EDFL 2019: Northern Saints coach Brett Kennerley responds to rumours
Brett Kennerley has responded to chatter surrounding his hold on the coaching job at EDFL Division 2 side Northern Saints after the club missed out on a finals berth.
Local Footy
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Footy. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Northern Saints boss Brett Kennerley expects to see out his two-year contract amid rumours the club will make a coaching change.
While Kennerley acknowledged the fact the Saints missed EDFL Division 2 finals after claiming the minor premiership the previous season could count against him, he believes he will be calling the shots again in 2020.
Off-field instability has hampered the club in recent times, with Kennerley the Saints’ third coach in four years.
Kennerley said it was “business as usual” with Northern Saints’ reserves and under-19s contesting finals.
“I fully expect to be there next year and from what I understand to be the case at the moment, the committee are behind me,” Kennerley said.
“I’m contracted there for two years, so I would expect to go on next year.
“But, like all things, I’d assume they will go through the process once the season’s wrapped up.”
Saints president Joe Antonetti dismissed the rumours and said his focus was re-signing players for next season.
He then plans to sit down with Kennerley to discuss his future.
ALL THE LATEST ESSENDON DISTRICT NEWS
EDFL COACH SANCTIONED FOR POST-MATCH SPRAY
SKIPPER’S VERDICT ON COBURG DISTRICT’S FLAG HOPES
WHY A REST PROVED COSTLY FOR KANGAROOS FORWARD
GLENROY RETRIEVES MONSTER DEFICIT IN WIN
FLAG OR BUST FOR TULLAMARINE IN 2019
The first-year mentor said he was keen to continue at the helm, with the Saints finishing one game outside the top four.
They won six of their first eight games before a four-match losing run derailed their campaign.
“We had a year that we expected to have, to be honest,” Kennerley said.
“At one stage we were probably being overly successful with what we had, and then we had some injuries and fell back to the pack.
“I certainly didn’t see anything I wasn’t expecting. The committee was pretty positive throughout the year, so I wouldn’t have thought there were any massive issues there.”
The likes of Matthew Gray, Matthew D’Angelo, Mousty Hammoud, Khodr Taleb and Nick Bruno had interrupted seasons because of injury and suspension.
Kennerley said he had a good relationship with the majority of his playing group.
“Certainly most of the senior group was positive about it,” he said.
“There’s always one or two … if you’ve got 100 guys on a list, you’re not going to get 100 guys that love you. There’s no doubt about that.
“There’s probably a few guys who will move on to other clubs or weren’t necessarily overly enthused with me, but I’m a pretty open book.
“From my perspective, certainly most of the guys who played senior footy this year, most of them were all on the same page and were pretty understanding of what I was trying to accomplish.”
WHAT A LEADER LOCAL FOOTY SUBSCRIPTION GIVES YOU ACCESS TO
— Match reports, features, player and coach movements and analysis of all the leagues across Melbourne.
— Unprecedented AFL coverage.
— All the latest football news from across the country including Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph and Courier-Mail.
— Latest news and videos from the world’s leading leagues.
— Exclusive digital stories and videos before they go to print.