By Trevor Jackson
THERE are exciting times ahead for former East Gambier player Luke Thomson after he inked a deal as A Grade coach with the Nangwarry Football Club.
The embattled Saints will look to Thomson to help turn their on-field fortunes around after a long 82-game win-less streak in the Mid South Eastern Football League.
Thomson comes from many seasons of senior football with East, along with several coaching gigs at junior level.
The new appointment came sooner than he expected but is one he is excited to take on.
“It is a good opportunity,“ Thomson told The Border Watch.
“I always wanted to coach but didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
“I obviously jumped at the chance when I could.“
Thomson said the appointment came after the club looked to fill the senior role and his name popped up.
“They were looking to recruit players and needed a coach as well,“ he said.
“My name was thrown in there – I have chatted to them in previous years – we had a meeting and went from there.“
Thomson said he was confident he was ready to take on the senior role, with experience gained through his junior coaching, along with help along the way from the likes of current East Gambier coach Matt Willson.
“I have played senior footy for a long time and worked pretty close with Willow (Matt Willson),“ he said.
“You can learn a lot of blokes like that and it sets you up pretty well.
“I put my hand up to do the coaching at East and did it basically by myself for three years, with a bit of help.“
With such a long losing streak to unravel, it would be a daunting task for any coach to take on.
While Thomson said he was nervous, excited and everything in between, he feels he is ready for the challenge, with a couple of simple plans to improve the Saints’ fortunes.
“A club like Nangwarry means you will have to develop your players, which you do in every club anyway,“ he said.
“I am hoping we will have a reasonable mix of young and old but it is all about that development.
“Not having won a game for 82 games, I don’t want to get caught up in just getting good football players if they are not good people.
“Obviously first things first is to get that win on the board but it is all about improvement.
“I believe if you are winning the contested footy and putting the pressure on for four quarters the scoreboard will take care of itself.
“Every team is beatable so the aim is to push teams for four quarters and you never know what will happen.
“A lot of people will look at the wins and losses but to me it is all about setting the standard in pre-season and just rolling through from there.“
Thomson played his early football at the now-defunct Tarpeena, just a few kilometres down the road from Nangwarry, before moving to the Bulldogs in the Western Border league.
He said after such a long time in a six-team competition, the variety of the MSEFL was appealing.
“I was fortunate to play Under 18s for East against the Victorian teams,“ he said.
“The last few years I have been stuck playing the same five teams, so I think Mid South East footy will be good to play against a different team every week.
“You don’t get too comfortable playing against the same teams all the time.“
Jake McKeon will also make the trek out to Nangwarry with Thomson, but the rookie coach was reluctant to share too much information at this early stage.
However, he said he expected to kick pre-season training off early next month to ensure players are ready to hit the ground running in 2021 after a season off due to the covid-19 pandemic.
