WRFL Division 1: Deer Park locks in Mark McGoldrick as coach for 2021
Deer Park has found its replacement for seven-time WRFL premiership coach Marc Bullen, appointing a fellow flag-winning mentor to the top job for 2021.
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Deer Park has locked in a familiar figure to replace Marc Bullen as the Western Region Football League powerhouse undergoes a changing of the guard.
Mark McGoldrick, who was president during the club’s remarkable run of seven consecutive Division 1 premierships, has been appointed for his third stint as coach.
McGoldrick led the Lions from 1993-1996 before returning and holding the top job from 1999-2000.
The 58-year-old, who has also coached Albion and held roles at Werribee and the Western Jets, steered Deer Park to a top-flight flag in 1994.
McGoldrick said he would not coach beyond 2021, which he said would be a “transition year”.
“There’s a hell of a lot of unknown out there. Our footy club, despite its success, we’re right at the crossroads with an old playing list and all the rest of it,” McGoldrick said.
“I just said to them that I’m happy to help for a year and we’ll use it as a transition year.
“It will be a different Deer Park, but I’m happy to help.
“It will be an interesting experience, but I’m looking forward to it. I’ll do anything for the club anyway.”
The Lions will field a new-look line-up next season after a record-breaking run of success in suburban football.
Kwame McHarg, Jase Perkins, Max Bruin (all Port Melbourne Colts), Troy Kelm (St Kilda City), Kevin Klix (East Keilor) and Shaun Harrison (Macedon) left Deer Park last off-season, while Shannon Byrnes, Jackson Barling and Daniel Cooper retired.
Ex-AFL star Brendan Fevola, former Werribee defender Ryley Barrack and classy Sunshine forward Lachlan Smart were among the arrivals.
But the Lions still boast an impressive array of senior players, including captain Jack Purton-Smith, champion Chris Stewart, Jack Redpath, Scott Greenhough, Spiros Amarantidis, James Wong and Tim Quick.
There will also be a chance to pump more senior games into the likes of Simon Nahyna, Riley Colbert, Nathan Knuckey and Jordan Brereton.
McGoldrick said he was “super excited” to be appointed coach.
“I love to coach,” he said.
“We’ve still got a lot of good, young talent on the list and we picked a few players obviously for this season who didn’t play who are young.
“That’s where our focus will be … to pick up some younger players who will be around the club for a while and be prepared to build it back up again.
“We understand, we’ve had our time on top, so we’ll just go back and do our best to be competitive obviously, but we’ll rebuild with a big eye on the future.
“We haven’t got the luxury of (junior) kids – we’ve got no other choice but to go to the market.
“We picked the right players when we won our seven (premierships), now we’ve just got to pick the right players that are going to develop and take us to the top again.”
Retired forward James Condos has signed as an assistant coach.
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