EFL: Upper Gully appoints Luke Tynan as coach after Stephen De Luca steps down
A Division 1 EFL club has seen the shock departure of its senior coach, but it has moved quickly to secure a former star VFL defender as a replacement.
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Eastern Division 1 outfit Upper Ferntree Gully has seen the departure of its first-year senior coach but it has moved swiftly to appoint a replacement.
Outgoing coach Stephen De Luca informed the club of his decision to step down from the role due to work and family reasons, after he was appointed to the head gig left vacant by Joel Perry following the 2019 season.
But the club has moved to appoint former VFL defender Luke Tynan as De Luca’s replacement for the 2021 season.
Tynan played 150 matches at state level across Casey and Port Melbourne, where he tied for the Borough’s 2017 best and fairest in a premiership year and made the VFL Team of the Year on three occasions.
He joined the Kings at the end of 2019 where he was set to serve as a playing-assistant this year.
Upper Ferntree Gully president Damien Lowe paid tribute to De Luca and said the club was pleased it could provide Tynan with his maiden senior coaching opportunity.
“Obviously the last six months have been challenging on everyone and (Stephen) didn’t think he could commit to the tasks required going forward which is a shame because he’s a cracking bloke,” Lowe said.
“We were reluctant to move straight away but Luke had mentioned to one of the guys in the leadership group that he might be interested in coaching down the track.
“We just thought let’s approach him which we did, and he was happy to take that role on going forward for the next 12 months.
“We’re really excited with the possibility of giving a young bloke his first chance to see what he can do … we thought we had a really good candidate right at our doorstep (and) we really appreciate everything Steve did for 12 months.”
Lowe said the club had earmarked Tynan to succeed Joel Perry as the “backbone” of the club’s defence upon his arrival in 2019.
“Losing Joel Perry who is such a quality defender, we sort of looked at Luke as a ready-made replacement, a younger version, maybe not as tall Joel but certainly the way he read the play and rebounded the footy,” Lowe said.
“We saw Luke as a similar sort of player who could be the absolute backbone of the back half which we already thought was pretty handy.”
The Kings missed the finals in 2019 with an 8-10 record in the league’s second tier, and at the end of last season brought in fellow VFL recruits David De Araugo and Michael Riseley who played alongside Tynan at Casey.
While Lowe is hopeful both will recommit, he said the club is looking to top its list up in preparation for 2021, which he believes is in a strong position.
“We’ve also got the feelers out for more recruits … one or two pieces just to finish it off,” he said.
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