Former South Cairns coach Chris Adams will join Centrals Trinity, pairing with 21-year-old Matt Cunningham in a co-coaching role next season. Adams had a falling out with the Cutters which led to his job being advertised before the season had finished, but he and his new club are confident they will build a close bond and push for another top-four outcome next year.
Both men will play, with the former indicating he will allow Cunningham to call most of the shots as he begins his coaching career. Work commitments have prevented last season’s coach Tyson Lane from continuing in the job, but the club is attempting to secure him as a coaching director. Cunningham only joined the Bulldogs last year after Lane lured him from relegated Victorian Eastern League club Lilydale.
"The footy is very different in the two places," Cunningham said. "It’s quite relaxed here and there isn’t the same bond between the 18s, reserves and seniors."
That relationship is something the pair will try to improve this season though, with Adams stressing team unity would be the focus.
"You can be the fittest team going around, but if there’s in-fighting it doesn’t matter how fit you are, you are going to lose more than you win," he said. "I’m just keen to play with a group of guys who want to be there and it will work better with another guy in a coaching role," he said, referring to his failings as sole player-coach at Cutters last season.
The Bulldogs have been a top-four presence in recent years but have not won an AFL Cairns senior flag since 1997. With plenty of chopping and changing in other clubs and a solid base of their own, Cunningham is confident his troops will be in a position to break the drought.
"We were a little inconsistent last season," Cunningham said. "Whether that was a fitness thing or execution thing I’m not sure. But we should definitely consider ourselves a finals team."
In some good news for their up and comers, both Adams and Cunningham said they were keen to develop the club’s juniors before looking to import any recruits.
"We’ll fill the gaps if we have to, but I saw plenty of promise at the club last season and hopefully we can turn those guys into good senior players," Cunningham said.
The latest appointment continues the trend of new faces in charge of AFL Cairns clubs, with only North Cairns re-appointing incumbent coach Kane Richter, at this stage.
Read more at http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2011/11/24/192951_local-sport-news.html
Courtesy of The Cairns Post.
Last Modified on 24/11/2011 10:20