Advertiser Article "Former West Adelaide SANFL coach Adam Hartlett joins Glenelg two months after break from football"
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/af ... 975da48ebaTwo months after taking a mental health break as coach of SANFL club West Adelaide, Adam Hartlett is back in the coaches box.
But this time it is not in the red and black of the Bloods, but the black and gold of the Tigers.
A ‘refreshed’’ Hartlett has started a part-time coaching role at Glenelg in the lead-in to this year’s SANFL finals, working as a player development coach and game-day assistant, alongside the Bays’ dual premiership mentor Darren Reeves.
Hartlett has been on duty at Glenelg’s past two games against Woodville-West Torrens and North Adelaide, with Reeves saying he was “pumped’ to have him on board as the Tigers chase a historic flag three-peat.
Reeves reached out to Hartlett, who coached the Bays’ reserves in 2020, after he took “indefinite leave’’ from West, where he had been senior coach for three seasons, at the start of June to “prioritise his wellbeing’’.
“I kept in contact with Adam through that period because I felt for him, we later caught up for a coffee and I said ‘where does it all sit for you?’’ Reeves explained.
“He suggested that he wasn’t going to be involved at West Adelaide anymore, so I said there would be an opportunity at Glenelg if he wanted to do some PD (player development) and a bit of work with our key position players.
“He was very keen to do that, so it was a no-brainer for us to get him involved, and he’s been coming to training one night a week, doing some craft work, and working with us on match days as another set of eyes in the coaches box.
“We’re pumped to have him around and pumped for him to be able to move on and we hope it leads to another (coaching) opportunity for him down the track.
“Importantly, at his first night at training with us he had a smile on his face which, for me, was a big win.’’
Hartlett, 39, took personal leave to “prioritise his wellbeing’’ as senior coach of the Bloods just days after the 104-point loss to Norwood at Richmond Oval in Round 8, which left them with a 1-7 win-loss record.
West promoted head of development and reserves coach Sam Elliott to interim coach before announcing in July that Hartlett would not be returning to the role this season and that it would explore “new opportunities’’ for him.
Hartlett revealed on Wednesday that he wanted to return as West coach just a week after he took a break but was told that the club “didn’t think it was the right thing for the club and the playing group’’.
“My goal was to get back into the head coaching role at West Adelaide but unfortunately that’s not what the club wanted,’’ he said.
“Within a week of being away from West I knew it (coaching) was what I wanted to do, I wanted to get back there and get back into footy full-time.
“I just needed that bit of time off to reflect and refresh and get those juices flowing for coaching again because I had become really tired, exhausted and a bit burnt out by our on-field performances, which was taking its toll on me.
“The week leading into that Norwood game, after which I took time off, I wasn’t sleeping overly well, I was over analysing where we were at and what levers I could pull to help the team.
“I felt the harder I was working the worse things were getting from an on-field perspective.
“But as soon as I had a week off from football, got some good nights of sleep and spoke to a sport psychologist about some focus areas and how to decompress my stress levels throughout the week, I felt great.
“I was super-keen to get back to Westies and lead for the remainder of the season but unfortunately I didn’t get that opportunity because they decided that I wasn’t going to be involved with the senior men’s program anymore.’’
Hartlett said the club “briefly discussed’’ some other roles for him “but nothing aligned to what I want to do, which is to coach’’.
He said when he was offered a part-time coaching role at Glenelg after discussions with Reeves and head of football Paul Sandercock he “jumped at the opportunity’’.
“It was a no-brainer for me and it’s been awesome being back in that type of environment,’’ he said.
Hartlett said he still aspires to be a senior coach and “if a club felt that I was a good fit, I would absolutely put my hand up for it’’.