Catani coach Ben Scanlon has taken what he learnt in a premiership-winning era at Nar Nar Goon and will try to implement it at his new club.
By Russell Bennett
LOOKING to bounce back from a disappointing 11th on the Ellinbank and District Football League (EDFL) ladder in 2011, Catani Football Club has enlisted the help of a Nar Nar Goon favourite son complete with a premiership pedigree to get its senior side back on track.
Ben Scanlon comes to Catani as its new playing coach and is looking to return the side to a familiar stage this year… finals.
“Talking to most of the players from last year… they said it was a pretty disappointing one, both on and off the field,” Scanlon said.
“It was the first year they’d missed the finals in a long time.
“They’re a pretty proud club and they seem keen to bounce back and get back on the winners’ list.”
Scanlon attributed the Blues’ horror 2011 campaign to a combination of injuries and the poor condition of the side’s home ground.
But on the eve of the 2012 season, the ground has been upgraded and the senior side has had a full complement of players on the park each week since Christmas for pre-season training.
The winds of change have swept across Catani for the new season, with senior assistant coach Phil Cahill, Scanlon’s brother Seamus, a new reserves coach, and former Tooradin players Ben Disney and Paul Ray all entering the fold.
The Blues coaching position came out of left field for Scanlon, who until recently was considering his immediate future in local football as he has a young family.
“But it was just a challenge,” he said.
“I’ve always enjoyed coaching, I coached junior footy.
“I’m just happy to be down there teaching the kids a bit about the game and getting something out of it, personally.”
Scanlon said he wasn’t yet sure if he would make a long-term commitment to coaching.
“I’ll probably take it as it comes but this is a two-year deal,” he said.
“I’ll see how it goes after that.
“I’ll always be keen to stay involved in footy in one way or another but coaching is pretty time-consuming.”
Scanlon said he would continue playing as long as his body let him.
“I don’t think I could just watch while the body is still feeling good,” he said.
“My assistants, Phil Cahill and Justin Evans, who was an assistant coach last year are both playing as well.”
But the coach has more than just his own fitness to worry about. Keen to erase the nightmares of the club’s injury-riddled 2011 season, Scanlon said the 2012 pre-season had so far been a healthy one.
“It’s been good,” he said.
“One of our key players did have surgery over Christmas – Luke Tyrrell had hip surgery.
“Doctor Peter Larkins performed the operation but he did that before Christmas and Luke has come back well. He’ll be good to go in round one.”
Scanlon said his side’s improved depth for the new season would be its biggest turnaround from 2011.
“They had a good top-eight or 10 players last season and then dropped off after that, mainly because of their injuries,” he said.
So far in the pre-season, Scanlon said he had been impressed by goal-hound Owen Fitzpatrick, young-gun Tom Keily, and a fit Jake Delphine.
But he made a point of not head-hunting other Nar Nar Goon players in his Catani switch.
“I made an effort at Nar Nar Goon that when I was leaving to say I won’t go targeting players, with them being my home club,” he said.
“I still hope they do well this season. My mates still play there and I hope to go back there one day and finish up, whether that’s playing or not.
“It’ll be interesting playing against them but it’ll be good fun.”
All is fair in love and war though. Scanlon said he would “definitely” use his inside knowledge from his former side against The Goon.
With both Scanlon and Tom Hallinan leaving Nar Nar Goon for senior coaching opportunities this season, the new Catani coach praised his former side’s culture for fostering strong leadership qualities.
“It’s a really good culture there,” he said.
“Everyone gets along and it’s a really professional club.”
Scanlon will take what he learned in a premiership-winning era at Nar Nar Goon and try to implement it at Catani but he said it’s going to be a slower build.
“It’s going to be tough to just walk in there and turn things around straight away,” he said.
“But a premiership is definitely in the plans, whether it’s this year or a bit further down the track remains to be seen.”
A more immediate goal of Scanlon’s is for his side to return to the finals.
“I’d be disappointed if we didn’t give it a good crack,” he said.
“It’s going to be tough to turn the side around from 11th to finals footy but we’ll see how we go with the draw.
“We’ve just got to win those close games. If you win 11 games it’ll just about see you in there.”
