QUICK FINDS HIS FIRE
Justin McPhee rediscovers his love of cricket — as a coach
HE was once likened to former Australian quick Dirk Nannes and his former coach Damian Shanahan thought he could play for Victoria.
But as quickly as the accolades came for new Geelong West coach Justin McPhee, the passion for the game dwindled even faster.
Calling time on his Premier Cricket career with Geelong suddenly in 2015-16 after 197 wickets at an average of 24, the firebrand left-armer admits mounting injuries and the grind of two-day cricket left him exhausted at just the thought of playing the game.
He duly took the following summer off, before an opportunity to be the bowling coach at Geelong West arose last summer. This year he has taken over the top job.
“I guess it was a little bit of the body, but with cricket it’s full on there and I guess I was mentally burnt out, I lost passion to be playing,” McPhee said of his sudden retirement.
“But that passion probably has come back this year in the coaching, which has surprised me.”
Offered the job at Geelong West after former coach Andrew Wesley had to step aside due to work commitments, McPhee believes he is almost an accidental coach, but credits his past two seasons at the Rams for rediscovering a love for cricket.
“It’s something I’ve never really thought about doing, but so far I’ve enjoyed it,” he said.
“I’ve probably more stumbled across it. I didn’t think too much about cricket, to be honest, in the coaching aspects, but just having a bit of guidance from the guys who I played with at Geelong has helped me teach these guys at West.”
Able to bowl about 140km/h during his peak at Geelong, McPhee said he was now more suited to life in the slow lane as he oversaw a youthful and exciting group at West Oval.
“I’m not really interested in playing,” he said. “I did have a hit last year (in the T20 competition, where he batted and didn’t bowl) and it was a bit of fun, but I’ll just stick to the coaching side of things and see the boys improve.
“The whole idea is to get them to improve. I created a bit of a relationship with the guys and that goes a long way.
“If you get on well with guys it makes things a lot easier.”
Following a semi-final berth last season in West’s first season in GCA3, and a thumping win over Guild-Saints last weekend, McPhee isn’t hiding his ambition for the group.
“I think we can give it a fair shake, to be honest,” he said.
“We’ve got a mix of younger and older fellas but the thing I’ve seen this year is some of the younger guys have improved quite a lot.”