Tara Murray
Geoff Maddern was thrown into the coaching hot seat at Braybrook just weeks out from the Western Region Football League division 2 season.
John Mangos, who coached the side to a division 3 premiership as a caretaker coach last season, stepped down just weeks out from the season.
Maddern, who was working at the club as a specialist coach, was asked to put his hand up and the rest is history.
“It’s only been the last couple of weeks,” he said. “It’s probably not ideal.
“I’ve been in touch with [president] Anthony [Dunlop] the last few years after finishing up with Airport West in the EDFL [Essendon District Football League].
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Anthony and what he is trying to do at Braybrook.
“John’s work commitments took precedence and they offered for me to take the lead.”
While Maddern’s only previous experience in the WRFL dates back to coaching the Flemington Colts in under-10s and under-12s many years ago, he’s had a successful coaching career in the EDFL.
He coached at Essendon Doutta Stars, before coaching Airport West including to a premiership in 2018.
Maddern said it had been a little bit of a surprise to be a head coach again, but said that it was always in the back of his mind.
Maddern said while it was still early in the piece, he’d seen some good signs on the track.
“I had a few weeks with the players to go through some things John had wanted to to work on,” he said.
“The boys are working really hard and have worked hard from November. There’s a good size of the group, really well and learning and listening.
“It’s always a big challenge going up a division, we’ll see how we go.”
Maddern said he was still unsure of a lot of the players’ playing history, but said the group they’ve got is really tight knit.
The Brookers started their season on Saturday against Parkside, which finished runners up in division 2 last season.
It was a tough day with Parkside winning, 23.20 (158)-2.3 (15).
Maddern said he didn’t know much about the other sides and was relying on others at the club to help him.
He said at this stage, it would be too early for him to set expectations.
“As with any one who is coming up, we hope to be competitive against the top sides,” he said.
“Hopefully we can pick up a couple of wins throughout the year and consolidate our spot in division 2.”
