Michael Triep takes on Karingal senior coaching job after ‘fostering’ young Bulls talent

KARINGAL, after a winless season, has moved quickly to lock in a new coach, appointing Michael Triep.

KARINGAL, after a winless season, has moved quickly to lock in a new coach for the 2016 season, appointing Under 19 mentor Michael Triep last week.

Triep, 37, replaces champion player Michael Burke, who intends to play on.

Karingal president Daniel Watts said Triep, who has coached the club’s Under 18s and 19s for the past four years, had played a key role in developing the next wave of Bulls players and he was the logical choice to lead the club into the future.

“We feel after the last four years of him fostering and developing what is going to be our list for the next five or 10 years, we believe he is the right person to lead us forward,’’ Watts said.

“We want to show a clear pathway from the Under 19s through to the seniors and we want to reward people.”

Watts said Triep was “a very good coach”. “He has all the good attributes of a senior coach and we want to support him and give him the opportunity.”

Triep played with Karingal before “accidentally” joining the coaching ranks.

He said during his playing career he never thought he’d be a senior coach.

“Not at all,” he said.

“I said to my wife, ‘if someone had have said to me 10 years ago when I finished up playing that I’d coach the senior team in 10 years I would have laughed’.

“No, I never saw myself as a coach.

“I got thrown into junior coaching about seven or eight years ago by a mate asking if I’d help out, and I caught the bug straight away. I do love working with kids, watching them grow and succeed.”

Triep was a natural coach, winning premiership at Frankston Rovers juniors before breathing new life into Karingal’s under-age footy program.

He said the keys to coaching were patience, belief and showing confidence in players.

“I’ve really focused on bringing good kids to the club,” Triep said.

“The young boys coming through are really good young men, too.”

Triep is currently coaching Karingal’s Under 19 side in the finals.

Watts said Karingal would look to add recruits to bolster a youthful Bulls list.

He said a key forward was a priority.

“We need to give some reward to the midfield who probably win enough ball but just don’t have someone to convert,” he said.