Allied Pickfords Cup coaches were schooled by some of the AFL’s best on Saturday.
The 2013 Allied Pickfords Cup coaches got some valuable advice from AFL coaches in the inaugural NEAFL-Allied Pickfords Cup meeting on Saturday.
With over 90 coaches in attendance, the meeting gave all the guests a chance to learn a little bit more about their trade from those working at the elite level.
The afternoon kicked off with a talk by Hawthorn’s head of coaching and development, Chris Fagan, who discussed the importance of relationship-building within any football club.
Fagan highlighted the ways in which coaches interact with players and each other, and emphasised the value of communication in this respect.
Fagan was followed up by Suns assistant coach Matthew Primus, who analysed the role of the modern-day ruckman and the structure of the midfield.
Primus gave the coaches an opportunity to ask about the changes in the midfield in recent years as well as how to develop young players into stronger ruckmen.
With more mature-age players being drafted in recent years, Primus emphasised the role that state clubs play in developing young players.
Finally, Brisbane Lions Academy coach Scott Borlace stepped in to talk about the place of interchanges in the modern game.
Borlace explained the most effective times to implement rotations as well as showing the group how this applied at AFL clubs, with video footage from AFL matches.
As well as the master class sessions, the coaches were briefed on their respective competitions ahead of the new season.
This meeting was the first of its kind in Queensland, and AFLQ coaching and volunteer manager said it was important to bring the state’s leading coaches together for a session like this.
“It was great chance for all our coaches who oversee all of our leading talent to be up skilled in best practices from some of the AFL’s leading coaches,” Barry said.
“Coaches play such an important part of match day environment and it’s the coaches’ role to bring the best out of their players.”
Barry said those who attended got a lot out of the meeting, which will benefit the wider competitions in the long run.
“They loved the concept of the master class. Coaches play such an important part of match day environment and it’s the coach’s role to bring the best out of the players,” he said.
“To keep improving our competitions, we need our coaches to keep up skilling and delivering fresh messages to our players and learning from top coaches helps that to occur.”
Barry said bringing both competitions together also helped to develop the coaching pathways in place in Queensland.
