Mulwala appoints coaching trio

In what is a unique situation in Australia and a first for Mulwala with the trio of coaches, the appointments were gladly advised to the Yarrawonga Chronicle last week and described as fantastic by Mulwala Football Netball Club President Chris McNamara.

Club football manager Dale Ferguson admitted: “It’s different. It’s unusual.”

He then said: “Can it work? We believe 100 per cent, otherwise we wouldn’t have implemented that coaching panel.”

Mulwala’s football manager for the past 15 years said Gash and Butts are products of the club’s junior grades.

“Both were assistant co-coaches of our seniors this season.” Ferguson said. “Bodhi coached at Tungamah and returned to Mulwala last season and said he wanted to play in a grand-final with us. Our best and fairest Jackson had expressed an interest in coaching.

“Rohan came to town – he played with us this year, but soft tissue injuries stopped his season. He was looking at a senior coaching role and if we didn’t snap him up, we could well have lost him – there were overtures from other clubs and Corowa told us don’t let him go.”

The appointment of the trio of senior

Mulwala’s senior football team will be coached by playing coaches Jackson Gash and Bodhi Butts, and non-playing coach Rohan Davies in season 2022.

coaches has been “very amicable” amongst them according to the football manager who said AFL clubs have “stacks of coaches anyway”.

And going on last Saturday’s comments from the 2022 coaches, that good feeling between the three certainly is the case following two meetings between them before the official appointments.

“I believe it’s great – otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it,” Davies said.

“We’ll have two boys on the field – our best two performing players - and me off the field. Bodhi and Gashy can focus on their best football without the worry of on-field coaching. I’ll focus on things they don’t have to focus. Coaching can be hard yakka.

“We’re all focused together on game day, all talking a lot to the players before the game. We’re all passionate about the development of the younger boys.”

Davies, 31, a constable at Benalla Police Station, played with Mernda in the Northern Football League with the Under 19s and seniors, captaining the team for three seasons with the centreman holding the premiership cup in 2012. He played at Howlong under the coaching of Yarrawonga’s Joel Price for two years and under Corowa Rutherglen’s coach, former Mulwala star Marc Almond whose coaching greatly impressed Davies.

Onballers Gash and Butts are sons of star Mulwala footballers David and Col who both played over 100 games with the Lions and were particularly good kicks of the Tom Sherrin.

“We’ve met twice and had open, honest discussions about it,” dual club best and fairest and the 2019 top league player Gash commented about the trio appointment.

“Playing can give us some time to switch off from coaching on game day. Rohan can control the moves.”

Butts, 28, said the threesome appointment will work well, especially with Rohan on the bench. “He’ll know what’s happening to pull the moves – the moves are under his control,” the near 200-game star with Mulwala, Yarrawonga and Tungamah said.

Mr McNamara described the unique appointment as “fantastic”. “Bodhi and Gashy as playing coaches and Rohan a non-playing coach is a real, real good fit,” the president in his fifth year in the top club job said. “All are very level-headed and get on well.”

The president, who coached the Lions for some five years including a grand-final appearance after playing in the 1989 Yarrawonga

premiership team, was impressed with how Mulwala fared this year, finishing third on the Murray league ladder after just 13 games due to Covid-19.

“We have a very good group of young kids,” Mr McNamara said. “They’ve stayed together for the last four or five years and we hope to take the next step next year; we hope to add another couple of recruits.”

Mulwala’s new coaching trio replace sole coach Jason Sanderson who was at the helm for four years. “Jason did very well, was very professional and stepped in four years ago on the Saturday morning of our first game when Michael Tout suddenly resigned,” Ferguson a former star centre-half-back with Bennettswood in Melbourne’s Eastern District League said.

“After the 13 games we played this year, we were third on the ladder and looking good.

“Now, for next season, we have a policeman, a painter, and a heating and cooling specialist coaching our senior team. It will work well.”