Busy Bees at Werribee
There is a buzz around Avalon Airport Oval as the pre season begins for the 2014 season. There is of course a new senior coach in John Lamont and several other changes have taken place in the last few weeks in the coaching group.
The Tigers have a new midfield coach in former Geelong star Peter Riccardi. Peter played 288 games for the Cats in a long and distinguished career and after his playing days finished he turned to coaching in the GFL, last year with North Shore.
Keenan Reynolds is taking on a new role in 2014 as coach of the back-line. “Crackers’ made his name as a key defender in his 86 games with the Bulldogs and North Melbourne.
The club welcomes dual North Ballarat VFL premiership player Jacob Spolding to the role of forward line coach. In recent times Jacob has been the senior coach of Newtown-Chilwell in the GFL.
Chris Gilham moves into the important role of Opposition Coach, after stints as reserves coach and line coach.
Also returning to the club is 1993 premiership player and 1992 Best and Fairest winner Michael McMaster, who will be the senior match day runner and also assist in player development on the training track.
Former player Phil O’Keefe returns to the club as coach of the Development League team taking over from Scott Korczynski. Phil is a premiership coach in the WRFL with Parkside (senior) and Hoppers Crossing (Under 18’s twice)
Nick Condos will continue as defensive coach for the Development team and other appointments are imminent.
Senior Coach John Lamont said
"We thank the outgoing coaches Scott K, Michael Pisani and Tim Ruffles(also a player) , for their contribution to the club. I am really pleased with the coaching group we have assembled, with our players being the obvious beneficiaries.
It is great to have former Werribee players like Shooter (O’Keefe) and Mixer (McMaster) coming back to our club, and bringing their passion, experience and history to the current group of players. Getting someone of the quality and knowledge of Peter Riccardi is enormous for the club, as is the acquisition of Jacob Spolding. I was keen to get Geelong based coaches involved and Riccardi & Spolding meet that need, with Peter's wealth of AFL experience and Jacob's VFL premiership experience, plus they have both been coaching their own teams', they are just great acquisitions for us.
The changes in portfolios for Crackers and Gillo really tap into their areas of expertise, and they are looking forward to the challenges that come with these changes.
There are a few more positions that will be announced soon to give the club the best off field group we could hope for”
Last Modified on 15/11/2013 18:00