create the first privately owned club. Franchising, club licensing, player drafts and salary caps were all concepts that the VFL was attempting to import into Australian football at a time of financial crisis. Edelsten quickly signed numerous star players away from Melbourne clubs by offering large contracts. He wanted to hire Kevin Sheedy, who had just coached Essendon to successive premierships. Sheedy turned Edelsten down, but urged the Swans' owner to sign his old mentor, Tom Hafey. Edelsten took the advice and signed Hafey for three years. The Sydney Swans under Hafey made the finals campaigns in 1986 and 1987, both of which ended at the First Semi Final. Coaching methods Hafey's teams usually tackled hard, shepherded, persisted, smothered and backed each other up, aspects of the game now called "one-percenters". Supreme fitness was required to play this way, so Hafey put a strong emphasis on training. However, his training methods were sometimes labelled monotonous and he was described as tactically unsophisticated. Hafey strongly believed in leaving players in their designated position, even if they were losing to their opponent, which attracted criticism when the team lost. By contrast, virtually all players are rotated in modern play as the coach seeks match-ups favourable to the team. Hafey was prepared to back his players and build their confidence, contributing to a strong team spirit. His approach differed from most successful coaches who remained aloof from their players. He focussed on the team's camaraderie, in many cases becoming intimately involved with the lives of his charges and he sought to mix with them in social situations even though he was a teetotaller and non-smoker. All four teams that he coached improved immediately after Hafey's appointment. However, he also "lost" his players several times during his career as they rebelled against his training requirements. Comparative coaching statistics * Statistics up to the end of the 2016 AFL season. Later career Returning to Melbourne in 1989, Hafey was employed by ABC radio as a football commentator. Although often mentioned as a possible candidate by the media whenever a coaching position fell vacant in the AFL, no job materialised. Hafey came to be seen as one of the "old school" coaches, unsuited to the tactically sophisticated era. In his radio commentary, he rarely employed the jargon of the modern coach and believed that football is a simple game that had been over-complicated, that motivation comes