Crows, Port assistant coach Dean Bailey dies

Dean Bailey died this morning, aged 47. Source: News Limited

Former Melbourne Demons coach and Adelaide Crows senior assistant coach Dean Bailey has died, aged 47, after losing his battle with cancer.

CROWS senior assistant coach Dean Bailey died this morning.

Bailey, 47, was diagnosed with cancer — that filled one of his lungs — in December.

Adelaide Football Club players, coaches and staff gathered at their West Lakes headquarters at 9.30am today to learn of his death.

ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS: MARK ROBINSON'S TRIBUTE TO BAILEY

GALLERY: DEAN BAILEY'S CAREER IN PICTURES

LEAVE YOUR TRIBUTE TO DEAN BAILEY BELOW

The news of Bailey's death will be met with shock and sadness around the AFL community where Bailey was admired as one of the game's much-loved men and sharpest tacticians.

Bailey first learned of his predicament after becoming acutely ill late last year before doctors identified his condition as a cancer in the chest area.

Dean Bailey and wife Caron at the AFL Hall of Fame dinner. Source: News Limited

Despite being on indefinite leave, Adelaide's strategy and innovation coach continued to play a role at the club, inspiring the players with visits between treatments.

The Adelaide Football Club today paid tribute to Dean Bailey recognising he had battled "cancer with his usual resilience and positive attitude".

Adelaide chief executive Steven Trigg remembered Bailey as "a hard-working, family man."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Dean's wife, Caron and children Darcy and Mitchell," Trigg said.

"They know that the entire Crows family is here to help and offer support."

"Few understood the game of football better than Dean.

"He often told how he gained most pleasure from teaching and helping young men become better players and more importantly, better people.

"Dean's dry sense of humour also provided many priceless moments.

"His influence stretches far beyond the Adelaide Football Club, given his involvement in the game across three states."

Adelaide chairman Rob Chapman last saw Bailey on Sunday and described his death at 47 as "bloody sad ... and unfair".

Chapman worked closely with Bailey to defend the Crows assistant coach last year when he faced sanctions from the AFL in the Melbourne "tanking" saga of 2009.

"From those walks along the beach to the nights we'd shared a glass of wine, I learned a lot about football from Dean," Chapman said. "I will treasure those times.

"Dean had a great sense of humour and a great sense of family.

"He also wanted to achieve so much with the Adelaide Football Club. He leaves us to fulfil those dreams - and with us all remembering his part in making the club stronger and better."

His passion and dry humour made him a popular figure around West Lakes.

Last month, after it was confirmed that Bailey had returned to hospital, Brodie Smith said the players' thoughts were constantly with him.

"It's just a sad and unfortunate event,'' Smith said.

"He's such a great coach and such a good guy around the club."

Some of the players and coaches shaved their heads as a token of support when Bailey was undergoing chemotherapy.

Dean Bailey coached Melbourne in 83 games. Source: News Limited

Bailey's career in AFL football began as a player in the Essendon midfield in 1986. He played 53 senior games until his retirement in 1992. He then turned to coaching with outstanding credentials as one of the game's deepest thinkers and calmest men in high-pressure matches.

Bailey left Essendon — where he was a development coach — to be a vital part of Port Adelaide's 2004 AFL premiership triumph as an assistant coach for Mark Williams. Late in the 2007 season, Bailey was appointed Melbourne's senior coach — a demanding job he kept for 83 games before his departure midway through the 2011 season.

Bailey returned to Adelaide in October 2011 to be the senior member of rookie coach Brenton Sanderson's panel at West Lakes.

Fox Sports correspondent Tom Wilson reflects on the career of the late Dean Bailey, who lost his battle with cancer on Tuesday.

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Footy loses one of the good guys

Herald Sun AFL writer Mark Robinson has paid his respects to the late Dean Bailey, remembering the former Demons coach as one of the game's greatest minds.

THERE is great sadness at four football clubs today.

With Dean Bailey's passing — he had just turned 47 — Essendon, Port Adelaide, Melbourne and Adelaide have not only lost good football person, but a good bloke.

FORMER DEMON COACH LOSES CANCER FIGHT

PICTURES: DEAN BAILEY'S CAREER IN PICTURES

Fox Sports correspondent Tom Wilson reflects on the career of the late Dean Bailey, who lost his battle with cancer on Tuesday.

Even at the height of the Melbourne tanking scandal, when Bailey was accused and found guilty of orchestrating his team to lose, Bailey did not let his anger dominate him.

He never truly spoke about that time, but several people close to the situation said it was a desperately stressful time for him and his family.

In a controversial decision, Bailey was suspended by the AFL for 16 rounds of football and returned to the Crows — where he was the club's strategy and innovation coach — in July, 2013.

Dean Bailey never shirked an issue as a player or coach.

LEAVE YOUR TRIBUTE TO DEAN BAILEY BELOW

In November, the club released a statement saying Bailey had been diagnosed with cancer.

He died four months later.

Essendon defender Dean Bailey is stretchered off at Waverley during a game against Hawthorn.

Who's to know if the torment of the tanking saga contributed to his ill health, but more than one senior coach has commented recently about the stress of coaching, let alone dealing with the magnitude of the AFL investigation in tanking and subsequent finding.

Only once did Bailey open up about the affair. It was at his press conference on the day of his sacking at Melbourne and Bailey was asked: Did you tank games?

"I had no hesitation at all in the first two years of ensuring this club was well placed for draft picks,'' Bailey said. "I think what we've done is the right thing by the club, and if it cost me my job, so be it. But the club is always bigger than the individual.

Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson asks Dean Bailey's advice. Picture: Sarah Reed

"I was asked to do the best thing by the Melbourne Football Club and I did it. I did the right thing by the Melbourne Football Club.''

Bailey could never be accused of shirking an issue.

In the week and months leading up to sacking at Melbourne — it came after the team lost by 186 points at Geelong — Bailey was never critical of the players.

Dean Bailey gives Demon Jack Watts a hug.

Under intense questioning, he would keep a calm manner and would say football, as in life, was learning experience.

He was a husband, father, footballer, coach and teacher of young men and was highly regarded in the football world.

Four footy clubs can't be wrong.

Bailey makes a surprise appearance at Adelaide's pre-season training session in January. Picture: Sarah Reed

As a player, Bailey was honest, which usually means he wasn't a bad footballer, but neither was he a very good footballer.

He played at Essendon from 1986-1992, for 53 games and 19 goals.

In one game in 1987 against Fitzroy, Bailey recorded nine tackles. It is an extraordinary high number considering the Bombers that day laid just 38 and Fitzroy a paltry 30.

Bomber Dean Bailey brings down Collingwood star Denis Banks.

Bailey would rarely be seen surging through half-forward with the goals in sight. Instead, he was a head down bum up kind of player, a workhorse.

His thick, stumpy legs would seem to shuffle and not stride out and, more often than not, his socks would be at his ankles. With calf muscles the size of slabs of beef, it was uncomfortable to have the socks at the knees, nor, really was it a good look.

He played mainly in the middle, with stints at half-back and half-forward.

Dean Bailey with wife Caron in 1992.

Season 1989 was his best. He played 17 games, including three finals, and would've had a front-row seat to the carnage inflicted by Gary Ablett on the Dons in the preliminary final at Waverley. Bailey had nine possessions that day. Ablett kicked 8.5.

Coaching was his pathway.

He was development coach at Essendon for the 2000 premiership, was assistant coach at Port Adelaide when the Power created history in 2004, and was senior coach at the Demons from 2008-2011.

Melbourne coach Dean Bailey catches up with top draft pick Tom Scully.

His numbers would announce him a failure — 22 wins, 59 losses and two draws — but there were always suitors for his terrific football knowledge.

Bailey loved talking footy.

He might not have publicly displayed a raw energy for the sport, but in his considered way he was a student of the game. He spoke with a dry wit and a healthy laugh, but when it was about football, there was a purity in his conversation.

Bailey with Mark Williams during his stint as defence coach at Port Adelaide.

For Bailey, football was fun and serious, rewarding and destroying, and through it all Bailey held his head high.

Family and football were his life. Both will miss him terribly.

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Lynch, Otten head list of winged Crows

Rory Sloane with the injured Tom Lynch who is in doubt for round one. Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: News Corp Australia

INJURY-HIT Adelaide could start the AFL premiership season without seven first-choice players.

While the Crows are waiting for medical specialists to decide the long-term fates of forward Tom Lynch (dislocated shoulder) and defender Andy Otten (strained lateral knee ligament), the club's latest injury victims are almost certainly out of round one contention.

Lynch's shoulder injury could sideline him from anywhere between three to 16 weeks, depending on whether he needs surgery.

Otten's injury — not to his reconstructed knee — will keep him out for between two to eight weeks.

Like Lynch, the time frame for Otten's injury will be determined by whether he needs surgery, which appears unlikely.

But the club concedes both are almost certain to miss the round one clash against Geelong at Simonds Stadium on March 20.

They are likely to join No. 1 forward Taylor Walker (knee), captain Nathan van Berlo (Achilles) and defenders Ricky Henderson (broken leg), Brent Reilly (shoulder) and Rory Laird (adductor) on the sidelines.

Callan Ward puts Andy Otten on the deck. Source: Getty Images

Veteran Reilly played for the Crows' reserves in their trial against Sturt on Saturday but still lacks match conditioning after a six-month rehabilitation from a shoulder reconstruction.

Laird hasn't played a trial for Adelaide because of an adductor strain, putting him behind the eight-ball.

Last year's club champion runner-up Richard Douglas is also causing Adelaide some concern.

He spent Friday night at Sydney's Westmead Hospital after copping an accidental knee to the groin from Giant Callan Ward during the Crows' eight-point practice match triumph at Bankstown Oval.

He has returned to Adelaide but is still experiencing some discomfort and was to be checked out again last night.

On a positive, AFL Rising Star runner-up Brad Crouch came through his return from an Achilles injury — for the Crows reserves — well to put his hand up for round one selection.

"The injuries are not ideal but it's just the hand we've been dealt,'' football operations manager Phil Harper said.

"They've mostly been impact injuries, so they've been unlucky ones, and it might just mean other players will get their opportunities as a result.''

Last year's leading goalkicker Lynch's immediate playing future will be determined by whether he needs surgery.

It is understood the knee popped out of its joint backwards, rather than forwards, which reduces the likelihood of an operation and a longer stint on the sidelines.

But specialists want to examine Lynch further before making a final diagnosis.

The injury to Otten is worse than first feared.

The club had hoped he had only jarred the knee but the lateral ligament is strained, meaning some time out of the game.

"At this stage, we don't anticipate either player needing surgery, however, this will not be confirmed until after they consult their respective specialists," Harper said.

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Wines had plans to leave Port

Ollie Wines clears dishes off the ball under pressure. Picture: Michael Klein. Source: News Corp Australia

PORT Adelaide midfielder Ollie Wines is highlighting the dramatic change at Alberton by pointing to how he was once prepared to run from the Power — and now will not even consider offers from rival clubs.

"In the first few hours after the (2012 national draft) I was definitely thinking I'd wait for my two years to be up and I'd then head home to Victoria," said Wines, who on Friday extended his first contract with the Power for two seasons to the end of the 2016.

"That has absolutely changed now. I could not be at a better club. I have the best of both worlds here — with my footy and my family."

Wines, a first-round draftee, joined fellow Victorians Jasper Pittard and Cam O'Shea and seasoned forward Justin Westhoff in extending their contracts before the Power's season launch at Adelaide Oval on Friday.

Wines acknowledged his mother's famous line of the Echuca boy going from "footy hell to footy heaven" remains the most appropriate description of his story at Alberton in the past year.

"She summed it up pretty well," Wines said. "I was shocked at first because the club had come off a terrible couple of years — and that made it more daunting to be drafted to Port Adelaide. But the changes that have turned around the club have been a positive for me. And it is a big reason I signed on."

Wines declared he did not even ask of possible offers from rival AFL clubs while considering his options with the Power.

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