Premier Cricket: Allan Wise takes over as coach at Footscray

New Footscray coach Allan Wise has a message for the Dogs’ rivals — don’t expect the 2013-14 premier to be in the lower reaches of the Premier Cricket ladder for long.

New Footscray coach Allan Wise at Merv Hughes Oval. Picture: Hamish Blair

Footscray has made a wise appointment.

And new coach Allan Wise has a message for the Dogs’ rivals — don’t expect the 2013-14 premier to be in the lower reaches of the Premier Cricket ladder for long.

Allan Wise is hoping to lift Footscray back up the ladder. Picture: Hamish Blair

Pointing to the club’s elite talent and flourishing youth, the former state paceman is confident the club will rebound swiftly from a 16th-place finish in 2018-19.

“I think I’m coaching a club that would expect to bounce back quite quickly from a First XI perspective,” Wise said.

“It doesn’t take much to turn things around quickly in a Premier competition.

“A change of environment, a new set of eyes, a couple of new players, and things can turn really quickly if you get on a bit of a roll.

“The players have owned their season. They are used to having success and used to playing finals. It’s not like it’s something that’s foreign to them.”

Footscray lost plenty of experience last off-season, with Tim Buszard, Ben Green, Hayden Butterworth and Guy Walker departing, while opening batsman Greg Munro was limited to three First XI matches because of work commitments.

Star left-hander Dean Russ was as prolific as ever, piling on 802 runs, skipper Dylan Kight contributed 507 and fast bowler Lucas Dredge collected 29 wickets.

But the emergence of Ash Armstrong and Jordan Kight, who both hit centuries, and left-arm orthodox spinner Siddhesh Dixit was perhaps the positive of the campaign.

Ash Armstrong gets on the front foot. Picture: Hamish Blair

“Spending some time at the club this year, the appetite to learn and improve is exciting,” Wise said.

“From a First XI perspective, there was quite a few personal-best performances this year, especially with the bat.

“There’s a great mix of youth and senior players, obviously with Dean Russ being the most senior player.

“They’ve also got some guys in the middle of their careers that are about to enter their prime, or are in their prime, as well as some good young kids coming through who have demonstrated the ability to contribute and perform at First XI level.

“Clearly, you’re always looking to top up and recruit where you can as well.”

Intriguingly, the Dogs score the third-most runs in the competition during the home-and-away rounds, yet finished above only Greenvale Kangaroos and Kingston Hawthorn.

Wise, who was an assistant coach under Stan Nell this season, noted Footscay “struggled a bit with the ball at times” but added the loss of experience had also been a factor.

Nell will remain a member of Wise’s coaching team, with the ex-Victorian and South Australian bowler officially calling time on his playing career.

Allan Wise sends one down during his playing days. Picture: Stuart Milligan

The 40-year-old has spent the past two seasons at VTCA club Spotswood after a decorated Premier Cricket career with Monash Tigers.

A tall left-armer of immense talent during his playing days, Wise ended his Premier career in 2016-17 as the leading wicket-taker in Monash’s history with 541 at 18.17 apiece.

You get the feeling the likes of Dredge, Hamish Winter-Irving, Jack Sheppard and Tallan Wright will be listening intently to their new coach’s every word.

“My natural expectation was I wanted to stay involved,” Wise said.

“I wanted to potentially keep playing, but the more I thought about the coaching opportunity … I felt I was better suited mentoring and guiding players.

“It’s time for a new challenge. Why not do it now at 40? You can only play for so long.”

Wise said the fact he lived “about a kilometre” from Merv Hughes Oval, Footscray’s professional off-field set up and the talent in the squad attracted him to the top job.

He brings a bucketload of knowledge, having previously been captain-coach at the Tigers, working with Victorian junior representative squads and making 34 appearances at state level.

“I started getting the (coaching) bug back a little bit,” Wise said.

“There’s still a lot of players I need to get to know a bit better and some areas we need to sort out with regards to resources and coaching, but I certainly feel comfortable around the place.”