Premiership coaches share new details of AFL's grand final recordings: ‘That's the danger'

7NEWS

3 days ago

Former Sydney coach John Longmire has explained why he has kept the SD card — which he was meant to be returned to the AFL's media team — from the 2024 grand final.
7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary revealed on Monday that Longmire never handed back his audio data from the grand final — where his team was humiliated by Brisbane to the tune of 60 points — which was needed to produce a documentary for the league's website.
'We've seen plenty of the audio come out and it's been fantastic viewing,' Cleary said on The Agenda Setters on Monday night.
'Last year's grand final, John Longmire was mic'd up on the day, had the pre-game address, the half-time address, the in-box — everything that came with it.
'But post-game, when he handed back the equipment to the AFL, he took the SD card and, to this day, the AFL don't have the SD card — he never gave it back.'
Now Longmire has addressed the issue, while West Coast premiership coach Adam Simpson has called the recording of the coaches dangerous.
'I thought I'd given up coaching and would be safe from all that speculation,' Longmire said on Fox Footy.
'I suddenly realise someone has thrown up something I thought was no big deal, but apparently a bit of an issue this week.
'It's strange. When you're coaching and you've been in grand finals, your natural assumption is you own the IP.'
But Longmire — who retired at the end of last season after his grand final record slumped to one win from five and includes beltings in 2014 (63 points), 2022 (81 points) and 2024 (60 points) — revealed he hadn't listened back to the 2024 audio.
'I've listened to all the grand finals I've been in, some have been pretty tough listening, as you can imagine. I intended to do the same with this one,' Longmire said.
'But I did two things, One: I didn't have a card reader. I had no idea with the technology. But two: I just didn't want to re-live it again.
'I'd done it before, I'd listened and tried to learn something out of those games before. I just didn't want to do it again. Simple as that ... my assumption was it was my IP.
' I don't think I got paid for it. I think over the finals series now you get paid as coaches.'
Former West Coast coach Adam Simpson said the audio of the coaches on grand final day could spell 'danger' for the people involved.
'It wasn't a negotiation (with the AFL), in 2015 and 2018. It was, 'Here's the microphone, put it on',' Simpson said.
'But we had right of veto. In 2015 it was my second year and I didn't know it was the way it was done.
'I think Horse (Longmire) was the one who actually brought in a bit of ownership of it and getting rewarded financially.
Simpson said the AFL recorded the coaches movements on grand final day from 'literally the second' they walked into the MCG.
'Everywhere — with toilet breaks, in the box, up the stairs,' he said.
'Other than Horse's (audio that he's) decided not to hand in, there's hours of audio probably kept somewhere.
'That's the danger, I suppose — or the positive — that in 15 or 20 years something comes from a game that's been kept in the vault.'