John Longmire
Encyclopedia
John Longmire is the current coach of the Sydney Swans
. As a player, he represented the North Melbourne Football Club
in the Australian Football League
(AFL) from 1988 to 1999.
club in New South Wales
, where he won the Ovens & Murray Football League
's leading goalkicker title. His ability and size quickly attracted the interest of the North Melbourne VFL club's talent scouts.
. His powerful physique and size earned him the nickname
Horse. At North Melbourne, he formed a powerful goalkicking partnership with centre half forward Wayne Carey
. In six seasons between 1990 to 1995 Carey and Longmire collectively kicked 768 goals (of which Longmire contributed 464) and 13 times they combined for 10 goals or more in a game. Individually, Longmire kicked 5-plus goals in a game 36 times, 7-plus goals 18 times and 10-plus twice, before a serious knee injury force him out of the game for the 1996 season. When he returned the following year, he played out the rest of his career in defense and in the ruck.
Longmire is best known for his performances during the 1990 season. A year in which, at only 19 years of age, he kicked 98 goals and won the Coleman Medal
as the league's leading goal kicker. In round 2 of that year he kicked a North Melbourne record, 12 goals against Richmond
, which he broke twelve weeks later when he kicked 14 goals in round 14 against Melbourne
. Going into the final round Longmire looked certain to reach the 100 goal milestone for the season, however terribly inaccurate kicking resulted in a tally of 2 goals and 8 behinds, leaving him just 2 goals short of the milestone. Longmire went on the win North Melbourne's best and fairest
that year and led the club's goal kicking list each year from 1990 to 1994.
Longmire's last career game was the 1999 Grand Final, in which the Kangaroos defeated Carlton
. This was a sweet day for Longmire after injury forced him to miss North's 1996 Premiership win, as well as the 1998 Grand Final, which North Melbourne
was expected to win, but lost.
to take up an assistant coaching position with the Sydney Swans
. In 2008 Roos appointed Longmire the Swans "coaching co-ordinator". Longmire replaced Paul Roos
following his retirement at the end of the 2010 season.
His first game as Sydney Swans coach ended in a draw against , with both teams scoring 11.18 (84). Longmire's first win as coach followed the next week, against in round two. Longmire has enjoyed a relatively good start to his coaching career, with only five losses in the first fourteen rounds of the season (albeit against top-four opposition in , (twice), and ).
Perhaps his best coaching achievement must be engineering Sydney's upset 13-point victory over at Skilled Stadium in the penultimate round of the 2011 season. The Swans had not won there in more than 12 years, and the home tenant had not lost at the ground in exactly four years and one day. Also, the Swans were the only team to beat top-four side at Patersons Stadium
during the season (although this was in Round 3 and nothing much was expected of the Eagles this season). Those two sides won the rest of their home matches during the regular season.
Longmire took Sydney to the finals in the first year at the helm, that being the club's 13th finals appearance in 16 seasons. After beating in the elimination final at Etihad Stadium, the Swans were defeated by in the semi-final stage, ending what was otherwise a promising first season for Longmire in the top job.
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
. As a player, he represented the North Melbourne Football Club
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
in the Australian Football League
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
(AFL) from 1988 to 1999.
Early years
Longmire began his playing career at the Corowa-RutherglenCorowa Rutherglen Football Club
The Corowa Rutherglen Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is an Australian Rules Football club playing in the Ovens & Murray Football League....
club in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, where he won the Ovens & Murray Football League
Ovens & Murray Football League
The Ovens and Murray Football League, often referred to locally as the O&M, is a semi-professional Australian rules football league based around ten clubs in north-eastern Victoria and the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, and affiliated with the Victorian Country Football League...
's leading goalkicker title. His ability and size quickly attracted the interest of the North Melbourne VFL club's talent scouts.
AFL career
John Longmire was built for playing full-forwardFull-forward
Full-forward is a position in Australian rules football and Gaelic football with a key focus on kicking goals.Leading full-forwards of the Australian Football League are usually among those awarded with the Coleman Medal for the most goals in an AFL season....
. His powerful physique and size earned him the nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
Horse. At North Melbourne, he formed a powerful goalkicking partnership with centre half forward Wayne Carey
Wayne Carey
Wayne Carey is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne and Adelaide Football Clubs in the Australian Football League ....
. In six seasons between 1990 to 1995 Carey and Longmire collectively kicked 768 goals (of which Longmire contributed 464) and 13 times they combined for 10 goals or more in a game. Individually, Longmire kicked 5-plus goals in a game 36 times, 7-plus goals 18 times and 10-plus twice, before a serious knee injury force him out of the game for the 1996 season. When he returned the following year, he played out the rest of his career in defense and in the ruck.
Longmire is best known for his performances during the 1990 season. A year in which, at only 19 years of age, he kicked 98 goals and won the Coleman Medal
Coleman Medal
The Coleman Medal is awarded yearly to the Australian Football League player who kicks the most goals in regular-season matches in that year...
as the league's leading goal kicker. In round 2 of that year he kicked a North Melbourne record, 12 goals against Richmond
Richmond Football Club
The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...
, which he broke twelve weeks later when he kicked 14 goals in round 14 against Melbourne
Melbourne Football Club
The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
. Going into the final round Longmire looked certain to reach the 100 goal milestone for the season, however terribly inaccurate kicking resulted in a tally of 2 goals and 8 behinds, leaving him just 2 goals short of the milestone. Longmire went on the win North Melbourne's best and fairest
Syd Barker Medal
The Syd Barker Medal is awarded to the North Melbourne Football Club player who has been judged the best and fairest of the footy season. The award has been given out continuously since 1937. Before then it was known as the Syd Barker Memorial Trophy....
that year and led the club's goal kicking list each year from 1990 to 1994.
Longmire's last career game was the 1999 Grand Final, in which the Kangaroos defeated Carlton
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...
. This was a sweet day for Longmire after injury forced him to miss North's 1996 Premiership win, as well as the 1998 Grand Final, which North Melbourne
North Melbourne Football Club
The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...
was expected to win, but lost.
Career statistics
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Disposals | Kicks Kick (football) Kicking is a method used by many types of football, including:* Association football* Australian rules football* International rules football* American football* Canadian football* Gaelic football* Rugby league* Rugby union... |
Handballs Handball (Australian rules football) Handball is a term in the sport of Australian rules football which describes a method of disposing of possession of the football by hand. It is the most frequently used alternative to kicking the ball... |
Marks Mark (Australian football) A mark is a skill in Australian rules football where a player cleanly catches a kicked ball that has travelled more than 15 metres without anyone else touching it or the ball hitting the ground.... |
Tackles Tackle (football move) Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend.... |
Hit Outs | Goals | Behinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 1988 VFL season The 92nd Victorian Football League Premiership Season commenced in April 1988 and concluded on 24 September 1988, with Hawthorn winning their seventh Premiership in their sixth consecutive Grand Final appearance.-Night Series:... |
North Melbourne | 43 | 11 | 94 | 70 | 24 | 56 | 2 | 5 | 21 | 12 |
| 1989 1989 VFL season -Notable events:* In Round 13, horrendous conditions at Windy Hill saw Essendon and Footscray play the lowest scoring game since the 1927 Grand Final, with the teams combining for only 6.15 .... |
North Melbourne | 35 | 16 | 140 | 99 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 12 |
| 1990 1990 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1990.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Ladder:All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 154... |
North Melbourne | 35 | 22 | 291 | 230 | 61 | 139 | 10 | 4 | 98 | 60 |
| 1991 1991 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1991.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-National Cup:... |
North Melbourne | 35 | 21 | 260 | 199 | 61 | 128 | 12 | 0 | 91 | 54 |
| 1992 1992 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1992. The AFL Grand Final this year was won by the West Coast Eagles, who became the first non-Victorian club to win a Premiership.-Ladder:... |
North Melbourne | 35 | 20 | 214 | 164 | 50 | 90 | 10 | 1 | 64 | 37 |
| 1993 1993 AFL season -Ladder:All teams played 20 games during the home and away season, for a total of 165. Each team also had two byes. An additional 7 games were played during the finals series.-Awards:*The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Gavin Wanganeen of .... |
North Melbourne | 35 | 20 | 210 | 151 | 59 | 81 | 9 | 5 | 75 | 29 |
| 1994 1994 AFL season -Ladder:All teams played 22 games during the home and away season, for a total of 165. An additional 9 games were played during the finals series. It was the first season that the AFL implemented a top 8 team finals series... |
North Melbourne | 35 | 23 | 256 | 170 | 86 | 120 | 13 | 0 | 78 | 46 |
| 1995 1995 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1995.-Round 1:-Round 2:-Round 3:-Round 4:*This was the first ANZAC Day clash held between Collingwood and Essendon which famously ended in a draw.-Round 5:-Round 6:... |
North Melbourne | 35 | 22 | 235 | 157 | 78 | 94 | 10 | 7 | 58 | 32 |
| 1996 1996 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1996.See List of Australian Football League premiers for a complete list.-Lighting Premiership:... |
North Melbourne | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 1997 AFL season Results and statistics for the Australian Football League season of 1997.The Port Adelaide Power joined the competition.The Brisbane Lions also joined the competition after the merger of the and .... |
North Melbourne | 35 | 25 | 300 | 196 | 104 | 96 | 33 | 65 | 10 | 11 |
| 1998 | North Melbourne | 35 | 10 | 85 | 50 | 35 | 28 | 4 | 60 | 7 | 4 |
| 1999 | North Melbourne | 35 | 10 | 91 | 53 | 38 | 24 | 8 | 68 | 0 | 1 |
| Career Totals | 200 | 2176 | 1539 | 637 | 887 | 124 | 298 | 511 | 298 | ||
Sydney Swans
Longmire has since returned to New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
to take up an assistant coaching position with the Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
. In 2008 Roos appointed Longmire the Swans "coaching co-ordinator". Longmire replaced Paul Roos
Paul Roos (Australian rules footballer)
Paul Roos is a former Australian rules football player and coach in the VFL and Australian Football League.Playing the majority of his career with Fitzroy, Roos was one of the teams greats, captaining the side for a long time and was acknowledged as its best player for several seasons, being named...
following his retirement at the end of the 2010 season.
His first game as Sydney Swans coach ended in a draw against , with both teams scoring 11.18 (84). Longmire's first win as coach followed the next week, against in round two. Longmire has enjoyed a relatively good start to his coaching career, with only five losses in the first fourteen rounds of the season (albeit against top-four opposition in , (twice), and ).
Perhaps his best coaching achievement must be engineering Sydney's upset 13-point victory over at Skilled Stadium in the penultimate round of the 2011 season. The Swans had not won there in more than 12 years, and the home tenant had not lost at the ground in exactly four years and one day. Also, the Swans were the only team to beat top-four side at Patersons Stadium
Subiaco Oval
Subiaco Oval , known colloquially as Subi, is the highest capacity sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia...
during the season (although this was in Round 3 and nothing much was expected of the Eagles this season). Those two sides won the rest of their home matches during the regular season.
Longmire took Sydney to the finals in the first year at the helm, that being the club's 13th finals appearance in 16 seasons. After beating in the elimination final at Etihad Stadium, the Swans were defeated by in the semi-final stage, ending what was otherwise a promising first season for Longmire in the top job.