Keane for change

By David Nagel
NEWLY-appointed Ellinbank and District Football League secretary Mick Keane started his involvement in local footy as a player at Pakenham, and it was his then coach Rod Walker who gave him a sound piece of advice.
“Look, I wasn’t much of a player and Rod pulled me aside and said I might be better suited to an administration role,” Keane said with a laugh.
“To this day he still claims to be the person who pushed me into the administration side of footy.
“We still laugh about it.”
Keane, 53, takes over the role from long-term incumbent Peter Gallasch and he is adamant what the top priority is for the league executive.
“A two-tiered competition has to be the main priority,” Keane said.
“My personal opinion is we need to make that happen as soon as possible, ideally it would be great to have that in place for the 2013 season.”
Keane’s eagerness for the restructure stems from a willingness to help each club in the EDFL reach their full potential.
“We need to take the league forward; give every club an opportunity to compete on an even playing field, I think it would really help to bridge the gap that currently exists,” he said.
Keane’s first administration role was treasurer at Pakenham in 1983; he progressed through to president at the Lions for the 1997 season and held that position for three years before a move to the Nar Nar Goon committee in the mid 2000s.
Keane’s sons, Ben, Matt and Josh all played at the Goon last season, Ben winning the senior best-and-fairest award in the process.
Gallasch retired from the role at the end of last season and Keane said despite having his own views on certain issues it will be steady as she goes until he settles into his new role.
“I’ve had a brief chat with Peter – I need to catch up with him soon to set up office but all in all things are in good shape, I do have views on some issues but they will surface over time,” he said.
“The main thing right now is to get everything set-up and make sure we have a smooth kick-off to next season.”
Despite the secretary’s role being a major part of the league’s structure, Keane has a refreshingly simple approach as to what’s required.
“The main role is to liaise with all the clubs build a strong relationship and deal with any issues that appear in a prompt manner,” he said.
So how much has the administration side of things changed since the mid ’80s?
“Massive changes, not just in the technology side of things but just the overall costs involved, players are getting much more money these days and some of them, not all, can be pretty demanding.”
If things get too demanding then Mick Keane knows who to blame, Rod Walker and that sound piece of advice he recieved all those years ago.