought about that particular point that I could have been able to overcome the end of this year (2025).”

But the great ending changed things. The sluts lost by 60 points against the Lions Brisbane; It was the fourth final defeat of Longmire in five attempts and the second in a row with a great margin. It was a disaster that nobody saw coming.

As agreed, Longmire should not have returned to the club until January, giving him the opportunity to recharge his batteries at the end of last year. His son, Tom, had not turned 21 years old and was in Europe on vacation. Longmire went to meet him and spent three weeks together in Great Britain, brought games to the Premier League involving Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, and then looked at the Wallabies beating England in Twickenham.

“We did some things, father and son, who have never had much time to do,” he says. “We went out for dinner one evening and said,” I think I was done. “So yes, it was an interesting moment.”

The day after Longmire returned home, he went to find the president of Harley and Swans Andrew Pridham, to let them know, and they found him a new job above. (We will pass after the main course, which was delicious.)

Longmire seems to have made peace with what happened against the Lions and his unfortunate 1-4 record in Grand Finals, which seriously underlines what a transformative coach has been for the swans-if it is possible for someone so competitive to make peace with such things.

“You will probably bury it inside you somewhere,” he says. “If you had sat there to think about it all the time, you would end only sad. You have to balance everything with … the fact that the club is in great shape, we have given our players and staff and our supporters opportunities. It would have been nice to make more opportunities. Having another crack and I think it is what we try to do, it is giving us another crack.”

About another crack … Tassie? Any chance?

“Jesus, friend”, laughs. “I’m sitting here on a Monday to drink a beer with you and lunch and suddenly, I throw it.”

Sorry, but I had to ask. Tasmania’s Devils should become the 19th FL team in a few years (assuming that they can build a stadium) and very soon they will look for a coach. Longmire looks like the perfect boy to build a winning culture from scratch. According to reports, they have already approached him to be the head of their football department and told them no.

Did you finish with coaching? He cannot say with certainty. “I just stopped,” he says, breastfeeding Hahn Superdry’s goal. For me, Balter.

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“I don’t read anything in this because there is nothing to read in my perspective. I just stopped. I had a couple of months of break at Christmas and I am entering a new part of my life as regards the new business opportunities, so at the moment I am trying to immerse myself. All my energies.”

Longmire allowed himself a couple of days of vegetables on the sofa, but a guy like him does not feel at ease in doing it too long. So it was the next thing. He still enters the offices of Moore Park of Swans five days a week and made himself available to Cox for advice every time he needs it, even if he no longer works in the football department.

His new professional title is the executive director of the club’s performance, allowing him to explore his many other interests more deeply. The breadth of Longmire’s experience in the AFL universe is wider than some can make; Before becoming a coach, he worked part-time at the AFL players’ association, led the nascent division of management of the Australian rules of IMG and even worked as a television presenter at the Seven Network Show Game day. One of his customers at the time, Paul Salmon, would have had to host him but pulled out and left the producers in a pinch.

“They said to me:” Do you want to enter? “” Remember. “We had no automatic signals, no training, nothing. Fair to say that we were thrown deep into the deep. Todd Viney and Tony Shaw. We spent all those Sundays in the studies … I was hosting three different time zones in all of Australia, four different games. Trying to make me the way that was interesting.”

Longmire’s new child is something called Sydney Swans Institute (SSI), which offers a variety of leadership and development programs in which he and the club will share their philosophies on people, culture and performance and what they have learned in their search for supported success. This is what Longmire has delivered to the swans; In his 14 seasons, they have lost the finals only twice, challenging an AFL system specially designed to prevent dynasties.

The idea for the “Institute” was sitting in the back of his mind for a few years and was partly inspired by the executive and leadership courses in which he had participated in Harvard.

“We made mistakes. We had the setbacks. We were successful,” he says. “It is about sharing those ups and downs. You need something, a purpose to get out of bed in the morning. In my case, I was training for so long. The coaching was enormous for this. Now I’m putting my time in this, and it was fantastic.”

Easter Sunday, when the Host of the Swans Port Adelaide at the Scg, fans will have the opportunity to show their appreciation for a long time. Modest to a defect, he took a little convincing, but in the end he gave in and accepted a pre-match lap of honor.

“It’s right in my alley,” he laughed. “I feel a little uncomfortable about it. Tom asked me … I was ringing immediately: there are a bit of me, I, all about it. But I reformed it a little. It is not about me. It is more than … there are many people I want to thank. I hope I get up.”

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