New Sanctuary Lakes coach Lee Spry is focused on bridging the gap between junior and senior ranks at the WRFL club.
The Sharks landed Spry as their senior coach for the 2016 season after he impressed during the interview process with his ideas to take the club forward after three formative years under Nick Waddell.
Spry, a former player at North Footscray and coach at Rockbank, was drawn to the Sharks because of the talent coming through the junior system.
He feels his holistic approach to coaching will suit one of the WRFL’s recent expansion clubs.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity,” he told Star Weekly. “It’s a well-run junior club so, hopefully, it extends into a good senior squad.”
There is a sense of urgency for the Sharks to claim a first senior premiership and begin moving up the ranks.
Sanctuary Lakes was one of the form teams of division 3 in the second half of last season and featured in the finals. But soon finals will not be considered a pass mark and Spry has arrived to take the Sharks over the next hurdle.
Player retention will be a focal point, but the club needs to offer its talented youngsters a higher standard than division 3 or risk losing players to clubs in the tiers above.
It’s one of the drawbacks of having a third division … division 3 clubs can find it difficult to keep their top home-grown players.
“You have to strive to get to division 2 and division 1 so you can keep those kids,” Spry said.
“Parents want their kids to [eventually] play at a higher level, so we have to get up a bit higher.
“We want to set a foundation where the culture is good and the club is run well and is successful. Then the kids will stay and become better players rather than us trying to recruit a whole side.”
There will be a noticeable change at the Sharks when Spry takes preseason training for the first time in November.
The under-18s and the most talented under-17s will train on the same night as the seniors and take part in drills as a single unit.
Spry wants to create a smoother transition between the underage and senior ranks.
“I was surprised the under-18s didn’t train on the same night or with the senior boys last season,” he said.
“At every footy club I’ve been to, you normally have your under-18s involved with the senior boys. Then, the next year, it’s not as massive a step for them to come in and have a kick with the other blokes because they’re mates with them on the training track already.
“You really want to push the home-grown talent more than anything because they’re the boys who will stick around for 10 or 15 years.”
Spry, a 40-year-old from Rockbank, has been working the phones to ensure none of the players who took the Sharks to the finals last season are lost to the club. “I’ve been letting the boys know that as a new coach you have your own philosophies on football and what direction we want to go,” he said.
