VAFA: Nathan Walsh appointed new senior coach of Canterbury

Former top Victorian Premier Cricket batsman Nathan Walsh is out to score some wins on the football field in 2022.

New Canterbury coach Nathan Walsh.

For Nathan Walsh, leaving Canterbury was hard.

Returning as senior playing coach was easy.

Walsh, 30, was an assistant with the Cobras in 2020 and enjoyed it immensely. He was welcomed and quickly felt part of the club. Covid, of course, wiped out the season.

However the chance to play at country team Dalyston with his brother Brendan arose this year.

It was always something he wanted to do: his father, Terry, played for Daly and his uncle, John Walsh, is a legend of the club (and his reputation as one of the toughest men who ever stepped on a football ground still holds in South Gippsland).

Nathan Walsh served as Dalyston’s assistant coach to Peter Dunlop this year.

“Me and my brother always said we’d go down and play at Dalyston at some stage,’’ Walsh said.

“The stars aligned and we could do it this year.’’

Nathan Walsh playing Premier Cricket for Ringwood.

He enjoyed it, but he couldn’t down the offer to go back to Canterbury as senior coach.

The Cobras are coming off a season in VAFA Division 3 in which they finished 4-7 and with a percentage of 95.81 under Steve Pimm.

“Good to be back,’’ Walsh said.

“I’d really enjoyed it there last year. I was quite drawn to the footy club. I’ve hopped around clubs a little bit but I really felt at home last year. The people were really supportive of me. It was actually tough to leave and it was also an easy decision to come back once it was clear the coach (Pimm) was going to move on.’’

He believes the Cobras have set down the foundations for success and will be stronger for the recruitment of Josh Ward, Mark Fenelon, Dylan Frankland, Brandon Fredericks, Nathan May, James Boarotto and Jack Sheridan, and the return of Guy Driscoll, Tyler Wooster, Jayden Collins, Jordan Dear, Mitch Deane and James Sabell.

Ward, a ruckman and forward, played at Upper Ferntree Gully and Traralgon Tyers United, and will serve as an assistant coach.

Fenelon is a defender and also played at Upper Ferntree Gully.

Boarotto figured in a premiership team with St Mary’s in the Northern league and Sheridan is a former national-level runner.

“They had a decent year. I think they just lacked a bit of personnel and some depth,’’ Walsh said of the Cobras’ 2021.

“In saying that, they did a lot right and have got the club in a fantastic position. I saw it last year. I was a bit peeved we didn’t get to play because I really saw the building blocks in place, with the standards of training being set.

“It’s very hard as a lower-division club to develop the training ethic and the standards because people are often drawn to that standard of footy, to not have to give 100 per cent, to play at a relaxed club.

“Over the past three or four years they’ve been able to retain a really high percentage of players despite lifting the standards and the work ethic at training and the demands on the players. There’s been a shift.’’

He said discipline, accountability and respect would be the cornerstones of the club’s 2022 season.

Walsh played football at Rowville, Boronia and Yarra Junction before joining Canterbury.

He is also an accomplished cricketer, having played more than 100 Premier Cricket matches and hit three centuries. Walsh is now at Lysterfield in the Ferntree Gully association, and for the past three seasons has represented the Victorian Country team.

Coaching in local football, you would think, would be a snack compared to facing the fast bowling of James Pattinson, as Walsh did a few years ago when he was playing for Ringwood against Dandenong.

He was struck on the helmet and taken to hospital for assessment.

“He (Pattinson) went to India the next week and was clocked in the first over at 150,’’ Walsh said.

“I was not surprised, put it that way. The first few overs that day (at Dandenong), he was experimenting with the conditions. By the third or fourth over they were just whistling through.’’