Tara Murray
There’s plenty of hard work ahead for the new Greenvale Kangaroos coaching group, but they’re ready for the challenge.
The Victorian Premier Cricket side has unveiled its new coaching line up, headed by former Essendon coach Ash Cavigan, who will take on the director of coaching role.
Sunny Fernando has been appointed coach having been an assistant coach at Fitzroy Doncaster and Essendon.
Gavin Mackay, a premiership winning coach at Gisborne in the Gisborne and District Cricket Association, will look after talent development.
Mick Allen and Adam Dale have also come on board as mentors.
Cavigan said they were excited to get to work.
“We’ve gone through the pieces and talked about the role and what it might look like,” he said.
“It’s super exciting and we’ve got some really good people into the coaching structure. Now it’s time to get to work on the cricket side.”
Cavigan said he had worked with Fernando in the past and said he would be really good for the group.
“It was really important to me personally knowing the size of the job, that I couldn’t do it on my own,” he said.
“Sunny is a good coach. He’s super energetic and invested in cricket. He’s a level three coach and has some really good experience. I think the players will enjoy his style.”
Cavigan said one area he really wanted to focus on was having a local cricket connection, who knows the area and the players coming through.
That is where Mackay comes into it.
“Gav is a really impressive person and character,” he said. “He knows his cricket and his connection to the local area was something that was really high on the priority list.”
It was Mackay’s connection that got Allen on board, with Mackay coaching the Ryder Medallist at Gisborne.
Dale, who played two test and 30 one-day internationals for Australia, is based in Queensland, but will play a vital role.
“Adam has been really good for me,” he said. “He was my director of cricket at Northcote.
“He’s been a sounding board for me and with his connection to North Melbourne, he has always wanted to get involved.”
Cavigan said they were under no illusions how much work they would have ahead of them. The Kangaroos won just two games last season and have struggled for a number of years before that.
“The president and committee were transparent with what has happened in the past and we are clear where we want to go in the future,” he said.
“Ultimately we want to be a destination club, that is where we want to be. We’ve got a structure in place with some good coaches and good leadership.
“We know we need to fix our environment. We want to build our brand and reputation back up doing that through really strong development.”
Cavigan said early discussions with the existing player group had been positive, while would leave no stone unturned as they look to add players.
