After two years in the VFL Owen Lalor is returning to VAFA coaching ranks

AFTER two years as an assistant at VFL club Sandringham Owen Lalor is returning to VAFA coaching ranks.

Owen Lalor spent two seasons on VFL club Sandringam’s coaching staff.

And they were two knowledge-gaining seasons, working under Lindsay Gilbee in 2017 and Aaron Hamill this year.

“It was brilliant. That’s the best education I’ve received in coaching,’’ Lalor said on Thursday, shortly after accepting the Parkdale Vultures senior coaching position.

“I went to VFL footy to learn and educate myself. Coaching suburban footy, you can pick things out and read and go to conferences but there’s nothing like being in a system at a more elite level.

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“You’re exposed to new philosophies, new ways to train, drills, game-plan preparation, the way to give feedback to players and groups.

“It was a real eye-opener. Gilbee and Hamill were very generous with their time, shared so well. We were upskilled really well. We got to sit in on St Kilda sessions as well, sit it on some private sessions.’’

But after all that, “I really missed the coaching, being up the front and communicating with players and getting them up and about and trying to sell hope when you’re down, and trying to maintain standards when you’re up and about’’.

Owen Lalor making a point at Hampton Rovers.

“I love all that sort of stuff. Setting a game plan for suburban-level boys, I missed that at Sandringham, because as an assistant that wasn’t part of my role,’’ Lalor said.

“Yeah, really looking forward to jumping into it. It’s local — it’s two minutes from work and five minutes from home. I know a lot of the families there. A lot of the families have gone through school here where I teach at St Bedes. Really, really good people there, really good support off the field. It just made sense.’’

The Vultures have been in the bottom four of Premier B for the past three years, surviving rather than thriving in the section.

Lalor pointed out the club had never figured in a Premier B finals series and that was a challenge for him.

He said Parkdale Vultures had a strong group of Under 19s and a good link with Mordialloc Braeside juniors.

“Just about every year the Mordi Brae Under 17s are strong so there’s a good feed of youth coming across,’’ he said.

“What they’re missing is senior big bodies, some stronger boys to take on some of these bigger B grade sides. There’s a lot of youth but the age bracket of the middle 20s, a few of those guys have evidently left the club in the last two or three years for a variety of reasons.

Welcome aboard, Owen: Owen Lalor (right) with Vultures president Tony Jenkins.

“My job is to develop the 18 to 21-year-olds, keep them at the club, keep them improving, together with the reliable mid-20s types like Charlie Dillon, and then try to get a few boys back to the club. There’s a good list of 15 to 20 playing at other clubs. If we get a few of them back, that would be a big help.

“It’s a challenge, but that’s a big aspect of taking the job.’’

After all his learnings at Sandringham Lalor said he was mindful of the need to “keep the game simple’’, for his players to have fun and for supporters to be satisfied that the team “always have a crack’’.

Lalor had an interviewed for the Sandringham Dragons coaching job but withdrew.

“To do justice to a job like that you’ve got the change what you do in your own job,’’ he said.

“I’m a co-ordinator at St Bedes College and with a co-ordinating role you can’t just duck off at 3.15pm and get to Moorabbin by 4pm for a 4.30pm start three nights per week. The TAC requires someone who has a lot more flexibility.’’

Lalor, 46, got his start in coaching at Old Melburnians with the Under 19s.

He coached the St Bedes Mentone Tigers Under 19s for four years, then succeeded Luke Beveridge as senior coach, keeping charge for three years.

Four years followed at Hampton Rovers, first as an assistant and then as senior coach.

Meanwhile, Dillon won the 2018 senior best and fairest and Blake O’Leary won the Under 19 award.

It was the fourth time Dillon, 24, had topped the voting. He also won the 2016 VAFA medal.