Palmerston Magpies reinstate Josh Heath as head coach for two more seasons

Newly reinstated Palmerston coach Josh Heath believes a focus on youth will help the club achieve success after a mixed bag season.

It has been a season of two halves for the Palmerston Magpies, but with plenty of youth coming through reinstated coach Josh Heath believes the club is on the verge of success.

Palmerston were the side turning heads in the early stages of the season with four wins and a draw from its opening six games.

However, the Magpies have only had one win since, with a breach of the fly-in rule stripping the club of their Round 9 win against league leaders Southern Districts.

It led to a downward spiral, hastened by the loss of key players including Tristan Waack, Sam Clohesy and Baxter Mensch who were all given the chance to play in state leagues down south.

The side was also graced by a variety of former AFL stars in those early games including Gary Ablett Jr, Eddie Betts, Neville Jetta and Travis Varcoe.

Palmerston Magpies coach Josh Heath has been reinstated for two more seasons. Picture: Patch Clapp / AFLNT Media

Second-year coach Heath, who has recently re-signed for another two seasons, admitted the loss of key players had impacted the club, but said it was a positive to see those players get chances at a higher level.

“We had a lot of highs and a lot of quality people around the footy club come and help out,” Heath said.

“In a certain respect it’s a credit to the club that we’ve had these guys and then they’ve been noticed and got their opportunities at higher levels of football.

“We’ve had five or six players who are going on to try their wares at a higher grade, but it doesn’t help the club succeed which is why we need to develop our juniors.

“We were disappointed with the result of the alleged breach, it was something we thought we had under control and done our due diligence on. It’s something the whole league is dealing with.

“It was disappointing for everyone and is something we now have to make sure we get right, but it’s not an excuse for why we’re not playing finals.”

The Magpies have since turned their attention to getting senior games into the likes of Enrique Andrews, Brandon McConnell and Orlando Turner, while 2020-21 Rising Star winner Ryan Warfe is being lined up as a future leader of the club.

Palmerston Magpies coach Josh Heath during the 2021-22 NTFL season. Picture: Celina Whan / AFLNT Media

It’s an avenue that Heath believes will take the club into the future as these youngsters learn from more experienced heads.

“It’s becoming more and more important to develop these juniors, and our focus at the moment has to be retaining those juniors,” Heath said.

“The clubs at the top have those names coming through that are becoming synonymous with the football club, and we’ve put that challenge out to our juniors to make their names champion names.

“The majority of our boys are pretty young, so there’s an opportunity there which is really exciting.”

Heath was pleased the club had backed him for another two years in the top job.

The ultimate goal for any club is to win a premiership, but Heath acknowledged he and his group had to focus on the little wins along the way.

“I’m just really happy the committee has got behind me and have the faith I can continue building this club,” Heath said.

“Not everyone is always on the same page, but we’re gaining people and I’m still teaching these kids and making sure they’re the ones coming through and looking after the footy club.

“People want us to play finals, but you can play finals and go out in straight sets or we could be genuine contenders in every match while having a strong playing group all year.

“I think we’re right on the edge of that success, if we maintain our playing group, add to our list and make slight adjustments we aren’t far off.”