It was quickly down to work for new Sunbury Kangaroos’ senior coach Anthony Leydin.
Appointed late last week, Leydin was already preparing for a few big weeks getting up to scratch with everything at the Riddell District Football League club.
“It’s happened fairly quickly,” he said. “It’s something that I wasn’t contemplating a month ago.
“I’m a little bit behind the eight ball and I have to make up for lost time and get on with the job.
“I don’t know much about Sunbury … I watched a few of the finals games, so I’ve got a fair read on the benchmark of the competition.”
Most recently, Leydin coached Tullamarine for the two and half seasons before the club decided to go in a different direction in July.
In his time in charge, Leydin took the side to a preliminary final and grand final, and they played finals again this year.
He was previously involved with fellow Essendon District Football League sides, Westmeadows, Strathmore and Greenvale.
He said the results he’d had with Tullamarine gave him plenty of confidence, with many outsiders writing them off each season.
Leydin said the break from football gave him the chance to reflect.
“I thought I had something still to offer,” he said.
“I’m a footy tragic and thought at some point I would get back into coaching and throw my hat in the ring.
“I met with Sunbury and was impressed with how they presented themselves and who’s involved.”
Leydin said he knew little about the playing group and his first job would be getting his head around where things are at.
“There will be a fair bit of time discussing and mapping things out,” he said.
“It may involve re-signing players or going out and recruiting players. It’s about getting the right characters in the club.”
Leydin will put his coaching panel in place over the coming weeks and said it would likely involve a mixture of new and existing people from the club.
He said it was about ensuring there was a smooth transition and using the personnel already at the club.
Leydin replaced Jarrod Dixon as coach. The Kangaroos finished sixth and seventh in his two years as senior coach. The new coach said it was about building on that.
“When you finish sixth and seventh the last two seasons, you’re not in any position to make bold predictions,” he said.
“We’ll set the bar high, but for now we’re just dealing with the here and now.”
