Tara Murray
New Suns coach Roger Hand felt the time was right to get back into coaching.
Having been a football manager and football director in more recent times, Hand has been appointed Suns coach for next year’s Western Football League division 2 season.
Hand said he was excited for the opportunity.
“I decided to have a crack at coaching again and see how we go,” he said. “I’m keen to get back into developing more young people again.
“I think I have more value to add in that space. The Suns are a great place to go and I like where they are at.”
Hand had more recently been a football director with Point Cook Centrals, so is no stranger to the league.
He said he wasn’t on top of the division 2 competition as much as he would have liked.
“I’ve signed a couple of assistants to help in that space,” he said. ‘I understand the competition and understand the club and where it wants to get to.
“I helped set the Sharks up for success and to get into division 1.”
Hand said that he hoped that his experience on the other side of things at the local level would help with his coaching.
He said he’d seen the broader side of the football club in that time.
“I have a lot of understanding of the challenges that clubs have,” he said. “As a coach you’re “I’ve got a good understanding from the top down.”
The majority of the Suns list from this year have signed on for next season, while they’re announced a number of new signings.
Among the signings is former coach Dean Cachia is staying on as a player.
Hand said they felt they had a fairly strong squad.
“We’ve got one or two that have been a big sluggish to sign on,” he said. “We’ve kept the core group together,
“We’ve tried to recruit what the team needs. We’ve got to understand the team and they will need to understand in terms of game plan. Hopefully we can add one or two more.”
The Suns made finals this year in division 2 after coming off the division 3 premiership the season before.
With the top three teams of division 2 all being promoted it will be a new look division 2 competition this year.
Hand said they can’t get complacent after their achievements the past few years.
“I think it will be a lot closer,” he said. “The teams that have been promoted set the benchmark in this division and we have to aim for that.”
