BRENDON MCCARTNEY QUITS CATS FOR BOMBERS; CATS REFUSE TO BLAME BOMBER THOMPSON FOR DEFECTION
Ben Jensen 12 October 2010

BRENDAN MCCARTNEY, GEELONG assistant coach and development academy director, has quit the club after informing he had accepted an offer from, wait for it, Essendon, to take on a match-day role as assistant coach. While this added to the intrigue that former coach Mark Thompson was certain to join the Bombers as soon as his 6-week notice period was up, club officials including Brian Cook refused to point the finger at Thompson. "There may have been a discussion that I'm not aware of between Essendon and Bomber about whether McCartney was any good, which of course he is," he said. "But I don't believe in any way that Mark Thompson has lured McCartney to the Bombers. Brendan McCartney guaranteed that to us yesterday and we take him on his word."

. Club statement:

“It was in the Club’s plans for Brendan to become a development coach who would solely focus on developing our younger players however he has now informed us he is looking to pursue a senior match day role instead,” Geelong Cats general manager of football operations Neil Balme said.

“On this basis we have reluctantly accepted Brendan’s decision to resign.”

The Club appreciates the service given by Brendan which saw him be a part of a successful period for the Club including the 2007 and 2009 AFL premierships.