Chris Day, an experienced coach of senior men’s AFL teams, is stepping into the 2025 season with a clear focus on building a strong, competitive squad alongside co-coach Emma Nobes.
With player recruitment and retention as a top priority, Chris is also dedicated to fostering leadership and teamwork within the group.
“Give Emma her first time coaching, and I think our first thing would be just to make sure our player numbers are good,” Chris said.
“We’re going on a bit of a recruiting drive over the next few weeks to build those numbers as we head towards the season.”
Chris plans to leverage his coaching experience to mentor Emma, helping her refine leadership skills and positional strategies.
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“Emma has played the game for quite a few years and has been seen as quite a leader in our ladies’ team,” Chris said.
“It’s about developing that leadership and helping with the positional sort of stuff for the game—basically, what we need to do to be successful.”
On the field, Chris and Emma aim to experiment with player positioning, allowing team members to explore different roles.
“We might throw the players around a bit,” Chris said.
“Try a few people in a few different positions and see what they have to offer beyond what they’ve previously done.”
To maintain morale and build camaraderie, Chris emphasises the importance of off-field activities.
“We’ll try to get a bit of off-field stuff going with the group,” he said.
“We have a few players traveling from different towns, which can be hard, but we want to make sure everyone enjoys coming each Saturday. Once we do that, the results will follow.”
Despite challenges such as injuries and fluctuating player availability, Chris remains optimistic about the team’s potential.
“If we can get our playing numbers right, we should be pretty competitive,” he said.
“It’s hard to tell what the other teams are doing at this time of year, but we focus on ourselves—building a solid playing group puts us in good stead for the season.”
Looking ahead, Chris envisions not only a competitive team but also a strengthened sense of community within the club.
“We’ve had a pretty good family atmosphere around the club, and it’s about strengthening that and making it enjoyable for everyone to be around,” Chris said.
