Wayne Brittain (born 13 June 1958) is a former coach of the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

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).

Career

Playing career

In his playing career, Brittain played for Zillmere Eagles in the Queensland State League. He eventually suffered a back injury which ended his career.

Coaching career

Brisbane Bears

Brittain then took up coaching in 1994 and became an assistant coach of

Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Football Club, nicknamed the Bears, was a professional Australian rules football club based in Queensland on the Gold Coast (relocated to Brisbane in 1993). The club participated in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/A ...

under senior coach

Robert Walls Robert Walls (born 21 July 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented and in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. In a playing career that spanned three decades Robert played a combined 259 games ...

. The following two seasons with the Bears saw little success, but provided a steep learning curve.

Carlton Football Club

In 1996, Brittain then became the assistant coach at the

under senior coach

David Parkin David Alex Parkin, OAM (born 12 September 1942) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and for the Subiaco Football Club in the Western Australian Na ...

. Brittain's time as assistant coach at Carlton lasted for five years, during which he earned respect as an excellent communicator and game-day tactician. By 2000, Parkin had so much confidence in his assistant Brittain, that he handed over the tactical responsibility during matches on a regular basis. It was a method deemed unusual, however, when the Blues were powered by an incredible season by

Anthony Koutoufides Anthony Koutoufides (born 18 January 1973), also known by his nickname of Kouta, is a retired Australian rules footballer with the Carlton Football Club. Considered by many as one of the most powerful and athletic players of all-time, he played ...

and won 13 games in a row, and made the Preliminary Finals, it was safe to say that it worked. Brittain was credited with much of the club's success in the 2000 home and away season. After Parkin's retirement as Carlton Football Club senior coach at the end of the 2000 season, Parkin then handed the coaching reins to Brittain. Brittain then became the senior coach of Carlton Football Club, serving in the role from 2001 until 2002. With Carlton under Brittain, he guided the club to fifth place in the 2001 season reaching the finals, but were eliminated by

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, ...

in the semi-finals. However in the 2002 season, Carlton under Brittain crashed, when the club's on-field performance deteriorated mainly due to the club's salary cap breaches to finish in last place on the ladder, which was the sixteenth position with three wins and nineteen losses. This was the first time Carlton had ever received the VFL/AFL

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

. Brittain was then sacked as Carlton Football Club senior coach, at the end of the 2002 season and was replaced by

Denis Pagan Denis Leslie Pagan (born 24 September 1947) is a former Australian rules football coach and player in the VFL/AFL. Pagan is a dual AFL premiership coach, and he also won the prestigious Victoria derby in 2020 as a trainer and owner of the horse ...

as Carlton Football Club senior coach.

Richmond Football Club

Brittain went on to be an assistant coach at

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

under senior coach

Danny Frawley Daniel Patrick Frawley (8 September 1963 – 9 September 2019) was an Australian rules football player, coach, administrator, commentator and media personality. He played 240 games for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League ...

, for the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

and 2004 season, before leaving at the end of the 2004 season after Frawley resigned.

Zillmere Eagles

He returned to Queensland to coach his old club, the Zillmere Eagles in 2005, but was sacked by the club after eighteen months, after being fined for abusing the umpires after a Zillmere loss.

Brisbane Lions

On 15 September 2008, Brittain became an assistant coach of

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

under senior coach

Michael Voss Michael Voss (born 7 July 1975) is a former professional Australian rules football player with the Brisbane Bears/Lions and current senior coach of the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Voss was a triple premiersh ...

for the 2009 season. However after one season, Brittain left the Brisbane Lions, when he departed from his role as assistant coach.

Personal life

Wayne is the brother of former

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 ...

player Craig Brittain.

References

External links

*
Wayne Brittain's Profile at Blueseum
Living people Carlton Football Club coaches Zillmere Eagles Australian Football Club players 1958 births Australian rules footballers from Queensland {{AFL-bio-1950s-stub