While there may have been some changes at Coburg FC in the Football Department, newly appointed Head Development Coach and Senior Assistant Coach Paul “PK” Kennedy is ready for the 2017 season to kick off.
Previously working as an Assistant Coach at the Box Hill Hawks from 2015 to 2016, his new role at the club will include working closely with Head Senior Coach Peter German, and “working with players to embed a culture of improvement.”
“(It will also include) putting in place structures that make it easy for them to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and easier for them to access help from teammates or coaches,” Kennedy stated.
“There’s a lot to it, but I think it’s so fun.”
Excited to see the Lions win some games once the season starts, Kennedy has noticed how much effort and hard work the boys, both returning and new, have put in this pre-season.
“They’ve come in and really taken the opportunity to be leaders; not to step back and wait to see what the existing players do,” he said of the new players.
“The guys who have returned have also driven the change of culture themselves, and they’ve really taken it forward.” Kennedy continued, going on to list players such as Tom Goodwin, Pete McEvoy and Mark Orr who have all stepped up as leaders.
“He’s (Orr) perhaps not your natural leader, but he’s really tried his hardest to set the example.”
With a fairly young list this year, Kennedy is keen to see how well the boys can translate the way they’ve been leading the pre-season program into leadership on match-day.
“Nathan Blair, Josh Iacobaccio, Liam Hunt…I could go through and list quite a few.”
Speaking highly of former Box Hill players Patty Lawlor and Liam Kidd, Kennedy also named Nick Mellington, Tom Wallis and Hisham Kerbatieh as great examples of younger players leading the charge.
“(Unlike) Port Melbourne or Williamstown who have a core group of senior players, we don’t have that,” he continued.
“We have a larger group of younger guys who really try and take a bite out of the cherry.”
“There’s a lot of guys that have stepped up and I think that’s the exciting bit.”
With just over two weeks to go until our first practice match, and five weeks to go until round one, make sure you Hear the Lions Roar in 2017 by securing your Coburg FC membership at coburgfc.com.au/membership/.
