Travis Bishop speaks on his hopes for East Sunbury

New East Sunbury coach Travis Bishop has revealed what he his set to bring to the role and why he has high hopes for the Thunder.

New East Sunbury coach Travis Bishop wants to keep it simple in 2024.

He’s aiming to help the EDFL club continue to move in the right direction.

The Thunder returned to senior footy in 2023 and despite not winning a game in the first grade, there were plenty of positive signs.

Bishop has become part of the furniture at East Sunbury over the past 12 years having been a junior coach, reserves mentor, senior assistant and over the last two years the club’s operations manager.

He described the senior coaching role as the “next step” in his career.

“I’ve done just about every job you can imagine in the last few years,” he said.

“I’m really excited by this opportunity, the playing group we’ve got the at the moment is very young and hungry to improve. Our purpose this year was to get sides out on the park, everyone talks about wins but having two sides every week was a win for us.

“It looks like we’ll get a senior women’s side up next year along with an under-18s team which will be coached by Charlie Spencer and Liam Watson, two of our senior players which is really important for that connection.

“We’ll have that pathway for between our junior and senior programs which is something we’ve been aiming for as a club.”

Bishop will replace Aaron Kite who will remain at the club as an assistant coach and player, he stood down due to family reasons.

Under Kite’s tenure, the Thunder handed senior footy debuts to more than 20 players in 2023.

It’s the type of opportunities Bishop wants to provide.

“The club has really been investing into its juniors over the last few years and we want to see them progress to become senior players,” he said.

“My goal is to get the team fit and build a fast running team with a strong game plan to match that. We’re still hunting previous players who might be interested in coming back to the club.

“Next year is about continuing to build on what we did this year. The club is in a really good position at the moment.”