SHANON Carroll is the new Senior Coach of Moonee Valley, replacing Peter Gleisner.
Carroll (pictured right) this year stood alongside co-coach Geoff Maddern as Airport West made a remarkable run that almost resulted in premiership glory in Essendon Ford Division 1 and prior to that, was coach of Aberfeldie’s triumphant Under 16 Division 1 side in 2016.
Joining Carroll at the Fog is former Bomber and Blue Cory McGrath (left), who will be a playing assistant after 12 games with Airport West this year.
Seeing first-hand Airport West defy the odds has put the fire in the belly for Carroll to embrace his first solo gig at senior level.
“I really enjoyed my time at Airport West,” Carroll told essendondfl.com.au.
“One thing I did notice was the confidence you can put into young players and how they repay you moving forward, and that was one thing I really enjoyed at Airport West.
“It was a spur for me as a coach knowing that when a plan comes into place and there’s belief from the playing group, that anything’s quite possible.”
The new coach is promising more big signings to come as the club looks to make a push for promotion out of Strathmore Community Bank Division 2.
“I think we’re going to surprise a few sides this year with a couple of signings that we’re speaking to at the moment,” Carroll said.
“We’re not just wanting to make the finals consistently, we really want to challenge for it and I think with the young side we’ve got at the moment, they’re about to hit their football peak as far as their football maturity goes.
“The aim is to have immediate promotion as quick as possible and in doing that, maintain the core group and the feeling around the club to be a positive one and a place that people actually want to be at, and that’s the sort of culture we want to create moving forward.”
Carroll is clear about the standards he wants to set at Ormond Park.
While he admits it may take some time for his young side to adapt, Carroll is keen to make sure Moonee Valley is a tone-setter in the division.
“With myself and Cory coming on board and a few other new signings, I think a few players at the club will have an initial sound out period just to see how we are going,” he said.
“My job is to make sure we create that excitement and I want to strive for success.
“One of my philosophies is I want to have a ferociousness and a tenacity towards the opposition when they’ve got the ball and then really pressure them into coughing the ball up.
“So you might see a couple of times early in the piece a few of the young guys over-commit but as the season goes on, I think the confidence will grow in them to really ferociously attack the opponent with the ball and move forward from there.”
