CARETAKER Wangaratta coach Brendan Cairns is confident the besieged Magpies will be up for the fight when they take on ladder leader Albury at Norm Minns Oval on Saturday night.
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With the dust still settling from Mark Knobel’s decision to indefinitely step down, Cairns said yesterday he was confident the players would be able to focus on the biggest challenge in the Ovens and Murray.
“The club wants to move forward,” Cairns said.
“There is no point looking backwards.
“We just want to have a real crack on Saturday night.”
Cairns is only locked in to coach against Albury this weekend, with Wangaratta officials set to meet in coming days to discuss their options.
It’s highly unlikely Knobel will return to the role.
Knobel and several Wangaratta players are believed to have fallen out at a pre-season training camp earlier this year, with the club holding several meetings over the past month.
Senior players Michael Bordignon and Louis Vescio have applied for clearances in the past fortnight.
It will be dual Wangaratta premiership defender Cairns’ first foray into coaching, with the exception of “helping out a bit” during a stint at Ovens and King league club Tarrawingee.
Cairns, a veteran of 150-plus matches with the Magpies, said he was excited about Saturday night’s challenge but wished it had come about in different circumstances.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity,” he said.
“Hopefully we will give a good account of ourselves.”
Knobel was into his third season as coach at Wangaratta and has also been involved with the Murray Bushrangers, Ovens and Murray Schoolboys and Myrtleford.
