John Longmire (born 31 December 1970) is the current coach of the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

. As a player, he represented the

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Kangaroos also ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL) from 1988 to 1999.

Early years

Longmire was born in

Corowa, New South Wales Corowa is a town in the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is on the bank of the Murray River, the border between New South Wales and Victoria, opposite the Victorian town of Wahgunyah. It is the largest town in the Federation Council an ...

. He took up Australian rules as a child and first came into notice when he won the 1984 Thirds goal kicking award in the

Coreen & District Football League The Coreen & District Football League was an Australian rules football competition in the Coreen district of the Riverina in New South Wales, initially formed in 1909. The netball competition commenced in 1972 in line with the football fixture ...

with Corowa-Rutherglen. In his first season of senior football career with Corowa-Rutherglen in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, he nearly won the

Ovens & Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales and the Ovens and Murray are ...

's leading goalkicker title in 1987 as a 16-year-old, kicking 82 goals. His ability and size quickly attracted the interest of the North Melbourne VFL club's talent scouts. Longmire's grandfather is former

Fitzroy Football Club The Fitzroy Football Club is an Australian rules football club currently competing in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA). Formed in 1883 to represent the inner-Melbourne municipality of Fitzroy, the club was a member of the Vi ...

player Keith Williams. His uncle,

Robert Longmire Robert Longmire (born 26 November 1944) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Longmire is the uncle of former North Melbourne Football Club player John Longmire Jo ...

, is a former

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

player. Walter Longmire (John Longmire’s great grandfather) represented New South Wales v South Australia at the MCG in 1927.

Playing career

North Melbourne

Longmire's physique and size earned him the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

"Horse". His first match for North Melbourne was in the infamous exhibition match between North Melbourne and Carlton at The Oval in London in 1987. His first official match for

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at the ...

was in the 1988 season against Footscray with a four-goal performance, but he struggled after that and near the end of the season coach John Kennedy Sr. moved him to full-back. He did well in that role during the 1989 season, holding

Tony Lockett Anthony Howard Lockett (born 9 March 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Nicknamed "Plugger", he is considered one of the greatest f ...

to five kicks in Round 14, but North's lack of key position players in attack saw him moved back to the forward line in August. The 1990 season saw Longmire jump to the top of the tree: at only nineteen years of age, he kicked 98 goals and won the

Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals in the home-and-away season. It is named after Essendon full-forward John Coleman, one of the most ...

as the league's leading goal kicker (and the youngest player to have done so). In Round 2 of that year he kicked a North Melbourne record of twelve goals against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, which he broke twelve weeks later when he kicked fourteen goals in round 14 against

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Going into the final round Longmire looked likely to reach the 100-goal milestone for the season, however inaccurate kicking against a strong Collingwood defence resulted in two goals and eight behinds, leaving him two goals short. Longmire won North Melbourne's best and fairest award that year and led the club's goal kicking list every season from 1990 to

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. At North Melbourne, he formed a powerful goalkicking partnership with

centre half forward In Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. The directly opposing player is a Half-back line, centre half-back. Royce Hart of the Richmond Football Club and Wayne Carey of the ...

Wayne Carey Wayne Francis Carey (born 27 May 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A dual-premiership captain at North Melbou ...

. In six seasons between 1990 and 1995, Carey and Longmire collectively kicked 768 goals (of which Longmire contributed 464) and thirteen times they combined for ten goals or more in a game. Individually, Longmire kicked 5-plus goals in a game 36 times, 7-plus goals 18 times and 10-plus twice, before a serious knee injury forced him out of the game for the 1996 season. When he returned the following year, he played out the remainder of his career in defence and in the ruck. Longmire missed out on playing on the winning side of the 1996 premiership with a knee injury and just made it back from an elbow injury to make his last career game the 1999 Grand Final, in which the Kangaroos defeated

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

. This was his only year to also not score a goal, managing only to kick 1 point in 10 games. Longmire played a total of 200 games and kicked a total of 511 goals for North Melbourne from 1988 to 1999, as well as being a member of the North Melbourne premiership side in 1999.

Coaching career

Sydney Swans

Longmire returned to

to take up an assistant coaching position with the

. In 2006, he was considered to be a front-runner for the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club ...

senior coaching role, which was made vacant by the sacking of Grant Thomas, however, the role later went to then-fellow Swans assistant coach

Ross Lyon Ross Lyon (born 8 November 1966) is a former Australian rules football player and the senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously coached St Kilda from 2007 to 2011 and the Fremantle Footbal ...

. In 2008, senior coach Paul Roos, appointed Longmire the Swans' "coaching co-ordinator". In a succession plan, Longmire replaced Roos as senior coach of the Sydney Swans following Roos' retirement at the end of the 2010 season. Longmire's first game as the Sydney Swans senior coach in the 2011 season ended in a draw against , with both teams scoring 11.18 (84). His first win as senior coach came the next week, against in Round 2, 2011. Longmire had a relatively good start to his coaching career, with only five losses in the first fourteen rounds of the season (albeit against top-four opposition in , (twice), and ). One of his best coaching achievements was engineering Sydney's upset 13-point victory over at Skilled Stadium in the penultimate round of the 2011 season. The Swans had not won there in more than 12 years and the home team had not lost at the ground in exactly four years and one day. Also, the Swans were the only team to beat top-four side at

Patersons Stadium Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood. Subiaco Oval was the high ...

during the season. Those two sides won the rest of their home matches during the regular season. Longmire took Sydney to the finals in 2011, his first year as senior coach in what was the club's 13th finals appearance in 16 seasons. After beating in the elimination finals at

Etihad Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

, the Swans were defeated by in the semi-finals ending what was otherwise a promising first season for Longmire in the top job. In the 2012 season in his second year as senior coach, Longmire led Sydney to third place on the AFL ladder, compiling a 16–6 record in the home-and-away season. He later coached the Swans to a premiership victory over in the

2012 AFL Grand Final The 2012 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Hawthorn Football Club and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 29 September 2012. It was the 117th annual grand final of the Australian Football ...

by a margin of 10 points with the final score being the Sydney Swans 14.7 (91) to Hawthorn 11.15 (81). Subsequently, his contract was extended until the end of the 2015 season. In March 2014, Longmire signed a two-year contract extension which took his tenure to the end of the 2017 AFL season. In the 2014 season, Longmire coached the Sydney Swans to the

2014 AFL Grand Final The 2014 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Sydney Swans and the Hawthorn Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 27 September 2014. It was the 119th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football ...

, but they lost to

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

by a margin of 63 points with the final score being Sydney Swans 11.8 (74) to Hawthorn 21.11 (137). In the 2016 season, Longmire coached the Sydney Swans to the

2016 AFL Grand Final The 2016 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between and the at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 October 2016. It was the 121st annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football ...

, but they lost to the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

by a margin of 22 points with the final score being Western Bulldogs 13.11 (89) to Sydney Swans 10.7 (67). In round 4 of the 2019 AFL season, Longmire coached his 200th game, a career

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

. Three rounds later, he overtook Paul Roos as the longest serving coach of the club. On 12 July 2019, Longmire extended his contract for a further three years, to remain the Sydney Swans' senior coach until at least the end of 2023. In 2020, Longmire coached the All-Stars team in a one-off 2020 State of Origin match which was played on 28 February 2020 at

Docklands Stadium Docklands Stadium, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Marvel Stadium, is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment stadium in the Docklands area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction started in October 1997 and was ...

. In the 2022 season, Longmire coached the Sydney Swans to the 2022 AFL Grand Final when they lost to

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

by a margin of 81 points with Geelong scoring 20.13 (133) to the Sydney Swans 8.4 (52).

Statistics

Playing statistics

: , - ,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, , , , 43 , 11 , , 21 , , 12 , , 70 , , 24 , , 94 , , 56 , , 2 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , 6.4 , , 2.2 , , 8.5 , , 5.1 , , 0.2 , , 0 , - , 1989 , , , , 35 , 16 , , 9 , , 12 , , 99 , , 41 , , 140 , , 31 , , 10 , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 6.2 , , 2.6 , , 8.8 , , 1.9 , , 0.6 , , 0 , - ,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, , , , 35 , 22 , , bgcolor=CAE1FF , 98^† , , bgcolor="CFECEC", 60 , , 230 , , 61 , , 291 , , 139 , , 10 , , 4.5 , , 2.7 , , 10.5 , , 2.8 , , 13.2 , , 6.3 , , 0.5 , , 9 , - ,

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, , , , 35 , 21 , , 91 , , 54 , , 199 , , 61 , , 260 , , 128 , , 12 , , 4.3 , , 2.6 , , 9.5 , , 2.9 , , 12.4 , , 6.1 , , 0.6 , , 8 , - ,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, , , , 35 , 20 , , 64 , , 37 , , 164 , , 50 , , 214 , , 90 , , 10 , , 3.2 , , 1.9 , , 8.2 , , 2.5 , , 10.7 , , 4.5 , , 0.5 , , 0 , - , 1993 , , , , 35 , 20 , , 75 , , 29 , , 151 , , 59 , , 210 , , 81 , , 9 , , 3.8 , , 1.5 , , 7.6 , , 3.0 , , 10.5 , , 4.1 , , 0.5 , , 4 , - ,

, , , , 35 , 23 , , 78 , , 46 , , 170 , , 86 , , 256 , , 120 , , 13 , , 3.4 , , 2.0 , , 7.4 , , 3.7 , , 11.1 , , 5.2 , , 0.6 , , 8 , - ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, , , , 35 , 22 , , 58 , , 32 , , 157 , , 78 , , 235 , , 94 , , 10 , , 2.6 , , 1.5 , , 7.1 , , 3.5 , , 10.7 , , 4.3 , , 0.5 , , 0 , - ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, , , , 35 , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, , , , 35 , 25 , , 10 , , 11 , , 196 , , 104 , , 300 , , 96 , , 33 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 7.8 , , 4.2 , , 12.0 , , 3.8 , , 1.3 , , 3 , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, , , , 35 , 10 , , 7 , , 4 , , 50 , , 35 , , 85 , , 28 , , 4 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 5.0 , , 3.5 , , 8.5 , , 2.8 , , 0.4 , , 1 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

^# , , , , 35 , 10 , , 0 , , 1 , , 53 , , 38 , , 91 , , 24 , , 8 , , 0.0 , , 0.1 , , 5.3 , , 3.8 , , 9.1 , , 2.4 , , 0.8 , , 0 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 200 !! 511 !! 298 !! 1539 !! 637 !! 2176 !! 887 !! 121 !! 2.6 !! 1.5 !! 7.7 !! 3.2 !! 10.9 !! 4.4 !! 0.6 !! 33

Coaching statistics

''Updated to the end of the 2022 season''. , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, , , , 24 , 13 , , 10 , , 1 , , 56.3% , , 7 , , 17 , - , scope=row bgcolor=F0E68C ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

^# , , , , 25 , 19 , , 6 , , 0 , , 76.0% , , 3 , , 18 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, , , , 25 , 16 , , 8 , , 1 , , 66.0% , , 4 , , 18 , - ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, , , , 25 , 19 , , 6 , , 0 , , 76.0% , , 1 , , 18 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, , , , 24 , 16 , , 8 , , 0 , , 66.7% , , 4 , , 18 , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, , , , 26 , 19 , , 7 , , 0 , , 73.1% , , 1 , , 18 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, , , , 24 , 15 , , 9 , , 0 , , 62.5% , , 6 , , 18 , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, , , , 23 , 14 , , 9 , , 0 , , 60.9% , , 6 , , 18 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , , , 22 , 8 , , 14 , , 0 , , 36.4% , , 15 , , 18 , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, , , , 17 , 5 , , 12 , , 0 , , 29.4% , , 16 , , 18 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, , , , 23 , 15 , , 8 , , 0 , , 65.2% , , 6 , , 18 , - ,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, , , , 25 , 18 , , 7 , , 0 , , 72.0% , , 3 , , 18 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=2 , Career ! 283 !! 177 !! 104 !! 2 !! 62.9% !! colspan=2,

Honours and achievements

Playing honours

Team * VFL/AFL Premiership (

Kangaroos Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football trophy which has been awarded each year since 1951 by the Australian Football League (known prior to 1990 as the Victorian Football League) to the best-performing club in the home-and-away sea ...

(

* Pre-Season Cup (

Individual *

: 1990 * Syd Barker Medal (North Melbourne F.C. B&F): 1990 * North Melbourne F.C. Leading Goalkicker: 1990-1994

Coaching honours

Team *

AFL Premiership This page is a complete chronological listing of VFL/AFL premiers. The Australian Football League (AFL), known as the Victorian Football League (VFL) until 1990, is the elite national competition in men's Australian rules football. The inaugur ...

(

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

(

Individual * Jock McHale Medal: 2012 *

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

References

External links

John Longmire's profile
at AustralianFootball.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longmire, John Australian rules footballers from New South Wales North Melbourne Football Club players North Melbourne Football Club Premiership players Sydney Swans coaches Sydney Swans Premiership coaches Syd Barker Medal winners Coleman Medal winners Victorian State of Origin players New South Wales Australian rules football State of Origin players Corowa-Rutherglen Football Club players All-Australian coaches 1970 births Living people One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players One-time VFL/AFL Premiership coaches