Local footy: New Rupertswood EDFL coach Arron Bray looks to 2021
After a break from coaching, Arron Bray explains what attracted him to Rupertswood as the club prepares for its first season in the Essendon District Football League in 2021.
Local Footy
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Rupertswood’s move to the Essendon District Football League was not the decisive factor that attracted new coach Arron Bray.
Bray admitted the shift from the Riddell District league – a competition he has intimate knowledge of – to the strong EDFL made the job “pretty enticing”.
But there were other reasons why the experienced mentor has landed at the club after a break from coaching.
With the Sharks placed in Division 1, they are a grand final victory away from competing in Premier Division after some in EDFL circles declared they should contest Division 2 in 2021.
They also boast a talented stable of young players, which is all the more important with salary caps slashed by 50 per cent amid the coronavirus crisis, while clubs are also operating under the player points limit.
“It’s going to be a good challenge for the club and a good challenge for me to go and coach in that standard of footy,” Bray said.
“Going to Division 1 was pretty much the sealer. If that was Division 2, probably myself and a few of the players may have had second thoughts about it.
“They’ve got a pretty good set up – their junior program has always been very strong. They’ve got a good calibre of juniors that progress through to their seniors, and they seem to keep them and develop them.
“With the points system, that’s what you’ve got to do. Those one-pointers are very valuable nowadays.”
Bray, who has replaced Nick Ash at the helm, has also coached several Rupertswood players who represented the RDFL’s interleague team.
He steered Broadford to consecutive preliminary final appearances in 2015 and 2016 (when he was a co-coach alongside Dean Helmers).
“I had a little bit of a relationship with a few of the lads anyway, which probably made the transition a little bit easier,” Bray said.
“Even though (interleague) was a short program over a four or five-week period, they got to know what I was about. I suppose developing a relationship with them as well while coaching Broadford … you get around and have a beer. It made it easier that I knew them, for sure.”
The Sharks have lost Todd Podolczak, Brett Chambers (both retired), Dean Putt (Nullawil), Nick Grigg (East Keilor), Jackson Berry (university), Jake Sutton (Sunbury), John Barnard and Leigh Wellington (both Murchison-Toolamba) from their premiership side.
Jorden Braddy (Aberfeldie), Bailee Revell (Airport West), Harrison Bult (Keilor), Chris Lucas (Sunbury Lions) and Jesse Olsen (Stanhope) have come in.
Bray said he hoped to secure “one or two” signings in coming months.
“But I’m quite happy to develop the junior kids they’ve got,” he said.
“Even though we are going into a stronger comp, I think the talent pool they’ve got there is good enough anyway.”
Rupertswood will face stiff competition from the likes of East Keilor, Airport West, Tullamarine and Westmeadows in Division 1 but the ultimate goal is to earn promotion to the top flight.
“Whether that happens next year or in two years or in five years … I suppose that’s the aim for the club,” Bray said.
“When you go there as a coach, you want to play finals straight up even though it is a new comp for myself and the club. We’ll still set standards the same as I do when I’ve coached anywhere else, and that’s to make the top four and see what happens from there.”
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