By Trent Slatter | The Chronicle
NEW Coolaroo coach Shaun Johnson admits expectations are high at the club for the upcoming AFL Darling Downs season.
The former assistant coach takes over from Nick Barker who coached the Roos to a memorable last-quarter premiership triumph over University last year.
It capped a brilliant season for the Coolaroo club which claimed a clean-sweep of the men's trophies.
That success brings with it some heightened expectations but Johnson said he planned to keep things simple when the 2014 season kicks off next weekend.
The Roos have kept most of their premiership side and Johnson believed those players, along with the depth of their division two side, would keep the club strong.
"We've got good depth. The teams that have good reserves generally have a good senior side and that showed last year," he said.
"Uni and Coolaroo were the only ones who really had reserves and we both played in the grand final.
"Our numbers are pretty good in that regard and I think we're probably going to adopt a fairly simple game plan this year.
"Work on the principle of putting the best players in their best positions and hopefully that'll get most of the work done."
Johnson was confident Coolaroo would still be contenders but he didn't want to declare them certainties to go back-to-back.
"It's a big challenge coming off a premiership year. That's the hardest part for me," he said.
"My expectations are certainly up there. There's no doubt we're planning to win a premiership.
"I wouldn't declare us across the line. A lot of things can go wrong in a footy season with injuries and that sort of thing.
"But I'm confident that we'll play finals again. We should be definitely in that top four. I think anything less than that would be a great disappointment."
Photo by: Nev Masden | The Chronicle
Last Modified on 31/03/2014 14:33
