Hurstbridge lock away coaches for 2021, ready for salary cap squeeze
Hurstbridge has secured it’s four-man coaching panel led by Jarrod Tilley and Bridges president Mark Donnelly is confident the reduced salary cap won’t cost the club key players.
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Hurstbridge president Mark Donnelly has no doubt the club’s playing group will follow the example set my its coaches and commit for 2021.
Senior coach Jarrod Tilley and assistants Brayden Shaw, Ben Shelton and Cameron Cloke are all onboard for next season.
Despite the 50 per cent cut in the Northern Football League Division 1 salary cap, Donnelly sees no reason why players would want to leave Ben Frilay Oval.
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“The playing group has a pretty high opinion of these guys,” he said.
“I don’t think we’ll lose anyone, I don’t think anyone wants to leave.
“The players can look at them and say ‘right, they’ve re-signed lets re-sign ourselves’.
“We’re a bit concerned about the ($100,000) salary cap … it’s not hard to work out, it’s about $250 a player, so there’s going to be a lot of disappointed players out there.
“Talking to Shawry and Tilley, they’re pretty level-headed, it’s the way of the times and you’ve got to adapt to the times or you move on but there won’t be any other clubs more advanced that what we are.”
Division 1 clubs will have $100,000 salary cap in 2021 and possibly beyond, while Division 2 will be capped at $80,000 and Division 3 at $60,000.
Hurstbridge exceeded expectations in 2019 in Tilley’s first year in charge, winning six games to finish eighth.
The Bridges had high hopes for 2020 as Cloke was added to the coaching panel and Tom Grimes (Warrandyte), Tyson Old (Northcote Park), Rohan Davies (Corowa-Rutherglen), Jack Stewart (Laurimar) and Joel Dale (overseas) arrived as new recruits.
Donnelly said the club was still trying to find ways to keep players and supporters engaged with the club with no football being played.
The club is working hard to ensure it returns on a firm financial footing next year.
“We’re still doing a few things off-field, there’s some fundraising going on, so we’re just bank-building at the moment to get a headstart on next year,” Donnelly said.
“It’s a tough time but I think every club would be experiencing the same thing.
“It’s disappointing because we were hoping to push up the ladder a bit before COVID hit.”