Port MacDonnell’s new coaching panel pleased with progress prior to unexpected break

Simon Merrett Dsc 1751  TBW Newsgroup
NEW ERA: Port MacDonnell A Grade coach Simon Merrett hopes to lead the Demons into a new era when the Mid South East Football League resumes. Picture: THOMAS MILES

Simon Merrett Dsc 1751 TBW Newsgroup
NEW ERA: Port MacDonnell A Grade coach Simon Merrett hopes to lead the Demons into a new era when the Mid South East Football League resumes.
Picture: THOMAS MILES

THE new era of Port MacDonnell’s A Grade football side has been put on hold after the worldwide coronavirus pandemic has impacted all sports.

The Demons were raring to go after former Penola player Simon Merrett took over the coaching reins alongside assistant Kev Thomson.

They are both fresh faces to the “Bay” with Thomson a former East Gambier player.

After starting pre-season in early December, Port MacDonnell appeared to be charging towards round one, but all plans are now thrown out the window due to government restrictions.

With this in mind, Merrett said the team has been forced to come up with new ways to stay energised each week.

“We have been doing some competitions and challenges amongst the group every Saturday,” he said.

“It has been a little bit of fun getting the competitive juices flowing and gives them something to look forward to after a week of work and not being able to socialise.

“Challenges include strength, running and a few tricks with the footys, but we have been really limited and had to think outside the box a bit.”

Merrett said the initiative has been welcomed by his team.

“The most pleasing aspect is seeing the number of contributors we have had,” he said.

“We have had 30-plus guys every Saturday doing some sort of fitness for these challenges.

“It has been really pleasing.”

The high sense of morale within the group formulated over a productive summer schedule, which included a variety of programs from trial games to camps.

Merrett said he liked what was being created.

“Our pre-season was great,” he said.

“We were stoked with where we were at and how we were tracking.

“We had a really strong month in February when we had our footy camp.

“We did a few things around the town, so we had plenty of people outside their houses cheering us on which made it a really good environment.

“On one night we had 50 people on the track and it was all starting to come together.”

This period has allowed both Merrett and Thomson to settle into their respective positions and become respected parts of the team.

The new coach said his assistant has been a breath of fresh air.

“Kev has been fantastic to our group,” Merrett said.

“I picked up pretty early that he has a very good footy IQ when I started speaking to him mid last year.

“The boys have really embraced him and it is quite good to take a back seat and watch him step up.

“He will make a very good senior coach one day.”

The coaching combination are not the only new faces to side.

Flying from the Eagles’ nest alongside Merrett are Alex Moore and Jacob Pfitzner, while South Gambier’s Brodie Glynn has also joined up.

However, the coaching staff is more excited about another recruit.

“Our biggest signing has probably been Tim Sullivan,” Merrett said.

“He has just moved home after playing most of his footy up in Glenelg.

“He is around 200cm tall and it will be nice to see him and Kev in the same forward line.

“We have only seen Tim a handful of times, but he has been very impressive.”

After making progress towards round one, Merrett initially felt disappointed when the call was made to postpone the Mid South East Football League.

But he is now more concerned about matters off the field before football returns.

“At first I was pretty flat,” Merrett said.

“But once you sit back and analyse it, the main thing is the people we love and care about getting through healthy and safe.

“We were pretty disappointed, but the reality is there are much bigger issues at the minute.”