NEW Coleambally co-coaches Mitch Carroll and Tom Groves want to recruit heavily in a bid to guide the Blues back to Farrer League finals.
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The two experienced footballers will take over from Michael Griffiths at Coleambally but are no strangers to the club.
Groves, a local, has been assistant coach for the past two seasons, while Carroll spent four years at Coleambally, including two as coach.
Carroll will travel from Ganmain as non-playing coach, with Groves and new assistant coach Tom Morton to take the reins through the week.
Carroll retired after a final season back at Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong this year and is looking forward to helping the Blues climb back up the ladder.
“Hopefully we can get back up the ladder. I just want to try and help out as much as I can,” Carroll said.
“I was keen to get into coaching, have an involvement somewhere and I was talking to one of the boys at Coly a while ago and things went from there.
“It should be good, I’ve really enjoyed the coaching part. Even when I wasn’t playing, I felt as though I was a better coach, because you can see more and are not worried about trying to get a kick.”
Groves, 27, is looking forward to taking on the job.
“I’ve wanted to do (coaching) for a while, actually,” Groves said.
“A few years ago I had an accident and helped out with the coaching at Cobrug. I wanted to do something when I wasn’t able to play but I never had thought of coaching, really.
“I came back here and was assistant coach at Griffith, then assistant coach at Coly. Especially working with Brandon (Matthews) and Hammo (Josh Hamilton) got me thinking I’m able to do something like that.
“I can’t wait to get the ball rolling, now we know what’s going on, and get everything organised.”
Groves said recruiting was going to be a ‘massive thing’ as Coleambally look to bounce back from this year’s eighth-placed finish.
Carroll believes they need to add ‘10 to 12’ recruits.
“We struggled for numbers this year so we’ve got to recruit,” Groves said.
“It’s really massive, especially for us. Eighth was pretty disappointing after what was such a good year last year.
“We should retain most of our players, we’re just working on adding a bit to it to make it a better all-round side.”
Groves believes a couple of key position players are top priority. The new co-coaches also want to improve depth and the standards.
“I just want to see improvement in everyone,” Groves said.
