EFNL 2022: James Kenworthy appointed Surrey Park coach

The desire to land a senior gig built as time in the interim chair at the EFNL Division 4 outfit progressed, incoming Panthers coach James Kenworthy says.

A top job hadn’t always been on the radar, but incoming Surrey Park senior coach James Kenworthy says this season lit the fire.

The Panthers have locked Kenworthy in as full-time mentor for 2023 after the former Blackburn player served as interim coach for the second half of this season.

He’ll continue in a playing capacity next year.

Kenworthy led the club to its first grand final since 1999 with it chasing a maiden flag, falling agonisingly short in the Eastern league Division 4 decider after finishing second.

The 12-point grand final defeat to Silvan drove Kenworthy to put forward an application for the senior role, which he had been undecided on prior to the finals.

Locked in: James Kenworthy will coach Surrey Park in 2023. Picture: Davis Harrigan

He took the reins after the club parted ways with David Jensen in June, and said the appetite for senior coaching grew in the latter part of the season.

Despite crossing to the club as a playing-assistant this season, he said senior coaching hadn’t been a consideration.

“Post that grand final loss there was a bit of hunger in the belly, not just on my behalf but from the players’ point of view, there was a real desire in everyone to really better themselves, and the club thought I was the best man moving forward,” Kenworthy said.

“Falling into my lap halfway through the year, I sort of did start enjoying it as the weeks progressed.

“At Surrey Park, I’ve got plenty of knowledge from my Blackburn days so anything I can do to impart that on the younger guys, I’m all for it.”

Kenworthy will continue in a playing capacity next season. Picture: Davis Harrigan

The Panthers fielded a host of names under 21 years of age including forwards Renan Falahey, Tom Smith and Nick Kann.

Falahey and Kann kicked 29 and 46 goals respectively, while Smith took out the Eastern league Division 4 best and fairest in his first season of senior footy, which took in 18 matches and 18 majors.

Tom Smith won the Stephen Jones Medal as the best and fairest in Division 4 this year. Picture: Supplied

“It’s a really exciting time,” Kenworthy said.

“I’ve been there for a year and a bit … we saw first-hand what all the young kids are capable of this year so we can really attack pre-season and we’ve already got focus areas that we need to work on and aim for that premiership cup at the end of the year.”

Kenworthy said the club would “definitely be trying to get a couple of guys across” this off-season as it looks to take the next step in 2023.

He’s confident of retaining most of the list, but captain Zach Tempany has retired.

“A lot of it is understanding football, how we move the footy and pretty much our biggest downfall this year was our forward-50 entries,” Kenworthy said of the improvement needed following the grand final loss.