Dean Bailey (18 January 1967 – 11 March 2014) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

player and coach. He played for the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

and was the senior coach of the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

, as well as an assistant coach at Essendon and

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

and the Strategy & Innovation Coach at the

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

(Adelaide Crows). Bailey died of lung cancer on 11 March 2014.

Playing career

Bailey played 53 games for Essendon, mainly as a centreman. He wore guernsey numbers 42 and 31, and preceded Dustin Fletcher in wearing the latter number.

Coaching career

Bailey became senior coach of Mount Gravatt Football Club in Queensland at the end of the 1997 season. In 1998, In his first season as senior coach, he guided Mt Gravatt to fourth place. In 1999, he coached Mt Gravatt to third position in his second and final year.

Essendon Football Club assistant coach

At the end of the 1999 season, Bailey became an assistant coach in the position of development coach at the

under senior coach Kevin Sheedy and helped the club to their 2000 premiership. In his second year back with the Dons, they again made the 2001 Grand Final, except this time they lost to the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

by 26 points. Bailey left the Essendon Football Club at the end of the 2001 season.

Port Adelaide Football Club assistant coach

Bailey joined the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

in 2002 as an assistant coach under senior coach Mark Williams, a position he held in guiding the club to the 2004 premiership, its first one in the AFL. After Port Adelaide lost the 2007 Grand Final, Bailey left the Port Adelaide Football Club at the end of the 2007 season.

Melbourne Football Club senior coach

At the end of the 2007 season, he was appointed as the senior coach of the

for the 2008 season. Bailey replaced Melbourne Football Club caretaker senior coach Mark Riley, who replaced Neale Daniher, after Daniher resigned in the middle of the 2007 season. The 2008 season started badly for Bailey, with the Demons losing their first six games by lopsided margins before winning its first match of the season against

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

in round seven. Things did not get better, as the Demons under Bailey lost the next six games; however, they won their second game in Round 14 against

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Then they lost the next five games and won their third game in Round 20 against West Coast. Melbourne under Bailey finished 16th in the last position on the ladder at the end of the 2008 season, claiming the

wooden spoon A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture. History The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...

with three wins and 19 losses. The 2009 season started with three losses for the Demons under Bailey, before an inspiring and unexpected win by eight points against

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

in their round four clash at the MCG. At the mid-way point of the 2009 season, the Demons under Bailey sat last on the ladder with one win and eleven losses, but Bailey retained his commitment to youth and gave many youngsters on Melbourne's list valuable experience over the first half of the year. The club under Bailey, finished the 2009 season with four wins and 18 losses and finished last on the ladder for the

again in the second consecutive year running. The 2010 season for the Demons under Bailey began with a first round-loss to Hawthorn by 56 points in which the playing group and Bailey were criticised in the media for their on-field performance. But the Demons bounced back in their second game of the season, losing to eventual premier Collingwood by just one point. Round three saw the Demons chalk up their first victory of the season, a 16-point victory over the Adelaide Crows. This was followed by big victories over Richmond and the

, the latter considered to be a major upset at that point of 2010, as the Lions were undefeated at the time, and fielded big-name players including

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

and Fevola. Despite elevated expectations the Demons then went on to lose their next three games. A narrow victory over Port Adelaide in round 9 however gave fans something to celebrate. Again the club suffered several more losses following the win, as well as a nail-biting draw to Collingwood, in the annual Queen's Birthday match. The club found some form again in the following weeks, beating Essendon in round 15, narrowly losing to Fremantle in round 16 (after a huge comeback) and winning again in round 17, thrashing 2005 premiers Sydney by 73 points. A 10-point win over struggling

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

and then

at the MCG followed. Ultimately, the Demons under Bailey finished 12th on the ladder at season's end, a somewhat huge improvement from the past two seasons. The 2011 season saw the Demons, under Bailey, experience great fluctuations in form. Starting the season with a draw against Sydney, the team was well beaten by Hawthorn in the second round despite leading at half time. Consecutive victories followed, with a narrow win over the Brisbane Lions, and league newcomers Gold Coast by 90 points. Following a bye, the club suffered a 54-point defeat at the hands of West Coast before bouncing back the following week, thrashing Adelaide by 96 points, recording their biggest-ever victory against them. It was also their biggest win under Dean Bailey to date. Three losses followed, followed by a surprise victory over Essendon. The traditional Queen's Birthday clash, which had been drawn the previous year, turned into a blow-out with Collingwood winning by 88 points, the biggest margin in a Queen's Birthday clash to date. The Demons then went on to record another massive turnaround, recording their biggest-ever victory over Fremantle, by 89 points, the following week. This was followed up with a victory over . The next week saw Melbourne face the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

at Etihad Stadium. It was a disappointing week for the Demons, as they lost by 64 points. Melbourne had the bye the following week, followed by yet another turnaround followed in a win over in Darwin, before losing to by 54 points the following round. In Round 19, 2011, Melbourne under Bailey suffered a humiliating 186-point defeat against Geelong at Skilled Stadium, the defeat marking the second-greatest losing margin in VFL/AFL history. The day after the match, the Melbourne Football Club held a board meeting, where it was announced by the club president,

Jim Stynes James Peter Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football and the first international player to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2003. ...

, that Bailey was sacked as Melbourne Football Club senior coach. He left the club with only 22 wins from 83 matches, a winning percentage of just over 25%. Bailey was replaced by assistant coach Todd Viney as caretaker senior coach for the remainder of the 2011 season. Bailey then made statements, interpreted by some as an admission of tanking, at the press conference which followed his sacking as Melbourne Football Club senior coach in August 2011. Bailey was quoted as saying: Eighteen months after his sacking as Melbourne Football Club senior coach, a Melbourne Football Club tanking scandal investigation into the Melbourne Football club's 2009 season found Bailey and then football manager Chris Connolly guilty of "acting in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the competition". This related most specifically to a meeting in July 2009, which became known colloquially as "the vault", in which Connolly allegedly openly discussed the potential benefits to the club of tanking. Bailey, then an assistant coach at the Adelaide Crows, was banned from coaching for the first sixteen rounds of the 2013 season, meaning he could not engage with any players during his suspension.

Adelaide Football Club assistant coach

On 4 October 2011, Bailey was appointed to the

as an assistant coach in a new role as a strategy and innovation coach. In a statement released by Adelaide on 27 November 2013, it was revealed that Bailey was suffering from cancer and was on indefinite leave. He never returned to work, though he did visit the club in late 2013 and early 2014 during pre-season training before his untimely death in March.

Personal life

Bailey was married to Caron and had two sons.

Death and legacy

Bailey died on 11 March 2014, following a battle with lung cancer. Melbourne captain

Max Gawn Max Gawn (born 30 December 1991) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A Ruckman (Australian rules football), ruckman, 209 cm tall and weighing 111 kg, Gaw ...

paid tribute to Bailey (under whom he made his AFL debut in 2011), among other deceased club identities, in a post-match interview upon the club winning the

2021 AFL Grand Final The 2021 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football match contested between and the at Perth Stadium, Optus Stadium in Perth, Western Australia, on Saturday 25 September 2021. It was the 126th annual AFL Grand Final, grand final of the ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Dean 1967 births 2014 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Essendon Football Club players Melbourne Football Club coaches Deaths from lung cancer in Australia