AFL COACHING legend Kevin Sheedy has called on Geelong to allow Mark Thompson to take an extended break over the off-season.
Thompson is currently considering his future with the Cats after revealing to chief executive Brian Cook on Tuesday that he was mentally drained and in need of some time away from the game.
After initially agreeing to allow the dual premiership coach up to three months away, the club's hierarchy reconsidered its position given the onset of the NAB AFL Draft and, of more immediate concern, the player exchange period which begins next Tuesday.
Sheedy, however, believes Geelong's first reaction was the right one.
"I was tired after 10 years and nearly got the sack. He's looking for a bit of a break and I think it's a good idea," Sheedy said from the NAB AFL Draft Combine in Canberra on Wednesday.
"I think there's a lot of pressure on coaches these days - more than ever before.
"I think Mark Thompson deserves a break and I think if the club is smart enough to give him three or four months off, sends him overseas to let him float around Europe and America picking up knowledge and then come back, then that would be a good idea.
"If he wants to leave then that's up to him and obviously Geelong because there's a contract there, but the health of coaches is just as important as the health of players."
The stumbling block to that proposal, according to Cook, is that if on his return Thompson still wasn't in a position to resume his role then the club would be on the eve of its 2011 premiership campaign without a senior coach.
Thompson has coached Geelong to three grand finals and a preliminary final in the past four years and Sheedy said it was important not to underestimate the level of stress involved in keeping a team operating at such a high level.
"We were always knocking on the door of a successful year [at Essendon] and I think that has a very draining effect on a coach and you do need time out," the former Bombers and current GWS coach said.
"I was very fortunate I was at a good club and they gave me that time out most of the time."
Meanwhile, Sheedy welcomed the announcement that another of his former players, James Hird, had been appointed to coach the Bombers.
"He's intelligent and also he's a winner," he said of his chances of succeeding in the role.
Sheedy, who drove the highly successful Dreamtime at the ‘G concept, is already thinking of a new angle to promote the code in his new backyard.
"I wouldn't see any reason why we couldn't play Essendon in the NAB Cup up here in a couple of years. With Hirdy as coach and myself as coach - I'll look forward to that," he said.
"It would be a great concept to bring both of us into Canberra. It's James' hometown and we'll be up here because it's our zone."
