By Nick Creely
Officer has taken another step in shoring up its future with highly regarded senior coach Doug Koop putting pen to paper on a new deal to stay at Starling Road until the end of the 2021 season.
The club – which initially signed Koop to a two-year deal with a trigger clause of extending to a third season – has now opted to lock away their man and assistant coach Billy King for a further two seasons on top, extending their time at the club for three more years.
Koop is well known for playing 44 VFL/AFL games with South Melbourne, North Melbourne and Melbourne, as well as a stint with Woodville in the SANFL.
He also has a rich coaching history in the league, guiding Cranbourne to a famous 2011 premiership, before a stint with Dromana in the MPNFL in 2014/15. After a year away from coaching, Koop joined the Kangaroos at the beginning of the 2017 season with his loyal assistant King, instantly improving the club’s standards both on and off-field.
In Koop’s first season at the helm, the Kangaroos finished seventh on the SEFNL table, finishing just two games out of the finals.
Kangaroos president Nick McLennan told the Gazette that the signing of Koop and King only adds to a stable future for the club moving forward.
“One thing that our club has been screaming out for is stability,” he said.
“Over the last few years the committee has worked hard to establish a solid foundation off-field; however player retention and recruitment has been a long standing issue for our club, as well as many other clubs in SEFNL due to the uncertainty about the future of football in the region.
“For us this was compounded by the uncertainty of our coaching team following the 2016 season.”
McLennan explained that extending the contracts of their coaching team for a further three years will eventually yield positive on-field results as they continue to build an exciting young side, with the Kangaroos currently sitting in fifth spot with four wins and four losses, leaving them better placed than previous years for a long-awaited finals appearance.
“The club and committee have great faith in Doug and William as a coaching team which is reflected in this decision,” he said.
“When seeking to appoint a coach in the lead up to the 2017 season, the club was well aware of their coaching credentials, but having witnessed them first hand over the past 18 months we are very comfortable in extending their time at Starling Rd.
“This decision is also one which has been made out of respect to our players and supporters.
“Now that we have an understanding as to where our football is to be played in 2019 and beyond it was only fair that some certainty regarding the clubs internal structures was put in place.
“It is an extremely exciting time to be part of the part of the OSFC and this decision now enables us to turn our attention to the retention of our playing group as we continue to build and improve performances on field.”
Koop said that he is looking forward to continuing to develop his young list for a further three years, and hopes the club can taste the “ultimate success” in the next few years as they forge a new path.
“We are excited that our future pathway lies with the Yarra Ranges Football League,” he said.
“We believe we are developing a strong mindset and game plan to become a very competitive team that will pursue the ultimate success in a more even competition based on where our club is at this present time.
“The support and desire for success from the players and committee made it a very easy decision to extend our time at Officer Senior Football Club and continue our drive to take our club to the business end of the season more often than our recent history.”
