Souths ready to step back into finals mode under first year senior coach Adrian McAdam

Adrian McAdam back at home with South Alice Springs as the Roos look to bounce back into the CAFL finals

Souths Clayton Walker and Dustin Briscoe celebrate. Picture: Charlie Lowson

ADRIAN McAdam turned 50 this month, the exact number of years his CAFL club Souths have kicked a football around in the Alice Springs competition.

McAdam, the former North Melbourne star, is the new coach at South Alice Springs after Darren Talbot relinquished the reins at the end of last season.

It is McAdam’s first senior coaching role in club football in the Red Centre and it comes with the club he played his junior and senior football with.

“I’ve had stints at Wests and Federals, but Souths are my family club where we’ve been involved since their Amoonguna days,’’ McAdam told the NT News.

“I coached the Alice rep side in the 1990s when we had the ATSIC game between the Central Desert Warriors and the Top End.

“All the big names of Alice footy were playing that night when we won the game in Darwin and repeated the dose in Alice Springs.’’

McAdam takes over a Souths side that missed the finals in a shortened 2020 CAFL season after Rovers beat them in back-to-back grand finals in 2018 and ‘19.

Missing last season’s finals does not concern McAdam, who points to those losing grand finals as proof the club knows what it takes to play at the business end of the season.

“The big positive for me is they’ve been there, they were whereabouts in two grand finals seasons, even if they weren’t there last year,’’ he said.

“We know we’ve got the playing depth to get there and our under-18s have been pretty successful over the last three years, which means we’ve got a lot of good kids coming through the ranks.

“I’m looking forward to coaching, Souths have always been my team and it’s why 50 years in the Alice Springs competition means a lot to Souths people.

“We want to get people back to the club and supporting the players and the footy club in our 50th year, which is an important milestone for Souths.’’

McAdam said Minahan medallist Darren Abbott will again be one of the club’s leaders, while Daniel Stafford and Dustin Briscoe are also expected to play major roles.