Long-term plan part of Demons’ rebuild mission
NEW Portarlington coach Peter O’Connor says the club will target long-term players as part of a “clever” recruiting plan to build a sustainable future.
The Demons this week signed O’Connor to coach the club, with support from incoming football manager Geoff Miles.
O’Connor has previously coached in the league with Barwon Heads and Queenscliff, as well as numerous stints in the VAFA and EDFL.
Following a 10-year AFL career across three clubs, Miles has been a mainstay in coaching and administration with Barwon Heads.
The new coach stepped away from helping out Geelong’s AFL recruiting staff with talent identification after Miles contacted him about the job.
“I met with (Portarlington president Linda Shaw) and she told it warts and all, we talked about what the club needed,” O’Connor said.
“Linda is very impressive in the way she wants to drive our club forward. It lines up with the sorts of things I do.
“That’s accountability, looking after the players, making it an enjoyable place to be and hopefully the football improves with it.”
The Demons have finished in the bottom two in the BFL in each of the past 11 seasons and went winless in 2019.
To build on what O’Connor describes as a strong base of juniors coming through, Portarlington will structure its football department to recruit long-term prospects.
“(Recruiting has) got to be clever, you have to make sure they are people that are likely to stay for three or four years — or maybe longer. We have to build something that interests them,” he said.
“Winning is important but what they have to do is enjoy their footy.
“Training has to be hard but you have to make them want to come to training, they need to enjoy their footy and enjoy playing with each other.
“The juniors are starting to come through at Port but they won’t be there for a few years, we need to do clever recruiting before then.”
O’Connor was signed for 2020, with he and the club to negotiate extensions year by year.