NAR NAR GOON has re-appointed coach Clint Williams, who in 2010 took the club to its first premiership honours in 30 years. This season he will be assisted by experienced ruck rover Chris Adams. Adams was announced captain last season but disappointingly did not play a game after he sustained a double break to his leg in their last practice match of the season. His rehabilitation is going well and he is expected to resume playing prior to mid way through the 2012 season. Adams replaces Brad Jones, who has moved back to his former club ROC where he has been appointed assistant coach under the Kangaroos new coach Steve Coats. Leigh Noonan has been appointed the Goon’s reserves coach.
WORD around the traps suggests NAR NAR GOON 2010 grand final hero Brett Dore, who also played at SANDRINGHAM last year is set to leave the VFL and while the Goon are super keen to regain his services it is resigned to the fact he will likely take up one of many offers to play in a higher standard competition. In other news of interest to Goon supporters, promising young defender Daniel Zajac, who has made a big impression since he joined the club from DOVETON is training with VFL club COBURG.
THE 2011 Gippsland Football League premiers TRARALGON have re-appointed coach and gun midfielder Josh Jennings for the 2012 season. Jennings proved a revelation in his first senior coaching gig and fittingly was announced as coach of the 2011 GFL team of the year on league medals night. He was a junior star at the Maroons and with GIPPSLAND POWER before leaving the club to join ACT team BELCONNON, where he played for eight seasons and was an assistant coach before his return to the Latrobe Valley over summer. His talent on the field did not go unnoticed by the umpires as he polled 18 votes to be only seven behind DROUIN star and the 2011 league best and fairest Andy Soumilas and that was despite the fact he missed half a dozen early matches after he suffered an injury in the opening round.
TRARALGON is not resting on its 2011 premiership laurels and is still looking to bolster its list for the 2012 season. The bad news for opposition teams is the Maroons still have room in its points cap to recruit a few handy players because of its large number of home grown products. Its prime target is delisted ESSENDON forward Jay Neagle. The sturdily built forward played his junior football at TRARALGON before he was drafted into the AFL in 2006 where he played 28 senior games and booted 41 goals. Neagle was delisted by the Bombers in 2010 but they provided him with a lifeline this year when it put him on the club’s 2011 rookie list. However, it appears he fell out of favour with ESSENDON coach James Hird, who criticised him this time last year for this fitness level.
THE CORA LYNN football ground will be out of action from January to March 2012 while drainage problems, that bedevilled it last season, are fixed. To spruce up the surface that incurred plenty of criticism last season, a series of drains at five metre intervals will criss cross the ground and in tandem with a project to rejuvenate the grass the Cobras expect its playing field to return to the pristine one that made it both a favourite amongst many football followers and the WGFL grand final venue over many decades. To assure the ground will be presented in tip-top shape for all visitors in 2012 the Cobras will not play its first home game until May, but it will finish the season with half a dozen home games in the last seven rounds of the season. CORA LYNN will also be the second EDFL club to unveil an electronic scoreboard next season to follow GARFIELD who led the way this year.
IN MORE news from CORA LYNN it appears their initiative to set up a ‘Cobra juniors’ team and source youngsters from in and around the Upper Pakenham area is now paying good dividends. After fielding two junior teams at U/9 and U/11 level over the past two seasons, the club intend to field four junior teams this season with the addition of both a U/12 and U/17 side. CORA LYNN hope the U/17 team will be a pathway for the boys to move into their senior ranks. The club also now has a second ‘Cobra bus’ to transport their youngsters to and from training and club functions. Plaudits to the CORA LYNN, who in geographical terms are a ‘hamlet’ and need to be innovative to remain competitive.
WONTHAGGI has re-appointed Leigh McDonald as senior coach for 2012. He impressed all and sundry in his first season in charge at the South Gippsland club after joining the club from CHURCHILL. The hard working ruck rover also showed his talent on the field by winning selection in the 2011 GFL team of the year. Judging by the Power’s initial recruits, it should push for a finals appearance next season. The big news for Power fans is Aaron Ware, a two time club best and fairest and also an ALBERTON league best and fairest; who played in the WAFL with EAST FREMANTLE over the past two seasons, will return to the club as an assistant coach. Former GARFIELD star defender Brent McFarlane is also training with the Power and Leigh Warnett, a dual Goulburn Valley league best and fairest has also joined the boys down by the de-salination plant. On the downside, 2010 coach Paul Brosnan has left to join DALYSTON and Dean Jenkins has returned to CHURCHILL.
