Daryl Powell straps in for second stint at Tooleybuc-Manangatang
- by: ROSLYN LANIGAN
- From: The Weekly Times
- March 27, 2014 12:00AM
Role: New Tooleybuc-Manangatang coach Daryl Powell. Source: News Corp Australia
Kicking on: Saints champion Ryan O’Sullivan who is likely to play a full season this year. Source: News Limited
DARYL Powell was appointed Tooleybuc-Manangatang coach only in September, but he’s already bettered his first stint at the helm of the Saints.
“I lasted two weeks,” Powell said.
“That was way back in about 1987. We had a “meet the coach” day and a week later I got offered a job with AFL Vic and I was gone.
“I think I broke all the records at Tooleybuc.”
The former AFL Victoria region general manager has returned to coaching this season after spending last year as a mentor to then-Saints coach Jack O’Rourke.
He admitted he “didn’t jump at the chance” to coach the Central Murray league club.
“I hadn’t had an involvement with footy for three or four years (before last season),” Powell said.
“I worked with AFL Victoria for 24 years or something and I just needed a bit of a spell.
“But I went out (to Tooleybuc) last year to help the coach out in an advisory role, if that’s the right word.
“When Jack decided to pull the pin, I thought that would be the end of my little contribution, but then they asked me to coach.”
Powell is surely one of the most experienced coaches in the Swan Hill region.
Along with his short stint at the Saints, he led Tyntynder to two premierships as playing coach in the 1980s and spent 11 years at the helm of the Central Murray interleague team.
Powell takes over at a club that has won five matches in each of the past two seasons, after being minor premiers in 2011 only to be bundled out of the finals in straight sets.
“It was very unfortunate last year. A few kids got pushed in the deep end and they weren’t ready,” he said.
“They were very competitive, but they just couldn’t kick a winning score.
“But you look at the bright side of that — they’ve tasted senior footy now and they’re probably ready for a reasonable year.
“We just needed to add half a dozen quality players.”
Three-time Hepburn premiership forward Lee Cox is Tooleybuc-Manangatang’s highest-profile recruit and will add much-needed potency to the Saints’ forward line. Cox booted nearly 900 goals in his seven seasons with the Burras.
“Our recruiters have had contact with him over the past two or three years,” Powell said. “He’s very loyal so he’s never wanted to go anywhere else, but he seemed to think it was time that he made a move.”
Other signings include backman Stephen Lyons, the Saints’ 2011 best and fairest winner who returns to the club after two years in the Mallee league, midfielder/half back Ben Jones who returns from the Golden Rivers league, and former Lake Boga midfielder Mick Dedini.
Key position player Joel Cullen is another returning to the Saints, after a stint captaining Henley in the South Australian Amateur Football League.
Six-time Saints best-and-fairest and regular country Victoria representative Ryan O’Sullivan is expected to play a full season, after work commitments restricted him to a handful of games last year.
“I don’t think he’s missed a training session and he’s running around like he’s one of the midfielders,” Powell said of his experienced ruckman.
The Saints have an unenviable first half of the season — one match, a bye for Easter, one match, a bye, two matches, a break for interleague, three matches, then another bye.
“You can’t do much about the draw,” Powell said.
“If we could get four or five wins by the halfway point of the season, that would probably excite everyone.
“We’ll definitely be more than competitive this year.”
Tooleybuc-Manangatang will open its season on the road against Nyah-Nyah West United on April 12.
Last Modified on 11/04/2014 11:19
