By Nick Creely
Officer coach Doug Koop has laid out a vision for the club as it seeks to establish itself as a powerhouse of the region.
Speaking at the club’s annual VIP and Life Members luncheon – just prior to the Kangaroos’ narrow loss to fellow premiership fancy Mt Evelyn – the message was evident, and in Koop’s trademark, old-fashioned honesty.
“It’s about winning respect as a football club, and with all due respect, not necessarily before my time, even before then, it was a drive through footy club,” he said.
“They relied too heavily on a small, core group of players to carry the load – the standards probably weren’t set high enough, and from a long term perspective the club probably didn’t have a plan.
“I’ve got a mate at the Chelsea footy club, and his senior coach’s theory is that his team’s best footy will beat anyone’s best footy.
“Certainly in my time here, in hindsight we’ve had some outstanding victories – we’ve had some great nights at training, but you’re never really sure.
Being led by our president Mr McLennan, we’ve certainly looked to turn into a bit of a powerhouse.”
Koop said that there was a strong desire to be seen in the same vein as some of the south-east’s most respected and admired football clubs, and wants to emulate elements of the AFL’s most successful side over the last five years.
“The Cranbournes, Beaconsfields, Narre Warrens have certainly had their time at the top of the tower of power – we’re not the AFL, but we’re certainly look to establish ourselves on and off field like Richmond did,” he said.
“10 years ago, Brendan Gale (Richmond CEO) said the club was going to have 100,000 supporters, win three flags, and it came to fruition – off the field we’re doing a lot right, on the field we’re in a position where we haven’t been before.
“The last week I’ve dropped four players who in the past probably wouldn’t have been dropped, and even now were unlucky – it’s a good sign, and our focus is more often than not to not make mistakes.
“We’re hopefully on the right track, we want to be one of the successful clubs in the area regardless of what our competition is – we’ve got some great juniors, this year our Under 18 side was not existent four years before the season, but someone must have pulled out a magic wand, and we’ve got some genuine talent there.
“At the end of the day, we can only get better with the help of everyone’s support.”
The Kangaroos sit 6-3 in the AFL Outer East Division 1 season, and fourth on the ladder ahead of the bye this week.
Koop’s side then face a favourable run of games against Healesville, Belgrave, Emerald, Gembrook Cockatoo and Seville as they prepare for a finals assault.
