Newtown has named former Perth coach Damien McMahon as its senior coach for 2017.
McMahon spent the past two seasons as high performance coach at WAFL club Claremont, and was senior coach at the Demons for four and a half seasons prior to that.
A former TAC Cup player for Geelong Falcons, the 40-year-old notched more than 120 senior games for the Eagles before moving to Western Australia to coach amateur club Scarborough in 2002.
He guided Perth’s colts’ side for three years and was an assistant to Andrew Jarman before being announced as his successor at the end of the 2010 season.
Newtown president Shaun McWilliam said the club had identified McMahon as a target last year and was rapt to finally land its man.
“He was the one that we targeted and we had a conversation with him last year but it didn’t quite work out,” McWilliam said.
“Damien Christensen was on for two years but when he said he wasn’t able to do that because of work commitments we went back to Damien McMahon and asked if he was available.
“We had some really good applicants but we were really keen on Damien McMahon from day one so, we’re really happy.
“He’s got a wealth of experience, he’s got 15 years and is a really well respected coach in Western Australia and we think he’s a whole club coach so he really focuses on the juniors as much as anything and that’s something we’re really looking forward to having.”
Newtown played in a grand final in 2015 but missed the finals altogether this year after being struck down with numerous injuries to star players throughout the season.
McWilliam said Leopold — who lost a grand final in 2014, missed finals last season and won the premiership this year — had shown that it was possible to bounce back quickly with a bit of hard work.
“They are our template, we’ve got a lot of respect for what Leopold did because they were exactly the same as us,” McWilliam said.
“We think what they did this year is really fantastic how they played for each other, so they’re what we’re looking at that’s for sure.”
McMahon played as a utility through the 1990s and early 2000s for Newtown and McWilliam said having a past player on board was great news for the Eagles.
“We want Damien here long term for our footy club, and where we think he’s really good is that he is an ex-player, he knows the culture and knows what has to change,” he said.
“He knows what we’re good at, he knows how long we’ve gone without a premiership, and he knows the people at the club so we think it’s a really good fit.”
Last Modified on 10/10/2016 19:54
