A NEW edition of The Red Fox has been published and is set for release on March 1.

Now as a paperback, the book features a new chapter, which was previously cut due to space restrictions.

Author Ben Collins convinced publisher Geoff Slattery to include the new chapter, which discusses Norm Smith’s approach to socialising, his moral code and sharing with other coaches.

Smith, who was named VFL/AFL coach of the century in 1996, is regarded by many as the greatest coach the game has seen.

He transformed Melbourne into a League heavyweight, coaching the Demons to six premierships in 10 seasons (1955-64).

In this meticulously researched book – enriched by the recollections of more than 100 people, many of whom had played with or under Smith – author Ben Collins lays bare the man behind the legend, in all his glories and foibles.

In this most captivating analysis of Smith, a portrait emerged of a frightfully hard and brutally honest coach who was ruthless in football but possessed disarming compassion away from the game.

This is his story, concurrent with that of his older brother and fellow coach Len Smith, from their childhood in tough, working-class Northcote during the Depression to their status as the most influential coaches of their generation.

Excerpt from new chapter in The Red Fox:

John Lord added: ‘We were indoctrinated with Norm’s standards of living, and they were as high – if not higher – than what he demanded from us in a football sense

Smith also instilled in his players the need to look out for each other ... were always kept together and were always taught to keep an eye out for each other. And that largely came down to the influence of Norm Smith. He was the boss, but he was also a very caring father figure. I genuinely loved the man. 

The trips were so well planned that officials even gave deep thought to which players roomed with each other. Len Mann said: ‘You don’t know a bloke until you room with him on a trip, and we were made to swap our room-mates quite regularly. It was a conscious ploy to get everyone to know each other better. For instance, we might room with blokes who we wouldn’t normally mix with. There are always blokes you naturally get along with better than others, but through little things like that we all got along pretty well. 

While on such trips, Smith often shouted rounds of drinks and meals for his players; so often in fact that some believe he probably spent more money on football than he actually made out of the game. ‘Norm wouldn’t have made a zac out of footy,’ Barassi said. ‘There wasn’t big money to be made out of footy anyway, but whatever he did make he virtually gave it all back because of his giving nature’.

Money had never meant much to Smith (aside, of course, from his younger days during the Depression and the war). He was never wealthy by any means, but that didn’t stop him from helping friends who had fallen on hard times, including former teammates, for whom he often ‘made arrangements’ to provide financial support for accommodation, medical bills, school fees, etc.