Tasmania University Football Club have pulled off one of the biggest mentors in the game
Arguably one of the biggest names in coaching has stepped in to mentor the senior coaches and staff at Tasmania University as they look to return to finals in 2025. New coach Tom Cleary opens up on his impact.
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Tasmania University Football Club has recruited one of the biggest names when it comes to mentoring a club as they look to return to finals in 2025.
Former Sydney Swans premiership coach Paul Roos has stepped in as a strategic adviser for the footy club while also mentoring first year playing-coach Tom Cleary.
Clearly said it has been really, really cool to learn from one of the greats.
“I am getting personally mentored by him and so are our leaders,” Cleary said.
“This is my first year of senior coaching and to have someone there to lean on and ask questions to.
“I think this year there will be some really good moments, and we will have to navigate the challenges that come with managing a team and a lot of different personalities.
“Everyone is different, so it is just about managing people as it is managing the football side, so I am really looking forward to getting better as a coach and communicator and really push my coaching to that next level.”
Roos played 269 games for Fitzroy before finishing off his career with the Swans where he played 87 games.
In 2001, upon his return from a three year stint in the United States, Roos was an assistant coach under Rodney Eade and took over as a caretaker coach in 2002 after the Swans’ looked likely to record one of their worst seasons in the clubs history.
But under the new leadership of Roos, Sydney won six of their final 10 games of the season to finish just two wins out of the finals.
In 2003, Roos was announced as head coach leading the Swans to six consecutive finals series from 03-08.
Nothing was bigger than the 2005 drought-breaking premiership with the Swans defeating West Coast Eagles by four points, their first premiership in 72 years.
“He was part of the Bloods culture and creating that and was also part of Melbourne and their rise from being pretty average to being a premiership team,” Cleary said.
“So for us it is all about rebuilding our core values, core beliefs, what we stand for as a club and building from the inside out and making sure we get the culture right and bringing in the right people.
“When people think about University, we want to have a really clear brand that we all stick to and we want to bring in people that are aligned with that brand.”
University won just the five games in 2024 missing out on the finals.
It comes 12 months after the side lost in the 2023 grand final.
“Last year was a pretty tough year in terms of results,” Cleary said.
“Going from a grand final to just missing out on finals.
“This year we’re looking to be able to sneak our way back into finals contention and it is going to be interesting start to the year to see where we sit in comparison with other teams.”
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