Brenton James Sanderson (born 27 February 1974) is a former Australian rules football player and is the former senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Brenton Sanderson
Sanderson in August 2018
Personal information
Full name Brenton James Sanderson
Date of birth (1974-02-27) 27 February 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth Adelaide, South Australia
Original team(s) Sturt (SANFL)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1992–1993 Adelaide 006 0(4)
1994 Collingwood 004 0(1)
1995–2005 Geelong 199 (29)
Total 209 (34)
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
2012–2014 Adelaide 69 (39–30–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2005.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2014.
Career highlights

Club:

Coaching:

Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Career

edit

Early career

edit

Originally from Adelaide, South Australia, Sanderson moved from Sturt to Adelaide as one of their 10 concession picks. While at Sturt he injured his right leg and had to learn to kick left footed, this subsequently became his primary kicking foot. He finally made his debut in 1992 but had limited opportunities and played just 6 games until he moved to Collingwood. He played just 4 games with the club following two hamstring injuries during the year, but Sanderson once said he learned a lot about the right attitude to preparation and training, as he learned from living with Nathan Buckley.[1]

Geelong

edit

In 1995 Sanderson moved to Geelong and reinvented himself as a half-back flanker, generating a lot of run out of defence. He had his best season in 2001, when he took out the Carji Greeves Medal as well as earning International rules selection.[1]

In 2005 before the finals series, Sanderson announced he would be retiring from AFL football. His last match was the semi-final loss to the Sydney Swans at the SCG.[2]

Coaching career

edit

Port Adelaide Football Club assistant coach (2005-2007)

edit

Immediately after Sanderson's retirement from playing he moved back to Adelaide to become an assistant coach at Port Adelaide Football Club in 2005 under senior coach Mark Williams,[3]

Geelong Football Club assistant coach (2007-2011)

edit

Sanderson then headed back to Geelong to become an assistant coach under senior coach Mark Thompson in 2007.[4]

Adelaide Football Club senior coach (2011-2014)

edit

On Monday 19 September 2011, Sanderson was appointed senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club ahead of red hot favourite Scott Burns and premiership captain Mark Bickley.[5] Sanderson replaced caretaker senior coach Mark Bickley, who replaced Neil Craig after Craig resigned in the middle of the 2011 season.

After getting to within a goal of reaching the AFL Grand Final in 2012, the Crows underachieved in the ensuing two years, finishing 11th and 10th respectively and therefore failing to make the finals. As a result, on 17 September 2014 (almost three years to the day since he was appointed) Sanderson was sacked as senior coach of the Adelaide Crows.[6][7][8][9] He left the Crows having won 39 of his 69 games in charge – a 56.5 per cent success rate – the second-best of any Crows coach to date. Sanderson was then replaced by Phil Walsh as Adelaide Football Club senior coach.

AFL National Academy Head coach (2015-2016)

edit

Sanderson was Head Coach at the AFL National Academy from 2015 to 2016.

Collingwood Football Club assistant coach (2016-2021)

edit

In 2016, Sanderson was appointed as a Senior Assistant Coach at the Collingwood Football Club under senior coach Nathan Buckley, overseeing forward line and ball movement.[10] Sanderson left the Collingwood Football Club at the end of the 2021 season.[11]

Personal life

edit

Sanderson was at the Sari Club, just hours before the 2002 Bali bombings killed 202 people. He is also a qualified pilot.[12]

Statistics

edit

Playing statistics

edit
[13]
Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1992 Adelaide 36 4 3 2 25 26 51 9 3 0.8 0.5 6.3 6.5 12.8 2.3 0.8
1993 Adelaide 36 2 1 1 11 13 24 7 2 0.5 0.5 5.5 6.5 12.0 3.5 1.0
1994 Collingwood 17 4 1 0 20 17 37 9 3 0.3 0.0 5.0 4.3 9.3 2.3 0.8
1995 Geelong 27 13 2 0 60 57 117 42 7 0.2 0.0 4.6 4.4 9.0 3.2 0.5
1996 Geelong 27 21 2 2 224 124 348 101 23 0.1 0.1 10.7 5.9 16.6 4.8 1.1
1997 Geelong 27 21 8 6 205 81 286 84 29 0.4 0.3 9.8 3.9 13.6 4.0 1.4
1998 Geelong 27 22 5 3 291 98 389 102 33 0.2 0.1 13.2 4.5 17.7 4.6 1.5
1999 Geelong 27 15 4 5 204 55 259 81 14 0.3 0.3 13.6 3.7 17.3 5.4 0.9
2000 Geelong 27 23 1 0 247 102 349 107 29 0.0 0.0 10.7 4.4 15.2 4.7 1.3
2001 Geelong 27 22 2 1 240 98 338 104 29 0.1 0.0 10.9 4.5 15.4 4.7 1.3
2002 Geelong 27 12 1 1 105 40 145 48 24 0.1 0.1 8.8 3.3 12.1 4.0 2.0
2003 Geelong 27 22 2 0 264 120 384 116 38 0.1 0.0 12.0 5.5 17.5 5.3 1.7
2004 Geelong 27 17 1 0 147 74 221 76 21 0.1 0.0 8.6 4.4 13.0 4.5 1.2
2005 Geelong 27 11 1 2 93 77 170 64 20 0.1 0.2 8.5 7.0 15.5 5.8 1.8
Career 209 34 23 2136 982 3118 950 275 0.2 0.1 10.2 4.7 14.9 4.5 1.3

Head coaching record

edit
Team Year Home and Away Season Finals
Won Lost Drew % Position Won Lost Win % Result
ADE 2012 17 5 0 .773 2nd out of 18 1 2 .333 Lost to Hawthorn in Preliminary Final
ADE 2013 10 12 0 .455 11th out of 18
ADE 2014 11 11 0 .500 10th out of 18
Total 38 28 0 .576 1 2 .333
[14]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2002). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (4th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Crown Content. p. 576. ISBN 1-74095-001-1.
  2. ^ Swans pull off unlikely win, Cats go out Archived 15 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Sanderson backs Port's young guns
  4. ^ Gullan, Scott (7 November 2006) Bomber labels Cats review 'crappy'; Herald Sun
  5. ^ "Sanderson bolts into Crows job". 19 September 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  6. ^ Crows, coach part ways, Adelaide Football Club official website, 17 September 2014
  7. ^ "Adelaide Crows sacking of Brenton Sanderson was 'brutal'". 17 September 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Adelaide Crows sack coach Brenton Sanderson". 17 September 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Adelaide Crows sack coach Brenton Sanderson after missing out on AFL finals". 17 September 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Brenton Sanderson - collingwoodfc.com.au". collingwoodfc.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  11. ^ "Collingwood farewell Harvey and Sanderson". 31 August 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  12. ^ Russell, Dwayne (2 March 2003) Sanderson sets sights
  13. ^ Brenton Sanderson's player profile at AFL Tables
  14. ^ Brenton Sanderson's coaching profile at AFL Tables
edit