Broadbeach
Football Club Senior Coach Adrian Smith has announced his retirement at the State
League Club.
‘Smithy’
has ended a two year senior coaching contract at the Club, after coaching
Broadbeach to a Grand Final at Under 18 level in 2008.
“The
reality is that whilst we have enjoyed greater success this year in terms of
games won, our position on the ladder has slipped, which is disappointing. This
says a lot about the evenness of the competition”, he said.
Citing
ongoing opportunities within the education department and outside football,
Smithy leaves the job with a belief that there is unfinished business and in
the knowledge that Broadbeach have some great years ahead.
“The
Club is blessed with a huge list of talented young players including our
juniors where five players of the Under 16 team are State players this year
including the State Captain. At Under 18 level, we had four players in the
State team, including the state Captain, with a couple more unlucky not to get a
call up.” he said.
“Many
times throughout the year, the average age of our senior team was under 21, and
that was a team that included veteran full forward Korey Fulton,” Smith noted.
Smith
added that in years ahead, this depth of young playing talent will form the
basis of successful teams.
“If
the Club can add some experienced key players to the existing young talent
pool, there is no reason why Broadbeach can’t be a dominant force in Queensland
AFL in the years ahead,” Smith said.
“Broady’s
situation isn’t unlike a Carlton, Melbourne or a Richmond where these Clubs
took their medicine in terms of recruiting and developed a young playing list
to a stage where they are now competitive. When these young players chalk up 40
– 50 senior games, it all begins to click, and I think that is what we will see
here,” Smith said.
The
search is now on to replace Smith and to secure a Senior Coach that will continue
to develop the young playing group at the Club.
Whilst
disappointed with the Club’s final position on the AFLQ Ladder, Club President
Paul Rolfe is optimistic that a golden era for the Club is around the corner.
“We
really wanted to play finals football this year and in that regard we have come
up short,” Rolfe said. “Injury, suspension and player unavailability have
certainly hurt us, but at least that gave us an opportunity to blood our
younger players where we had many Under 18 players playing senior football
continuously throughout the year. Adam Mckenzie, Joel Wilkinson, Jackson Rolfe,
Ryan Bower, Sam Robertson and James Christie were just a few under age players
that played consistently good footy throughout the year and these players are
our future,” he said.
“We
are going through a restructuring period at the Club at the moment and that
will include the setting up a Football Committee that will be responsible for
the future direction of the Football Department in terms of recruiting,
coaching support and Club culture. At the moment we have recruited a Committee
of ‘successful football minds’ which includes significant AFL experience,” said
Rolfe.
“On
behalf of the Board of Management, we would like to extend our sincere
gratitude to Adrian for his services to the Club over the past years. We wish
him will in his future endeavours and look forward to him being a regular at
the Broadbeach Football Club in years to come,” said Rolfe.
Last Modified on 02/09/2010 15:17