Back: Tom Atkinson (Coach), Mitch Thomas, Paul Mannix (Assistant Coach), Jason Lewins, Mason Grosse, James Lieschke, Alex Savery, Andrew Trefry, Dylan Veitch, Connor Philpot, Kody Eaton, Juno Bevilaqua, Scott Lieschke (Assistant Coach), Sharyn Rule (Team Manager), Andrew Dwyer (Assistant Coach)
Middle: Cameron Miller, George Wessels, Declan Thompson, Kyle Potter, Conor Mannix, Daniel Brown, Nicholas Steber, Cameron Alexander, Ronan Porter
Front: Lachlan Fitzgerald, Jack Forrest, Adam Rule, Tom Dwyer, Mitch Rudrum, Reed Walker
Absent: Luke Rule, Justin Matthys
2015 has been a fantastic year of transition for the Yr 9’s group. At the start of the year we welcomed a number of new players from nearby clubs which added substantially to our talent and depth. It is a credit to the boys and parents for the way in which these new families were embraced in to the club and Yr 9 team.
As a new coach with a strong coaching team we set out moulding a style of play among the group which proved quite successful during the year, ultimately winning more games than we lost which was certainly a goal coming up from a lower division in 2014.
After finishing 4th at the end of the home and away season we were unlucky to be knocked out in the first week of finals. The boys can be very proud of their development this year and it’s great to say that every player made some great steps in their footballing knowledge and ability during the season.
Congratulations to those who were nominated for development squads, several of whom are experiencing this for the first time, it is indicative of the progress some players made throughout the year.
As a coach without any kids in the team I really have to say a huge thank you to all the Yr 9 parents who took care of all the nitty gritty for me during the year allowing me to focus solely on coaching. I’m certain we have the best Team Manager in the District in Sharyn Rule who could not of been more in control (or at least it seemed that way!) and was always looking to help me out on top of her already long list of responsibilities.
I was also extremely lucky to have a never ending list of Dad helpers, in particular thanks to those who were coaching with me each week- Scott Leischke, Paul Mannix and Andrew Dwyer as well as our Runners during the year Graeme Fitzgerald, Geoff Rule and Brendan Miller. Really I could go through our whole list of parents who were roped into some role or another for the season and didn’t let us down.
As many of you would know I am very passionate about footy at Karoonda, and loved my coaching this year. We have a great bunch of boys, some with real top end talent, and I look forward to being involved again next year and continuing the developmental steps started this season.
Tom Atkinson (Coach)