Guy McKenna Biography

Essendon assistant Guy McKenna will leave the AFL industry to join Cricket Victoria as part of a coaching restructure that will see retired player James Kelly join the Bombers' coaching team.

McKenna will join Cricket Victoria as a coaching and talent ID specialist following two seasons with Essendon under former teammate John Worsfold.

Kelly, meanwhile, will join Worsfold's team as a performance coach with a focus on development after the Bombers restructured the midfield coaching role that McKenna held.

"The duties of the midfield coach have been restructured in order to align more effectively with the distinction between the roles of our strategy coaches and our performance coaches," Bombers football manager Rob Kerr said.

"I would like to thank Guy for his service to the club, as well as bringing his football knowledge and strong work ethic to the table. He has added to the spirit and morale of the club with his enthusiastic and positive nature."

Guy McKenna hits back at criticism from Gold Coast chairman Tony Cochrane, saying he'll forever be proud of what he achieved as coach of the Suns.

Cochrane stirred the pot last month when he said the AFL erred in appointing McKenna as the club's inaugural coach, instead of an experienced mentor.

"In that period of time he talks about – the (first) four years in the AFL –well, if you want to go tit for tat, GWS won 21 games, and our coaching group was able to win 24," McKenna said.

"So with no experience, I don't think that was a bad job ... in a non-footy market and all those sort of things.

"I'm not saying I was perfect or the club was perfect.

"But I was part of the football club that gave a lot of boys their opportunity in the AFL. I'm certainly proud of what we started up on the Gold Coast."

Guy McKenna says he was unaware of any alleged illicit drug use during his time as Gold Coast coach, revealing he was only recently made aware of one player's discontent with standards at the club.

"I lived through all that West Coast business as well, as a player, as a teammate, as a captain and as an assistant coach and unaware with that situation," McKenna said.

"So as the coach of the Gold Coast Suns if there was anything going on, I'm sure I would've heard of it from other people at the club but I clearly didn't."

Guy McKenna expresses his interest in becoming Carlton's next coach following the sacking of Mick Malthouse.

McKenna says his experience as head coach of the Suns will stand him in good stead at the Blues.

"I look at them from afar and I don't see what they're about to go through as any different to what Gold Coast [went through]," McKenna said.

"Gold Coast was a blank canvas, I understand that. Carlton has got this magnificent history. But where they're at, the bonus for me going into that role is that I'd have a lot more senior players around me."

Guy McKenna is sacked as coach of the Gold Coast Suns.

"It has been a privilege to have coached the Gold Coast Suns and I know the success the club aspires to achieve is not too far away," McKenna said.

"The club has every right to pursue a direction it believes will give it the best chance of continued improvement. Although I leave with a heavy heart, I am content that I have helped develop a unique group of players.

"I leave with some great memories and strong friendships and I know they will remain despite my early departure."

Sacked Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna says he was given no specific reason for his dismissal but was not surprised with the outcome.

The club's founding coach said it had more to do than simple wins and losses and was based around the club's future direction.

"We didn't go into any great detail on the review," McKenna said.

"It was more around the club going forward and was I the right type of person to take the club forward, and in the board and the chairman's view I'm not that person."

Guy McKenna's tenure as Gold Coast coach is on shaky ground after a Suns board meeting called for a full review of the football department.

Chairman John Witheriff confirmed the review would be conducted immediately with results to be known within the next fortnight.

After meeting with the board on Thursday night, McKenna says he is confident he will still be coach next season.

"(I) presented what I had to present like we'd normally do at this end of the season and I was comfortable with the outcome," McKenna said.

"I'm comfortable knowing that I'll be there next year because there is a contract.

"But because of the current landscape of course, that's tough.

"(I) presented to the board and that's all you can do. Everything's in the lap of the board of course."

Guy McKenna will coach Gold Coast until at least the end of 2015 after signing a one-year contract extension.

"It's a nice show of faith by the football club," McKenna said.

"A lot of the hard work's been done and is still being done. It's building all the foundations, mixing the cement, now we're pouring it and it's starting to take shape.

"You want to be around when the walls go up and the roof goes on."

Guy McKenna signs a contract extension with Gold Coast to continue coaching the club in 2015.

"What we've decided is 2015 is a good opportunity for everyone to sit back and see where we're it," Suns chief executive Travis Auld said.

"It gives him five years and it gives us five years [and] we can make some good decisions.

"There's nothing more in that other than it's a good time to make an assessment about list, about our structures."

Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna denies the club's plan to win a flag within three years has put more pressure on him.

"Two years have past, so as far as I'm concerned what he's saying in the next three years is exactly what we were talking about probably at the end of 2008," McKenna said.

"Does it put any pressure on me? It certainly doesn't. I'm not going to change my coaching, I'm not going to change my selection process going into games and things like that."

Guy McKenna says he is looking forward to working more closely with Malcolm Blight who has been appointed coaching director at the Suns.

"At a board level, I've constantly sought him out," McKenna said.

"He's the first one to say it's (coaching) tough. This year he's sat at home and watched us from afar, so it's certainly something we've spoken about even since the 18s (2009) and VFL (2010) days.

"The role will be he sits and mentors the coaches and helps out with our week-to-week coaching the boys and match day as well. So I think it's a step in the right direction, for sure."

After finally getting a contract extension to guide the Suns until the end of 2014, Guy McKenna admits there were lonely times when he doubted he would be given that contract extension.

"You back yourself in but there's lonely times by yourself," McKenna said.

"We had that disappointing loss against Geelong in the NAB Cup and we go down to GWS [the following week] and we get beaten by them and you continue to scratch your head but you back your faith of the system and the personnel to buy into that and I've been able to see that over the last four to six weeks."

After starting 2012 with three straight losses, Guy McKenna has implored Gold Coast not to sack him, saying it would be detrimental to the club's stability.

"If you chopped and change ... then it really confused the players," he said.

"I'm definitely about stability, and that might sound very selfish, but where the group's at, they understand the messages and they understand what's needed, so we just need some patience.

"Stability, keep the coaches I say, keep the players [as well]."

Gold Coast midfielder Dion Prestia says he hopes coach Guy McKenna will stay on as coach of the club after 2012.

"I find Bluey (McKenna) really good, he's really approachable," Prestia said.

"All the boys that have come from different clubs have also said that he's really approachable compared to some of the other coaches in the League."

Premiership coaches Mick Malthouse and John Worsfold are among those inducted into West Coast's Hall of Fame.

Others inducted include Glen Jakovich, Dean Kemp, Chris Lewis, Peter Matera, Guy McKenna and former head trainer Bill Sutherland.

Gold Coast has set a deadline of mid-season next year to inform coach Guy McKenna whether it will hire him as the club's first senior AFL coach.

Guy McKenna is named as the inaugural coach for the new Gold Coast team.

McKenna will leave his duties as assistant coach of the Collingwood Magpies at the end of the season to begin prepartions for the team to compete in the TAC Cup in 2009 and the VFL in 2010.

"Guy's playing credentials are impeccable, he is one of the all time greats of AFL football," GC17 chairman John Witheriff said in a statement released on Wednesday.

"He is highly experienced at the top level, first as a dual premiership player with West Coast in 1992 and 1994, then as an understudy to veteran coach Mick Malthouse at Collingwood.

"The Gold Coast is a very attractive and challenging proposition for a coach and I would like to thank Guy for agreeing to join us on our journey."

"Creating the team and its culture on and off field is an incredible challenge and I'm looking forward to working with these young footballers and developing the list," McKenna said.

"I want to make sure these guys are good citizens and good footballers and developing their personal and football skills at an early stage is a great opportunity for me."