AFL RIVERINA RECORD – ROUND 5
When Paul Roos took over as coach of the embattled
Melbourne Demons, he said the first step on the path
to success was not to talk about how many games
they might win, but to show how they were going to
play.
“We want to establish a brand and style of football
that every time the Melbourne supporters come to
the game, they know what to expect and they can see
some genuine improvement week in, week out,” Roos
told Demons members.
At Coleambally, new coach Mitch Carroll has taken a
similar approach, and no-one is under any illusions as
to what to expect.
“We may not be the prettiest footy team, but we play
hard. Coleambally’s always had a bit of a name for
being a physical team. I want to get it across that we
want to be in first, always hard at the ball and that
generally means you’re hard at the man too.”
The club knew it needed to develop a winning culture
– and saw Carroll as the man to drive change. He was
lured to play for the Blues last season before being
handed the coaching reins this year.
“It took a few years to get him over,” says club
president Shane Mannes. “Mitch brings that winning
mentality, and it just gets blokes up and going. He
definitely doesn’t tolerate losing very well.”
That’s exactly what the club was looking for going into
its fourth season in the Farrer League, hell-bent on
becoming a force to be reckoned with by the time it
celebrates a couple of milestones next year.
The Blues will celebrate their 50th birthday in 2015;
the club being formed seven years after Coleambally
was established in 1968 as the newest town in New
South Wales. And there’s also the 10-year anniversary
of their last premiership, in the now-defunct Coreen
League, to mark.
While Carroll sees similarities between Coleambally
and his home town – “It’s a pretty similar environment
to Ganmain – a town and a club where everyone’s willing
to chip in and do anything that needs to be done
on game day,” – Mannes knew they were getting a
coach steeped in the Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong
tradition.
“It’s one of the most successful and professional clubs
in the area. He’s coached them to a premiership so he
knows what it takes, and that definitely helps attract
players too,” says Mannes. “Our ambition is to create a
club with that winning culture.”
Carroll coached the Lions to two premierships, in 2011
& 2012, completing their four seasons of RFL domination.
He says his two brothers – Luke and Nick – were
of enormous help when he first began coaching, and
other Ganmain identities have also helped shape his
approach.
“I learnt a lot from Nathan McPherson – he was only a
couple of years older than me, but he played a similar
way. And Christen McPherson and David Rankin in the
way they spoke. They just had the right way of talking
to players – whether it was to criticise someone, or to
give them a confidence boost, they knew how to do it
in the right way.”
20-year old Fred Stephan joined Coleambally from
St Mary’s in the Geelong Football League. He’s doing
a year of prac on an irrigation property as part of his
university studies, but is also broadening his football
education under Carroll.
“It’s a contested style of footy he likes. And he leads
by example. I’ve played under playing coaches before
who say things and then do the opposite. But he’s the
opposite to that – everything he’s said, he’s done. He
also conveys himself really well so everyone respects
everyone else. It’s a close group.”
For his part, Carroll says a season spent playing, without
the worries of coaching, was not only enjoyable
but also made for a comfortable transition to the helm
when he did take the reins. “Obviously, you get to
know the players and they get to know you. That’s an
advantage, instead of going to a new club where you
don’t know anyone and you’re starting from scratch.
And you can look back over last year and know what
areas we need to improve on, not just trying to find
out everything in one or two practice games at the
start of the year.”
Now four games into the season, it’s not about counting
the wins (okay, two)at Coleambally just yet. It’s
faith in the knowledge that there’ll be more to come.
Click on link to see all the AFL RIVERINA records so far this season.
