EDFL: Dean Laidley appointed coach of Maribyrnong Park for 2019

EDFL Premier Division club Maribyrnong Park has appointed ex-North Melbourne mentor Dean Laidley as coach for the next two seasons, and he has big ambitions for the Lions.

NEW Maribyrnong Park coach Dean Laidley has declared his ambition to lift the club back to the top of Essendon District Football League Premier Division after putting pen to paper on a two-year deal.

The 51-year-old former North Melbourne mentor, who lives in Moonee Ponds, replaces Robbie Castello at the helm.

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Laidley coached North for seven years for a 72-2-75 record and also played 151 games for the Kangaroos and West Coast.

He has also held assistant coaching roles with Collingwood, Port Adelaide, St Kilda and Carlton and led Camberwell Grammar School for the past two seasons.

Dean Laidley calls the shots during his days at North Melbourne.

“I’ve been out of footy for a little bit and I’ve slowly got back involved and really enjoyed it,” Laidley said.

“I was looking for the next challenge, and Maribyrnong Park gave me a call and we had a few chats.

“I was very impressed and I just think it’s my time to give back. I’ve had a great journey in footy over many, many years, so just to give back to particularly a local community for me. I just thought everything aligned really.

“You hear lots of things which are really positive. We’ve got a lot of work to do and this is no short-term thing.

“This is to build the football club into one of the elite clubs in the EDFL.”

Maribyrnong Park president Doug Stevens with new coach Dean Laidley. Picture: Supplied

Maribyrnong Park claimed back-to-back flags in 2009 and 2010 but has made finals just twice — 2012 and 2017 — in the past seven seasons.

After progressing to a preliminary final last year, the Lions finished sixth in 2018 with an 11-7 record, two games outside the top four.

They won their first six matches before falling away in the second half of the campaign as long-term injuries to stars Scott Clarke and Caleb Vearing and a drop in form took their toll.

Laidley worked with MPNFL premier Pines this year and said he would be in a better position to assess Maribyrnong Park’s list in coming weeks.

“I’m just going to pass on my experiences over a long period of time, the good and the bad, and just work really hard together and enjoy the journey,” he said of his coaching philosophy.

“That’s one of the most important things.”

Castello stepped down from the top job in August, with work commitments with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade preventing him from signing on for a fifth season in charge.