MITCH Wight is expecting the transition to be the standalone senior coach of GDFL club Geelong West to be a seamless one after being appointed for 2021.
Wight shared the role in 2019 after two years as an assistant to Andrew Clark, who stood down from the position last month.
He said the time spent with Clark has him well prepared to lead the Giants back to the finals.
“Clarkey was amazing to work alongside,” Wight said. “He’s brought this club forward a long way really quickly.
“But, at the same time, he gave me a lot of freedom in that joint role to put his spin on things.
“It’s been a great introduction to coaching for me. I will always be thankful that he gave me free rein, especially early days.
“I’m looking forward to doing it my own.”
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Wight, whose career was cut short by injury, will have two playing assistant coaches to lean on.
Justin Carey, who had a stint as co-coach of GFL club St Albans, and Aaron O’Callaghan will share the role.
“They will help lead us into the next phase,” Wight said. “They bring a wealth of knowledge and that experience on the field that is invaluable.
“From the outside, you can see things, but having two highly-credentialed and experienced players on the field as my sidekicks, it gives that extra experience and knowledge on the ground they can pass on.
“We don’t have to wait until the end of each quarter.”
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With 2020 now consigned to the scrapheap as a result of the impact of COVID-19, Wight said the Giants are looking at an AFL 9s competition involving both the GDFL and GFL sections of the club.
“And we’ll keep in contact by getting around our sponsors,” he said.
“We do have a few pubs and restaurants that we can visit on a Thursday night. We’re looking to do that to get together as soon as we can.
“But, I really want to allow the guys to worry about their mental health.
“Everyone’s got their own battles at home at the moment, so it’s important they look after that first.
“Then we’ll work on how next year looks as soon as we’ve got an idea when we can get back into larger groups.”
Wight said negotiations on the length of his contract were still being determined.
“Those things will work themselves over the next couple of months,” he said.
Twitter: @tom_king79
