Sport
11 August, 2022
Magpies appoint under 18.5 coaches
LUKE O’Neil and Matty Absalom have been appointed joint under 18.5 coaches at the Magpies for season 2023.
LUKE O’Neil and Matty Absalom have been appointed joint under 18.5 coaches at the Magpies for season 2023.
The pair, both home-grown players of the club, are keen to rebuild the club’s under 18.5 program.
Luke is the current co-vice-captain of the senior squad, and Matty has also been heavily involved with the Magpies over many years.
Player unavailability saw the Camperdown club disband the junior side after just four rounds of the 2022 Hampden League season.
But the Pies are now determined to get a side back on the park next year and are on the hunt for players to don the black and white.
“It was certainly disappointing not to be able to field a side this season but we’re confident we can get a team back on the park next year,” O’Neil said.
“We started this year with about eight regulars at training and as hard as we tried to get a team together every week it was just becoming impossible."
“We certainly didn’t take the decision (to withdraw from the competition) lightly but we crunched the numbers and it just wasn’t possible.”
O’Neil said he and co-coach Absalom were now confident they would get a side up and running next season, with several top age under 16s ready to step up.
“I think there’s about 15 blokes from this year’s 16s side who will come up to the 18.5s next year and we’re also hoping to get a few new faces,” O’Neil said.
“Our junior numbers are really good so the future is looking bright at Leura Oval."
“Our first goal is to get a team back in the competition and then we’ll work hard to develop those players throughout the year and prepare them for their future senior football, hopefully with the Magpies.”
O’Neil and Absalom are hoping to get a couple of training sessions in with the team prior to Christmas, and then come back early in the new year ready to consolidate.
Anyone interested in playing for Camperdown in the under 18.5 team can contact Luke on 0409 956 536 or Matty on 0400 903 541.