COHEN Pettitt has experienced a crazy start to life in Robe.
The 24-year-old teacher made the move from Adelaide to the beach-side destination in January and got stuck into his new position as coach of Robe’s A Grade football team.
But just as he started to settle in and prepare for his Mid South Football League debut, the season was postponed due to COVID-19.
Players and teams are not allowed to assemble in groups until further notice, which has created a headache for coaches around the country.
Pettitt said it was a disappointing end to a hectic couple of months.
“When I first came here it was a bit of a whirlwind experience getting to know everyone, while going straight into training and work,” he said.
“I was starting to form relationships with the players and was super excited to get started.
“But now not knowing what will happen for the rest of the season is obviously disappointing.”
With no return date in sight, Pettitt has given his men some time off to focus on more important matters during these tough times.
“I have not set running programs or anything to do because people are also trying to sort through their own personal lives,” he said.
“I trust most of the boys will do their own things anyway.
“It is so unpredictable with what will happen, so we are just trying to get through this step by step as a club.”
Even before Pettitt had arrived in Robe, his men had already shown plenty of enthusiasm for the new campaign.
Although the former Central Districts SANFL player did not make the move until January 18, the Roosters had already squeezed in around eight sessions before Christmas.
This type of dedication is one of the reasons Pettitt has been impressed with his new team mates.
“I could not have asked for a better bunch of blokes to coach,” he said.
“Everything you implement they just jump on board straight away, so I cannot fault the playing group at all.”
Pettitt was one of four new recruits to the team after Robe lost both its 2019 co-captains.
He is joined by Jordy Hentschke, Ben Jarrett and Jasper Barritt.
Despite missing out on a trial game, Pettitt was pleased with how the team progressed through its interrupted pre-season.
“We had worked so hard and I was confident with how we were looking throughout pre-season,” he said.
“We were a week off from playing our first trial against Kingston and we started doing a lot of game simulation at training.
“So we were definitely prepared coming into round one.”
Although Pettitt has only been around the Robe community for less than five months, he has no doubt the Roosters will be ready if football does return.
“Knowing the bunch of boys they are, they would definitely be even hungrier after a bit of time off football,” he said.
“So if the season does end up coming around, we will do what we can to get in the best shape possible given the time that we have available.”
