New St Pats coach Phil Page will certainly have his hands full next season.
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The experienced Border mentor will have four different coaching roles, including the senior men’s and under 16s at St Pats, as well as looking after the under 15s and under 16s boys AWFA representative sides.
He replaces outgoing senior coach Steven Chater who had two stints in the top job.
Page will look to bring more discipline to a talented St Pats lineup which struggled for consistency this year.
“I’ll be flat out, but it’s my passion,” Page said.
“I’ll be putting younger blokes in if the older guys aren’t doing the hard yards and bring a bit discipline in which I think has been lacking for a little while.”
Page’s appointment comes a year ahead of schedule, but he preferred to take on the role rather than have the club appoint an interim coach.
“St Pats are a club that are really easy to get along with, there’s no surprises and they’ve given me the backing that I’m after,” Page said.
“It’s going to be a partnership, it’s not going to be the coach telling the players what to do.
“I’m not a coach that yells and screams and carries on.
“Consistency is the key at the moment, so one thing I’ll be working on at the moment is maintaining the consistency.
“I’ll also be getting them all focused on what the expectations are for being a senior player at the club.
They have the ability to get to the top eight, it’s just getting them in the right frame of mind and committed to what they need to do.
- Phil Page
“They have the ability to get to the top eight, it’s just getting them in the right frame of mind and committed to what they need to do.”
St Pats’ president John Mahoney said Page’s experience was the deciding factor.
“He’s going to be a great asset,” Mahoney said.
“With our young group of kids, I’m sure he’ll fit in really well.”
He also thanked Chater for his time in charge.
“Chate (Chater) has been fantastic, he’s always been a great clubman and would do anything he can and I know he still would,” Mahoney said,
Josh O’Farrell will continue as senior ladies coach at St Pats for another season.
“Josh loves doing what he’s doing and we’ve loved what he’s done, so hopefully the senior girls will go a step further this year,” Mahoney said.
“We’ve got a lot of older and committed players that have been with us forever, but the youth coming through is magnificent.
“We’ve got a lot of 14,15 and 16-year-olds, both boys and girls, that are very good footballers that are going to help us in the future.”