No toxic culture at AFL Dockers: Hale

Fremantle caretaker coach David Hale has denied there’s a culture problem at the AFL club, and says he’s yet to decide whether to apply for the full-time gig.

The Dockers have promised to look far and wide for a new coach and chief executive after sacking Ross Lyon and Steve Rosich respectfully on Tuesday.

Rumours of player unrest surfaced in the weeks and months leading up to the double sacking, but Hale says he hasn’t seen any signs of it during his four years there.

“No not at all,” Hale said.

“We see the players nearly every day. Most of the times in meetings and training, they’re always upbeat.

“They look forward to coming to training, they look forward to playing, and they look forward to being together as a group. That’s a good start in terms of culture.”

Caretaker coaches this year have enjoyed remarkable success.

David Teague (Carlton) and Rhyce Shaw (North Melbourne) were given the full-time jobs after impressing in the interim role.

And Brett Ratten is a strong chance to land the St Kilda gig after leading the Saints to three wins from five games in charge.

But Hale will have just one match in charge – Sunday’s clash with the Power in Port Adelaide.

Former Docker and current Collingwood assistant Justin Longmuir is the hot favourite to land the Fremantle head coaching role, while Peter Sumich is also highly touted.

Hale’s chances appear slim even if he can lead Fremantle to a big victory this Sunday, but the former North Melbourne and Hawthorn ruckman hasn’t ruled out applying for the job.

“I’ll sit down with (football operations manager) Peter Bell and go through that next week,” Hale said.

“It’s a great opportunity (for me now to coach this week). Not too many guys get the opportunity to lead their clubs.

“There’s only 18 seats in the competition. For me it’s more about excitement, a good opportunity and something I was looking forward to.”

Hale only retired from AFL ranks at the end of 2015, but he said he learnt a great deal under Lyon over the past four years.

The 35-year-old said there was no exact science as to how long a person needed in an assistant role before being capable of becoming a head coach.

“The time frame of how long it takes to become a head coach is not set in stone,” Hale said.

“I played under Adam Simpson who took three years and has done marvellously well.

“And (I played) under Chris Fagan who took 30 years really and is doing a fantastic job.”

Hale wants his players to go out and have fun this weekend.

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