AFL Cairns club punts experienced coach

Planning for 2021 and beyond have led an AFL Cairns club to sack their experienced coach just weeks before the 2020 season was set to restart.

Jamie McPherson and Wayne Sharkie. PICTURE: STEWART MCLEAN.

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Planning for 2021 and beyond have led Centrals Trinity Beach to sack experienced coach Wayne Sharkie just weeks before the AFL Cairns season was set to restart.

The Victorian mentor was about to enter his second campaign at Crathern Park before the Bulldogs made the call at a meeting on Monday night.

The Bulldogs missed the finals in Sharkie’s one year in charge, but were one of the few clubs who defeated four-time defending premiers Port Douglas in 2019.

While the club have been reviewing the position for some time internally, Sharkie was blindsided by the decision.

Trinity Beach are one of a few local clubs who have a full-time paid football manager, being former Melbourne Demons midfielder Sam Blease, who made the call, with the committee, to end Sharkie’s tenure.

Former Centrals Trinity Beach coach Wayne Sharkie.

Despite being able to train over the last week or so with restrictions lifted, the Bulldogs had yet to start preparing for the upcoming season, which led to frustration internally.

Sharkie, who was one of the highest paid coaches in the local competition, was not as involved in recruiting and retention of players as much as the club would have liked over the past off-season.

Blease said the Bulldogs made the early call, getting rid of the incumbent coach at the start of his second season, after being reappointed late in 2019, with 2021 and beyond in mind.

“This time away from footy has given us added time to plan and think about how we want to move forward in the short and medium term,” he said.

“From a club point of view, we are in a time where we can reflect, make decisions and calls to bring the club up to a sustainable football club, that can essentially run and compete with the best sides.

“We want to set ourselves up now, get something out of the next 12 weeks and then hit the ground running for 2021.”

Wayne Sharkie. PICTURE: STEWART MCLEAN.

Sharkie was in contact with the Cairns Post on Monday morning and spoke as he was planning towards the club’s return to play and training, with the season to commence next month.

Sharkie did not return phone calls yesterday.

The Bulldogs have gone through three different coaches in recent years, including Sharkie, club champion Mick Seymour and Dale Hough.

The club will look to appoint an interim coach for the remainder of the year in the coming days, who will be strongly supported by key players Mark Horne, Jackson Williams and GM of football Blease.

A self-confessed “footy head”, Sharkie was always going to coach when he eventually relocated to FNQ a couple of years ago.

The veteran mentor with experience in several of the top suburban leagues in Melbourne contemplated a move north over the last few years and finally pulled the trigger when approached to take on the clipboard and whistle at Crathern Park at the start of 2019.

He led Laurimar in 2017 in the Northern Football League Division 3 Seniors before crossing to St Mary’s in the same competition this year as an assistant, where they knocked over Panton Hill in the grand final.

Among his previous coaching roles have been assistant positions at Montmorency and Eastern Football League powerhouse Balwyn.

AFL Cairns is set to meet with all local clubs on Wednesday night to decide the structure of the 2020 season.

Originally published as AFL Cairns club punts experienced coach