Premier Cricket: New Prahran coach Julien Wiener True Blue to the very core

New Prahran coach Julien Wiener is not one to make bold declarations about winning finals and premierships, but he wants the club’s dedicated supporters to know the True Blues are in good hands.

New Praharn coach Julien Wiener on his way to a century for Victoria in 1982.

Julien Wiener’s connection to Prahran dates back more than four decades.

The 63-year-old started at the Premier Cricket club in the 1970s before graduating to state and international level.

Ex-Test cricketer Julien Wiener is a life member at Prahran. Picture: Valeriu Campan

He returned to the True Blues in 2004 and was captain of the club’s Second XI for “four or five years”.

Wiener, who’s caught the coaching bug in recent years, has signed on to steer the True Blues for the next three seasons.

But rather than make bold declarations about winning finals and premierships, Wiener points to Prahran’s loyal clubmen — and he wants them to be safe in the knowledge the club is in good hands.

“One of the really nice things is there’s still some people at the club, who are still involved and still passionate and still loyal, who were there when I started,” Wiener said.

“You don’t appreciate that as a young person as much as when you look back.

“David Dukes, Ian Crawford, John Malligan, John Raglus — and there are probably a couple of others — those people are amazingly loyal and hard-working.

“Sport in the suburbs, in the community, doesn’t survive without those people.

“I just respect them so much.”

Wiener has built a well-rounded coaching resume, having worked at Melbourne as an assistant for the past two and a half seasons while also being involved with Australia’s Aboriginal team’s tour of the UK earlier this year and mentoring intellectually disabled squads, which he described as “the most rewarding experience”.

Weiner made six Test and seven one-day international appearances for Australia and represented Victoria 66 times at first-class level.

“I’ve been fortunate to be exposed to some good cricketers and some really good coaches,” he said.

“Yes, I’ve got my own ideas, but I think I’ve been open to learn from all of those experiences.

“There are always little things that you pick up along the way.

“Cricketers have a natural ability to complicate things and over-analyse. It’s just a nature of the game.

“I’ve got some pretty, I suppose, well-entrenched ideas about how simple it can be.”

Jake Hancock has returned to Prahran after two years in Tasmania. Picture: Stuart Milligan

Wiener has replaced Barry Neivandt, who departed one year into a two-year deal in June, after Prahran finished in 13th spot in 2017-18.

The introduction of the Super Slam, a separate Twenty20 competition, will increase the time dedicated to the shortest format.

Along with prizemoney, the winner will earn a ticket to the Cricket Australia premier T20 carnival in Adelaide in March, to be televised nationally.

“Good players can adapt and they’re skilful at all forms,” Wiener said.

“With the new structure and the T20 now a separate comp, that automatically means clubs will focus more on it.

“They’ll be well prepared; they’ll pull knowledge in; they’ll pull players in. It’s a focus for the cricket world and an entry into high-performance cricket if you do well and it helps you improve your skills.”

Will Sutherland celebrates a wicket with his Prahran teammates last season. Picture: Mark Dadswell

Two of Prahran’s young guns, Will Sutherland and Sam Grimwade, are in Victoria’s squad while Jake Hancock has returned after two years in Tasmania.

Wiener said the squad he has inherited boasts a good mix of experience and youth.

He underlined the importance of “sharing resources and knowledge” between the men’s and women’s programs and said building close connections with the community would be vital.

“We feel we’ve got a lot of good talent, young talent, at the club,” Prahran president Nigel Parsons said.

“We’re hoping to obviously progress on that this year, but also with a core focus on the T20 comp that’s now been put together. We feel we can be quite competitive across all formats.

“I think he (Wiener) brings a strong contemporary aspect to the role as well. Although he’s been around for a bit, I think he understands the modern game and where we want to get to as a club.”