Bulldogs second-rower Sam Lumby has described the decision to remove Sean Hayne as coach as “pretty ordinary’.
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Gunnedah president David McCann acknowledged that the shock move to replace Hayne with John Hickey is a “touchy” subject but was the majority voice of the club’s committee.
Veteran Bulldog Aaron Donnelly also said the committee had spoken, adding that the players’ “full attention” must be paid to Hickey.
And the man himself, the coach who guided the side to a narrow grand final loss to North Tamworth in September, said: “It is what it is.”
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Four points of view furnished after nine Gunnedah committee members, out of a possible 15, cast anonymous votes on Sunday night, sealing Hayne’s fate after two seasons in charge – the first ending in the preliminary final – and replacing him with a respected multi-sport coach and former Bulldogs first-grader.
Lumby said he would have no problem playing under Hickey but he “would have liked Sean to get another crack”.
“Personally, I think he turned our first-grade team the last couple of years completely around,” Lumby said. “I think it’s a bit of a no-brainer that you just put him back in. He’s done a good job – why stray from what’s working?
“But John Hickey’s got a fair bit of experience with coaching. So if that’s the way the club’s viewed [it], well, there’s not much I can do about it except play.”
As with every team, Lumby said there may have been players who were not Hayne fans. But he said the ex-coach was never biased when selecting the team – the best 17 were chosen each week. “He’s pretty easy to play for, I think,” Lumby said.
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He added: “The chat from the end of the season, I thought that most of the boys would definitely be hanging around again – build a good team. Like we turned our season around pretty well [in 2018] and then ya … I just don’t get it, personally (the decision to replace Hayne).”
McCann, elected president the same year Hayne was made coach, said it was “obviously a fairly touchy area because Sean has obviously done a good job with his coaching”.
He said Hayne had “insisted” on the process that unseated him – fielding applications for his job. “Rather then, sort of, reappoint without seeing what’s on the market,” he said, adding that Hayne and Hickey were the only applicants and both were “very, very worthy applicants”.
The full committee interviewed both men and then voted, he said. Six of the committee members were not present on Sunday night for the vote for various reasons, he added.
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“It’s a democratic process,” he said.
Hayne did not want to comment but said: “I put in for it, I didn’t get it. If you want to know anything, you’ll have to talk to someone on the committee. They made the decision – I haven’t got anything to add to it … It is what it is.”