Narrandera appoint Mark 'Curl' Carroll as new senior coach

Carroll steps into the role vacated by Shaun Brooker and has previously held senior coaching roles at both Coolamon and Turvey Park.

After having a year off coaching in the Riverina League, Carroll said it was exciting to sign on as the new Eagles coach.

"My word it is," Carroll said.

"I've always had a soft spot for Narrandera and loved the Narrandera Sportsground.

"I suppose I'll be spending more time here and putting my foot on it three times a week now which gets me really excited.

"Narrandera I think 30 odd years ago they approached me to coach while I was playing so it's come a bit of a full cycle right around.

"I think the Narrandera people and with the Narrandera Football Club there is a bit of a buzz at the minute and I think they really want to get up and about.

"They are probably sick of being down near the bottom of the ladder and non-competitive and I think Riverina football needs Narrandera being competitive.

"I suppose one of the things that I'm going to try and bring to the place is trying to have a team that's really hard to try and play against.

"There's a lot of good people here and it's not just going to take one person, just getting a feel from everyone they really want to help out.

"I know Mark Savage over here is a great person and they are really pushing hard to improve the place.

"It's going to take help from everyone I suppose and I'm feeling that from here."

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After stepping down from his co-coaching post at the Hoppers at the end of the 2022 season, Carroll took on the role of coaching Coolamon in the Southern NSW Womens League earlier this year.

Carroll revealed there was no great big exciting story regarding his appointment and that the whole process followed on from a phone call from Savage.

"It was just a phone call really I suppose," he said.

"They think I suppose a person away from the place can help and make them better and I think this type of scenario suits me as I really like a challenge.

"That's all it really was, just a phone call from Mark Savage at Narrandera saying 'would you like to coach Narrandera Football Club, Curl'.

"I had a think about it and agreed and that's how it came about really."

It's been a rough couple of seasons for the Eagles who went winless this past season while they only recorded the four victories in 2022.

Carroll knows that he's got a big challenge ahead of him but said that he was aiming to make the Eagles a competitive force again.

"That will be the plan but it's going to take everyone," he said.

"It's going to take a lot of people to be helping out and pushing to strive to get the place better.

"But I'll just be here trying to make the football team competitive and making them a real hard team to play against.

"That will be my first thing and I think fitness is one of the things for a start and we get that up and going.

"There is a lot of good junior talent here that has probably gone untapped that can improve so that will be my job for a start."

Carroll also revealed that he's got family ties to Narrandera and that also was a factor is his decision to coach the Eagles next season.

"One of the other main reasons why I've come here is my family ties," he said.

"That was a factor and my father in law played a fair bit at Narrandera and he'd be pretty stoked that I'm here coaching.

"I've also always had a bit of soft spot for this place and this ground and I really want to help the place get better because as I said I think Riverina football needs Narrandera up and going and more competitive.

"I can feel a real push from down here and I know I'll be getting around all the players.

"My first job is ringing every single player whether it be firsts, reserves or 17's and the 15's boys coming up and letting them know that we are here to improve and get better and you'll be a very valued member of the football club."

Narrandera's appointment leaves grand finalists Griffith as the only Riverina League club still to finalise their coaching plans for 2024.

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