SFNL: Michael Kinsella speaks on his new role as Murrumbeena coach

Freshly-appointed Murrumbeena coach Michael Kinsella has wasted no time in identifying areas his side can improve. Here’s what you can expect from the Kinsella-led Lions.

Freshly appointed Murrumbeena coach Michael Kinsella has already identified the area he feels his side can improve.

Kinsella has taken over from Liam Wilson, who steered the Lions to successive grand finals.

Star player Jordan Pollard has been also been added to the coaching ranks, as Kinsella believes Beena have more to give in an area of Pollard’s expertise.

“I think the last two years we have been pretty unlucky coming to the pointy end with injuries,” he says.

“We identified that and have put a bit more resources into a high-performance team.

“Jordan Pollard is actually a strength coach by trade, he works in that field, so we’re going to utilise him with the planning of our sessions, pre-season and get him to try and taper the boys up and down through the rigours of a long year.

“That will be a challenge but having the same group together for a couple of years will be handy, we only have four guys that played in the 2021 season playing next year.

“It’s been a massive overhaul – so to have that success under Liam (in 2023) has been impressive.”

The Lions celebrate a goal during the year. (Photo by Josh Chadwick)

While Pollard will assist with the strength and conditioning, Kinsella will tackle all else, including getting his side mentally ready after two grand final defeats.

He doesn’t expect it to be a huge challenge in his maiden senior coaching role however, as his group remain desperate for silverware.

“I am a big believer in positive thinking, even though we didn’t get the result this year, I think there’s still huge belief within the group,” he says.

“Coming from Divvy 3, there wasn’t many people that tipped us to play finals, the fact we made a granny and, to have an injury-riddled list at the time, I know the boys have been speaking about how much belief it’s given them.

“They’re pretty confident we can go into next year and go one further.”

Grand final heartbreak will fuel the Lions. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Kinsella has spent the past two years under Wilson as an assistant and knows exactly what type of senior coach he wants to be.

“I think you have to adapt to your personnel, you can’t be too rigid in your thinking,” he said.

“I think how you treat each group, and each individual, has to change and you can’t be rigid in game style either.

“I want to be an adaptive coach that can evolve from game to game, or training to training, player to player.

“I don’t want to be pigeonholed in one area.”

Kinsella has wasted no time getting into it, already working towards bolstering his list for 2024.