Connolly quits Fremantle
July 18, 2007 FREMANTLE coach Chris Connolly has quit as coach of the Dockers today.
Connolly told the club yesterday that he would not be seeking reappointment as coach for next year and therefore it was best that he step aside straight away.
Connolly said it was clear to him after the loss to the Kangaroos three days ago that he would no longer be coaching Fremantle beyond this season.
In consultation with Dockers president Rick Hart and chief executive Cameron Schwab, he had initially planned to stay on for the next two games against Adelaide and Geelong, which would have given the club time to settle on a caretaker.
"Then after Monday and Tuesday we just felt - I certainly did - that there's a big dark cloud over the club with the speculation, with the innuendo and I just felt moving forward that the players, the coaches, the administrators can't do their job properly," he said.
"Whilst we're still in the finals hunt this year and through the process we'll be setting up for next year, because you're always doing both at the same time, I just felt that people couldn't do their jobs.
"It was just being, not torn apart - but key people within the club were being focused on in a negative way.
"Then the decision was I felt yesterday afternoon is to move aside now. The club will go about its business this afternoon to find out who'll coach on match day.
"The staff are all in place and hopefully it will take the dark cloud away and everyone can get on with focusing on their job - coaching, playing, administrating, whatever the case may be.
"That's the strategy that's put in place."
Connolly said he yet to give any thought to what his next job might be, and wanted to spend several weeks freshening up before making any decisions about his future.
Fremantle will announce within 48 hours who will take over as caretaker coach for the remainder of the season, with current assistant Mark Harvey the favourite.
The Dockers currently sit in 13th place on the premiership ladder, with a 6-9 win-loss record, and they need to win at least six of their remaining seven matches to secure an unlikely finals berth.
Fremantle plays Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Saturday.
