Thompson says no to coaching Blues in AFL

AFL premiership coach Mark Thompson has warned Carlton’s hierarchy that they must level with the players to improve the team’s on-field performance.

Thompson has joined West Coast’s only premiership coach John Worsfold in ruling himself out as a candidate for the Blues beyond this season.

Thompson guided Geelong to two premierships and was interim coach at Essendon last year.

He now works in the media after leaving the Bombers.

“No, I wouldn’t … I’m done,” Thompson told Fox Footy when asked if he would consider putting up his hand to coach the Blues.

“I really enjoyed it and the bug’s there.

“It’s almost like you’ve been given a gene to coach.

“But in saying that, gee, it’s a harsh world.”

Thompson said the immediate key for Carlton under new coach John Barker is for top officials there to be honest with the players, otherwise their form will continue to suffer.

“What do they need? They need to know what’s going on in their club – absolutely, the truth,” he said.

“People, when they receive the truth and start to believe the truth, then they’ll go out and say `well, yeah, I trust what they say.

“If they don’t trust, they won’t play.

“You’ll find out whether they do or not, I reckon, with their performances.”

Thompson said a key reason why he would not consider coaching Carlton is the state of the club.

“For me to do it – and I’ve experienced something pretty good – it would have to be a pretty special club,” he said.

“It’s a big challenge and unless they were a really special group of people … I’m not sure, from the outside, that they’ve really got their club together at the moment.

“That’s the problem I think with some people, is they just walk into clubs because there’s an opportunity.

“That has to stop in the future (and) people have to be a bit more selective on who fits with who.”

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