EFL: Simon Caldwell set to promote Kilsyth juniors
Kilsyth has landed two Doveton premiership players, but recruiting won’t be a priority for the EFL Division 4 club under new coach Simon Caldwell.
Local Footy
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Incoming senior coach Simon Caldwell will back Kilsyth’s junior program in a bid to turn the struggling club’s fortunes around.
Caldwell is back at Pinks Reserve for his second stint as coach after serving in the role from 2009 to 2013.
The Cougars experienced a player exodus at the end of 2018 and won just three games this year, with an average losing margin of 106 points.
Their reserves were also winless and had a per cent of 8.38.
Kilsyth has strengthened its list with the signatures of Doveton Eagles premiership pair Simon Clarke and Troy Hancock, who both featured in this year’s Southern Division 2 flag.
Hancock also played in the 2017 Southern Division 3 flag under Caldwell in his only season as coach at Power Reserve.
But recruiting is not a priority for the Cougars.
Caldwell said the club wanted to build a pathway for its juniors to progress to the senior ranks.
“It’s something they’ve decided as a club – they don’t want to take that approach and go out and get 15 guys,” Caldwell said.
“They’ve finally got their junior programs going really well. They’ve got a lot of teams in the juniors … so the plan is to try and get them through over the next two or three-year period.
“We’ll still recruit some players. We’ve got to top up with a few older guys based on how they went last year and they struggled a lot for numbers in the reserves … but it’s not a focus for us to go out and get a heap of guys.”
Caldwell also had a coaching stint at Yarra Junction before accepting the Doveton position.
He said he committed to Kilsyth as there was no pressure on results and the priority would be on development.
“I didn’t go for any other coaching jobs,” Caldwell said.
“I liked the people there and the main reason was on only playing kids. They want to try and get these guys through.
“It wasn’t a job where you had to come in and if you don’t play finals you get the arse.
“It’s about trying to get the right culture back at the club.”
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Caldwell said he would implement a strategy to promote juniors “so when they do come through, whether it is next year, year after or the year after that, we’re ready to go with a bunch of Kilsyth people”.
“In 2021, hopefully there are 20 kids over the spread of senior and reserves football and the following year you get the bunch of under-17s that are coming up to under-19s,” he said.
“In three years’ time, hopefully there is 30 Kilsyth kids that are 21 and under that are part of that senior club.”
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