By Tash Gunawardana
Knox’s first year Senior coach Brendan Whitecross wants his new club to simplify things this season.
2019 was a year that Knox would like to forget, finishing last in a very competitive Division One, with six wins and 12 losses and were, somewhat undeservedly demoted to Division Two.
Knox are a proud club of course and are gearing up for the challenge this season as they look to march back where they see themselves belonging.
“From what I understand, from where the club has been in the past, they probably should be a level up,” Whitecross said.
“We should be a little bit higher in the gradings then where we are right now.
“It generally doesn’t reflect where we should be, so our aim is to be really competitive this year.
“I am pretty bullish, but I think we should be playing finals with the talent that we have and whether it’s this year or in the next couple of years our goal is to try and push ourselves back up the divisions.”
The club did not have a massive recruiting drive over the offseason, as many players were still committed to their clubs from last year.
“We managed to get Luke Meagher from Upper Ferntree Gully and Jake Saltum as well and we’ve had a few players come back to the footy club,” Whitecross added.
“So we’ve had a little bit of luck with the recruiting, but not as much as we would have liked.
“In saying that, we think we have got a pretty good list as it is, so hopefully with a bit of game time under our belt this year and a bit of success, we might be able to push harder with the recruiting stage next year.”
A key member Knox’s new coaching group will be former Surrey Park senior coach, Scott Hamill who has come on as an assistant coach.
Also joining the former Hawk will be well-known club figure Jeremy Bourke.
“He knows the group well, he knows the club well and he knows the players well individually, so it was a pretty good appointment from my point of view not having a lot to do in this league, he is going to come in very handy this year,” he said.
As far as preseason goes, it has been a change for Whitecross as he has never coached at local level, but has previously been a development coach and assistant senior coach at North Melbourne Football Club for two years.
“It’s been really good, it’s been a bit of a challenge for me from my point of view coming into a level of footy that I haven’t had much to do with at all over the last 10 or so years,”
“Particularly taking over a group where I didn’t know any of the players at all, so it’s been a challenge, but it’s been really fun the same time.
“It’s been a breath of fresh air for me to be able to release a bit of pressure and focus on enjoying footy, so the players have been really good and welcoming, and the club has been super in welcoming me.”
The men’s team are focussed on going back to basics.
“I have had a lot of feedback leading into the preseason from players and coaches about things in the past and that they have got a little bit too complex, and players didn’t understand things.
“For me coming in, (the key) is to simplify things and start to build from there, so the focus for us is to obviously improve from where we were last year, but to enjoy our footy and my message to the boys is I want them to play on instinct,” Whitecross said.
“So, hopefully it will allow a lot of players to show their natural ability and to play with a bit of flair and freedom and to play with a bit of enjoyment in their game.”
The 2021 season will also mark Peter Jordan’s first year as Knox women’s coach and women’s football is an unknown for him after coaching Knox juniors for 10 years.
“I have only ever coached one young girl, Tess Flintoff and she now plays cricket for the Melbourne Stars,” women’s coach Peter Jordan said.
“At that time, I said I wish I had 20 other girls to coach and had that interest to coach women for the first time.”
Jordan expects big seasons from the club’s 2019 under-18 girls, who are now two years into their senior journey.
“Players like Sarah Plumridge and Steph Taylor that have come out of our under-18s,” he said.
“I also expect big seasons from Nikki Whitten and Stephanie Ashmore.”
Heading into the 2021 season, Jordan has broken things down into five key focusses.
“I will be aiming to build on skills, to build on confidence levels and build on their fitness and with that create a strong team culture and a strong game plan.”
Knox will host Boronia in Round One of the Division Two Men’s season (April 10) whilst Women’s fixtures are yet to be released (at time of writing). The women’s team still require players for this season, so if you are interested please contact PJ on 0413870453.