Penola premiership coach adds East Gambier footballer to impressive list

A Tony Porter Dsc 0995  TBW Newsgroup
IN CHARGE: Tony Porter will take the reigns of Penola's A Grade football side for the 2020 Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara football season.

A Tony Porter Dsc 0995 TBW Newsgroup
IN CHARGE: Tony Porter will take the reigns of Penola’s A Grade football side for the 2020 Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara football season.

PENOLA Football Club this week announced a big coup for the 2020 Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara season, with the signing of former East Gambier premiership coach Matt Scanlon.

The announcement came from incoming A Grade head coach Tony Porter, who takes the reigns from Matt Tilby.

Porter – who coached the Eagles to the 2013 premiership – said he was excited about the opportunity to include Scanlon in the side, with his experience a big plus as the Eagles continue to develop a strong group of young footballers.

“We are thrilled to have Matt on board,” Porter said.

“Ultimately the reason we had interest in him is the fact he has a good pedigree, has a history of SANFL football and is a born leader.

“We need to encourage our youth to follow people with good morals and disciplines on the ground and off the ground.

“To me he is an investment to our club to potentially show our youth how to operate and to be leaders.”

Porter said he expected Scanlon to be a big voice on the ground, providing leadership and direction.

“I think he will be a general on the field which is what we require,” Porter said.

“His knowledge of the game is outstanding and he stands very tall when he plays in any position.

“To me it is fantastic for our footy club.

“He is up and running and ready to go.”

Porter will be assisted next season by Brad Maney, who he said would take on a big role at training and on game day.

Brad Merrett will return, with his experience in the Crows seconds set to provide direction in the pre-season fitness program.

As a coach, Porter’s mantra seems simple enough – do the best he can for the group and the township.

“We need to keep educating the players and hopefully from there we get some results,” he said.

“I will put things in place regarding morals and disciplines which I think carry through to Saturday, but it is a collective, so I have to listen to people.”

Apart from that, another thing which excites Porter is the continued development of the youth around the club.

In recent seasons Penola has relied on its young stars to stand up when required.

They have shown the ability at the senior level, which is set to continue next season.

“I am working with a lot of youth, which excites me, because I do not think we have to go too far to find good footballers – they are in our own back yard,” Porter said.

“We just need to put some finer touches on them.

“Hopefully they buy into what I am putting forward and we can get some results.

“They will be thrown in the deep end, but I have absolute confidence they can do the job.”

Porter said the success of the Eagles in recent seasons had a lot to do with the young players performing well.

He said a lot of work has gone into their development in the last five or six years, which has seen positive results for the future.

“We are not doing anything special … it comes from belief,” Porter said.

“It goes back to old-school football – it is a simple game, you just have to get the disciplines right.

“We try to educate them with skill sets, but it comes back to what is between the ears.

“If we can get these young lads to play like young men and do what we ask early in their careers it does follow on.”

Porter said much of that should be attributed to Adam Merrett and Tilby, who both invested in the youth of the club over the last six years.

He said the success of the Eagles in recent seasons also helped retain the young players, who were keen to pull on the Penola colours at the senior level.

Porter said the inclusion of players like Simon Berkefeld, Brad Bryant and Brock Egan in recent seasons had added to the professionalism of the club, providing the youth strong direction.

Scanlon’s signing simply adds further to that.

“If we can get our kids to emulate those players in their preparation for the game, it is an investment for our township and the club,” he said.

At the end of the day football is about results, with a premiership the main goal of any club.

However, Porter was philosophical about the season ahead.

“It is about performance,” he said.

“If I can see effort I am rapt.

“I want things to be done well.

“My responsibility on and off the field is to make sure things are healthy.

“Regarding results, everybody aims for it (premiership) and dreams about it.

“Ultimately I want efficiency.

“I want to have the basic disciplines of the game and present them as best we can.”