EDFL 2018: Maribyrnong Park coach Robbie Castello steps down after four seasons

ROBBIE Castello has detailed the reasons why he has stepped down as coach of EDFL club Maribyrnong Park after four seasons in charge.

ROBBIE Castello has stepped down as Maribyrnong Park coach after four seasons in charge with work commitments with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade impacting his ability to continue at the helm.

The former Werribee VFL captain has been limited to eight appearances for the Essendon District Football League Premier Division club this season after completing his recruiting course in June.

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Castello has been stationed in Portland and has only been home for “for two or three days” a week, which has made it difficult to tackle the demands of coaching.

“Travelling up and down has been pretty tough on myself and committing to the boys and the family,” Castello said.

“At the moment, it’s sort of up in the air what I’ll do (in 2019).

“But from a coaching point of view at Marby, I couldn’t put in the time the club needed and what the players needed to go on next year.”

Robbie Castello spent four seasons in the top job.

Maribyrnong Park won its first six games of the campaign after progressing to the preliminary final last year.

But the Lions will miss finals, having won four of their past 11 games to tumble out of the top four.

They will face Glenroy in the final round of the home-and-away season on Saturday.

“This year has been a bit of an indifferent year obviously with the situation with my coaching earlier on in the year in February, when I first started the recruiting course,” Castello said.

“We had a really good start and then had a couple of injuries to some key players and me not being there probably hurt the group.

“We probably didn’t get the success we were hoping for this year, but going into the next two, three, four years the club’s in a great spot.

“I just didn’t think it was feasible (to continue) with what the club needs and the playing group.

“It was pretty tough, but it is what it is, and got to move on.”

Robert Ball has been one of Maribyrnong Park’s standout performers. Picture: James Ross

Long-term injuries to Scott Clarke and Caleb Vearing did not help Maribyrnong Park’s cause.

While it has been an enthralling season in the top flight, the Lions ultimately paid the price for their inability to perform consistently.

On the positive side, star midfielders Will Martinello and Zac Keogh have had impressive seasons, while Nathan McLellan, James Breust, Robert Ball, Sam O’Brien and George Abboud have also been consistent contributors.

“It was a real even comp this year,” Castello said.

“I still think our best was good enough.

“You lose two of your main backs (Clarke and Vearing) who intercept mark and players who can really set you up off the backline, and that hurt our run and carry and ball use out of transition in defence.

“I think that really takes a toll, and our form just dropped. I thought our effort was there, but just our execution and our ball use was off in the last five or six weeks.”

Castello said he was keen to play next season, subject to work commitments.

“My body’s feeling really good,” he said.

“I’m definitely keen to play. I’ll wait and see who gets the coaching job at Maribyrnong Park and depending on whether I’m still stationed in Portland or closer to home, I’ll see if I can commit.

“How I can commit to training and all that will depend on where I play.

“I want to make sure, if I’m going to play at that level, that I can commit to 80 per cent of training and game day.

“Hopefully I’ll have an answer sooner rather than later and will be able to help out the footy club in some way.”