Clint sharpens Tiger’s claws

By Ken Moore
THERE is an air of expectancy at Lang Lang Football Club with the arrival of new captaincoach Clint Evans.
In his short time in charge Evans said everything had gone to plan and he is confident the Swamp Tigers can take it up to the top teams this season.
“Preseason has been fantastic we have regularly have had 25 to 30 on the training track and 50 players have committed. It should be a good year and we aim to be competitive,” he said.
It will be Evans’ first senior coaching role.
The strong, willing and courageous onballer has aspired towards coaching for many years and his background is heavily geared towards leadership.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I was assistant coach at Berwick for three years and all my career I’ve been a captain or vicecaptain,” he said.
Evans said he intended to lead from the front, set the example and play midfield.
To help his cause he has enticed a number of former Berwick teammates, assistant coach Rhys Nisbet, Jason Kelly, Dave Williams and Dale Robinson to join him.
He hopes the winning culture instilled by this quartet will rub off on the entire Tiger list.
According to Evans, one major reason for taking on the job was the inviting prospect of nurturing the promising young talent at Lang Lang.
“There is a really good crop of young kids coming up from the under18s and I expect five or six of the boys that played in last seasons thirds’ grand final last season to make the grade in the seniors,” he said.
It appears the Tigers now have a good blend of experience and youth and are building a wellbalanced team that should pose a genuine threat to all comers in 2007. Having played more than 150 games at Berwick, Beaconsfield and with Carlton Reserves where he was AFL rookie listed in 1998, Evans will bring both a wealth of experience and fresh ideas to the Tigers.
“It looks like we will only have a few talls, so we intend to play a fast playon brand of football moving the ball quickly down the middle,” he said.
“I’d like to see us play with flair when we’ve got the ball and oneonone when we haven’t. I want us take risks, not to go into our shell when under pressure and importantly enjoy our football.”
Evans credited his father Rod ‘Darky’ Evans as the biggest influence on his career.
Evans senior was a former Richmond player better known for a stellar career in the VFA with Dandenong where he was selected as centreman in the Redlegs ‘team of the century’.