No guarantee for Bickley
CEO Steven Trigg says interim coach Mark Bickley does not have the inside running for the permanent role
ADELAIDE'S interim coach Mark Bickley does not have "the inside running" for the job on a permanent basis, Crows CEO Steven Trigg says.
Dual premiership captain Bickley was appointed caretaker coach on Monday after Neil Craig's resignation, and will lead Adelaide in its final six matches this season.
However, Trigg insisted Bickley had been given no guarantees.
Trigg said the six-match window would be an opportunity to assess Bickley's coaching credentials, but the club board would seek "the best possible coach in the nation".
"[Bickley] is not being given the inside running. He has not been given a guarantee. He has been given an opportunity to coach an AFL club for six weeks," Trigg said.
Craig was appointed as coach of Adelaide at the end of the 2004 season after a successful audition as caretaker.
The Crows' longest-serving coach won four of his nine games in charge after predecessor Gary Ayres resigned after round 13, and was eventually chosen ahead of more experienced candidates Rodney Eade and Terry Wallace for the position.
Trigg said the decision on whether Bickley won the permanent role would not be made purely on his results over the rest of the season.
"It will clearly be an influence, but it won't be the be all and end all," he said.
"Bickley is the best equipped [of the current assistant coaches] to do it and I really look forward to seeing how he goes with it over the next six weeks."
Trigg flatly denied having already made approaches to other coaches, saying the club would first need to put in place a process to find Craig's long-term replacement.
There has been an endless supply of possible candidates tossed up throughout the course of Adelaide's tumultuous season, including former skipper and current Essendon assistant Simon Goodwin, ex-Crows defender and Norwood coach Nathan Bassett, and Collingwood champion and West Coast assistant Scott Burns.
Experienced coaches Alastair Clarkson and Paul Roos have also been mentioned, although the latter has repeatedly ruled out making a return to coaching.
Goodwin has received glowing endorsements and is considered to be a senior coach in waiting, but is in just the first season of a three-year apprenticeship at the Bombers. While Bassett has coached in his own right, he hasn't been involved with an AFL club since retiring from the Crows in 2008.
Trigg declined to comment on whether the club would prefer an experienced coach, or a 'young' coach, as is the recent trend in AFL ranks.
"I have an idea, but it would be totally inappropriate for me to roll that out here at the moment," he said.
"If we employ a former player there's going to be a notion about, why aren't you looking outside [the club]? If we go into Victoria … there will be a debate about whatever we do.
"We will get the best person for the job. The playing group here deserves it and we think we can bounce back really quickly, but we'll take our time to get that [decision] right.
"It'll be the best available person, who I can convince to be available if I need to."
Trigg said Bickley's charter over the remaining six weeks would be to restore the club's "trademark" competitiveness, and to "try a few things" with an eye to next season.