What does Robert Harvey need to do to land the senior coaching job at Collingwood?
The long-time Magpies assistant has taken the reins on an interim basis following Nathan Buckley’s departure, which was finalised this week following Monday’s victory over Melbourne.
Harvey now has the next nine or so weeks to trial for the top job and former recruiter Matt Rendell has identified what he would be looking for from the St Kilda champion.
Rendell pointed to the way the Pies played in Buckley’s final game against the top-of-the-table Demons as a good starting point for Harvey.
“Well, he’s got to be some chance,” Rendell said on SEN Afternoons.
“It will be interesting to see what brand they play. We know it’s been slow and boring for most of the year, well, for most of Bucks’ tenure to tell you the truth, except for 2018.
“I saw a bit of a difference on the weekend. There’s no doubt they took the game on more and tried to get it though the middle. They were a lot more proactive and they planned really well against Melbourne.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen them plan really well like that.
“Leaving (Jordan) De Goey in the midfield and not playing him forward has been good.
“I’m interested to see what sort of brand they play. I know a lot of people didn’t want to go and watch them because of how bored they were watching it.
“If I was ‘Harvs’, I’d be trying to take the game on more, score more, bring some excitement back and see how the players respond to it.
“He could get the job, but who knows.”
Former Geelong and Adelaide coach Malcolm Blight, who coached Harvey at the Saints, also offered some helpful words, advising him to simply back in his own ideas and thoughts.
“Robert’s been with Nathan Buckley a long time now,” Blight said on SEN’s Whateley.
“Now, they may have the same vision, or maybe, Robert had suggested some stuff to Nathan that he didn’t enact.
“This is only me surmising, this is a guess, if that’s the case then Robert gets his chance to do it. If he agrees with every single solitary thing Buckley’s done in his coaching career for the last 10 years, then Robert should continue that way.
“It’s got to be his beliefs and he’s got to put his head on the pillow and say, ‘No, I tried to get this through Nathan, it didn’t quite work, I really would like to try this as me, as my coach’.
“The departure of Nathan was nice and funny, they won the game, but the truth of the matter is they’ve had a terrible season.”
The Pies begin life under Harvey in Round 15 against Fremantle.
They currently sit 16th on the ladder with a 4-9 win-loss record.