PAUL Corrigan has been recognised for his efforts with the Geelong Falcons Boys and Girls teams by being named the NAB League Coach of the Year.
In his first in charge at Highton Reserve, Corrigan guided the Girls to a grand final berth, while the Boys finished the truncated home-and-away season in sixth spot with five wins, while three of their six losses came by eight points or less.
“I’ve probably found what my real passion was, which was to get back to the grassroots and the development side of things in the talent pathway at the Falcons,” Corrigan said.
“It was unexpected walking in (back in November) and a bit of an unknown about what it would be like, but fortunately, I had Tommy Lonergan on board as the talent manager who had prior experience at Calder Cannons.”
“I had a little bit to do with girls footy at Essendon but not a great deal in the coaching aspect, so I walked in there (Geelong) with no expectations of the girls, and I was pleasantly surprised.”
“I had a fair few assistant coaches (Michael Bright, Rod Condy, Michael King, Nathan Murray, Tom van Kalken and Mel Hickey) around me as well, and we all just took it as it came – the girls were fantastic, and the coaches really enjoyed what the girls brought to the program.
“They’re very honest in what they do, but they also like to have a good time, and I probably took aspects of that with the other coaches into the boys’ program.”
The Falcons had six players selected across the two teams of the year.
AFLW draftees Tess Craven and Annie Lee and small forward Poppy Schaap were named in the Girls’ team, while AFL draft hopefuls Mitch Knevitt, Toby Conway and Oscar Morrison earned selection in the Boys’ team.
The Girls best-and-fairest was won for a second year by Geelong AFLW draftee Georgie Prespakis from the Calder Cannons.
Cannons midfielder Flynn Lakey and GWV Rebels forward Josh Rentsch claimed the Morrish Medal as boys best-and-fairest.
Twitter: @tom_king79
