JACANA appears to be ready to go to the next level.
That may not be Essendon Ford Division 1 perse, at least not immediately, but clearly the Jags aren't happy with finishing second-last in Strathmore Community Bank Division 2.
Especially 12 months after getting to Windy Hill for the final game of Season 2015.
The Jags have made the most noise in Division 2 so far this off-season, quickly announcing the arrival of two-time Division 1 leading goal kicker, Cameron Cloke.
Cloke arrived alongside new senior coach Robert Fletcher, who was Peter Bugden’s right-hand man during Craigieburn’s successful recent run in Division 1.
This will be Fletcher’s first senior role, and he wants to make it count at a club with ambitions to rise up the EDFL ranks.
Did you feel you were ready to take on a senior job?
I was always looking at a senior job this year so I spoke to Peter (Bugden) and told him at the start of the year that win, lose or draw, I’m heading out to coach elsewhere in 2017. I applied for about three or four jobs both in the EDFL and the Northern Football League and I had some things lined up but Jacana just ticked all the boxes for me, so here I am. I took the job during the finals series when I was still with Craigieburn and just kept it quiet until after the Grand Final.
You’re taking on a club that made a Grand Final and then fell to second-last. What’s your impression of what you’re working with?
Look they lost many games by under two kicks this year, so for me it was probably a good role to go for… for a first-time coach. I think the list is really good, we’ve spoken to a lot of players and it comes back to commitment to the football club and discipline. We were big on that at Craigieburn and I’m big on that in life, so I think we can implement that and then with the blokes we’ve brought in, I think we’re hopefully in for a good season.
It’s obviously handy to have Cam Cloke come across with you…
Yeah that was massive. We’ve got a very good relationship. He knew I was leaving at the end of the year and he always asked to make sure we could fit him into wherever we ended up, so to have a goal kicker like that to come with me as a first-time coach is massive for me and massive for Jacana.
How will it work in the forward 50 when Chris Johnson plays?
With Johnno, Bryce Kimuliatis and Cam it’s a very potent forward line. A lot of people asked how it would work at Craigieburn with two Clokes, Glenn Robertson and Nick Fletcher. I think it worked with three leading goal kickers at Craigieburn and I think it’ll work here at Jacana.
Is it going to be an aggressive summer of recruiting and setting goals?
Yeah we’ve recruited about 16 blokes so far, so we’re basically done now and filled our list and filled our budget. We re-signed a lot of the locals, I think there are only two or four that have left, everyone else has re-signed and they know what they’re in for so we’re looking for a big pre-season and can’t wait for it to start.
Who are some of those other new guys?
There are a couple of blokes coming in from Craigieburn in Shannon Bennett and Justin Mall and John Lever is coming from Epping as well.
You can’t talk about Jacana without talking about Chris Johnson. How hands-on will he be off-field and on what can we expect on-field?
Off-field he’s hands-on with everything and he’s been massive for the football club with the committee. Jacana’s the last football club in the Broadmeadows area and he’s massive on making sure we stick around. His dad played in a premiership side here and Chris wants to do the same thing.
If you don’t make finals in 2017 will that be an unacceptable result?
It’s a fail. I wouldn’t have done my job properly. Given what the club’s done in the last few years, I think finals is the minimum for us. If not, I may just get a tap on the shoulder.
