By Beth Newman
Palm Beach has appointed current assistant, Chad Owens, as coach for 2015.
Owens, has signed a two-year deal with the Lions to step up to the senior job, after serving as an assistant to Daryn Cresswell this season.
The last of the QAFL clubs to secure a senior coach for 2015, the Lions underwent a thorough process to appoint Owens, interviewing a handful of applicants from across the country.
Owens said he was excited about his first senior role, after five years as a Labrador assistant coach before coming to Palm Beach.
‘The majority of the list is staying together and the good kids are coming through,” he said.
“It should be really good”
And there certainly wasn’t any special treatment for Owens, who went through a nervous fortnight.
“It wasn’t just ‘do you want the job?’,” he said.
“I went through the same process as everybody else.”
Before coming to Palm Beach, Owens spent five years as an assistant coach at Labrador and he said that experience will come in handy as he prepares to step up to the senior role.
“I’ve seen what works well and what doesn’t,” he said.
“Obviously, there’s a lot more pressure on the senior coach, but I think I’ve had plenty of time to look at what works well.”
A teacher at AFL Queensland school of Excellence, Palm Beach Currumbin High School, Owens said his background with junior development would be a key focus at the Lions.
“That was a big area where the club needed to improve, in junior and senior relationships,” he said.
“That’s where the next lot of players are going to come from hopefully.
‘It’s about providing them with the opportunities for senior football but we can’t do them any favours and give them games they don’t deserve.”
Owens said former Lions coach, Cresswell, had left a major impact on him this season.
“I saw more about structures, how they work and why they work,” he said.
“He showed me footy’s not about luck, it’s about being prepared and making sure you’re demanding that they
While he learned a lot from Cresswell, he said he would likely bring a different style to the coaching helm.
“Daryn’s very intense and I’m intense but in a different way,” he said.
“he knows what it takes to make it at the AFL and elite level and I don’t’ have that background.
I’m going from a more common footballers’ background.”=
‘(Player management) is one of my strengths.”
Palm Beach secretary, Anne Cornish, said Owens was a natural choice, already understanding the systems and players of Palm Beach.
“It will be an easy transition for the players,” she said.
“The players are over the moon.”
Cornish said Owens’ experience in junior development was crucial for the club moving forward.
“Chad’s involved with the kids, working at the school,” she said.
“We really want that junior development side of things to be a priority in the club.
“We want to recruit from within as much as we can and minimise recruitment from interstate and other clubs.”
Palm Beach defender, Jackson Emblem, will also be a part of the 2015 Lions coaching team, with Owens describing his likely role as an “on-field coach”.
Former Burleigh U18s coach, Bill Fraser, has been appointed as the Colts coach for 2015, while a reserves coach is likely to be appointed soon.
