Fostering state’s best talent will be first port of call for new Devils coach Cameron Joyce
He’s stepping into a head coaching role for the first time, but new Devils coach Cameron Joyce is confident two decades in the AFL system has him prepared for the task of managing Tasmania’s best under-18 footballers.
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DEVELOPING Tasmania’s best underage footballers will be the No. 1 priority for new Devils coach Cameron Joyce — with winning a by-product of the improvement of the squad.
And despite stepping into the head coaching cauldron for the first time after two decades in the AFL system, Joyce has no doubt his wealth of experience will help foster the state’s budding future stars.
AFL Tasmania appointed Joyce as Adrian Fletcher’s successor last month, signing the former North Melbourne footy boss to a two-year deal.
He has previous coaching experience as a development coach at the Oakleigh Chargers and with the Roos’ former VFL feeder club North Ballarat, as well as under John Worsfold at West Coast as an opposition analyst.
“I suppose I’ve seen everything that a coach has seen over the last probably 10 or 11 years, working with Brad Scott in particular and more recently Rhys Shaw as well,” Joyce said after officially arriving in Hobart to start his new role.
“I’ve been moulded a little bit from them, and John Worsfold and others that I’ve had dealings with.
“Now it’s an opportunity for me to be able to bring that out.
“I’m confident that I can do the role and do a good job and my priority is to develop the individual players and work with them really closely and bring the state together in terms of the three regions across the state.
“If we do that well and we do that right, then the winning piece can be a by-product of that.
“We’re certainly worried about the development of the individuals first and foremost.”
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Joyce will hit the ground running, travelling to Launceston and the North-West Coast to meet each region’s talent manager as well as Devils football manager Craig Notman.
He believes the Devils can build on their first full season back in the NAB League, impressed with the building blocks that have been put in place.
“The work that’s been done to get a team off the ground — and having some experience in establishing a VFL team at North Melbourne and an AFLW team as well — it’s difficult in the first year.
“A lot of the players are going to be coming back that have had great experience and played some decent amount of games, so I think that can only be good and hold those players in good stead and give them a better understanding of what the competition is.
“It’s the best development competition in Australia, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. “They’ve now got a taste of that and so it is how do we then move forward from there.”
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