SFL coaches survey: Their premiership favourites, one opposition player they love
We've posed the big questions to all of the Southern league coaches to find out their flag favourites, the one opposition player they dream of and more. See their answers.
With 17 rounds played in the Southern Football League season and finals just around the corner, we decided to put the hard questions to the eight coaches.
Nick Doyle (Huonville Lions), Trey Westbury (Lindisfarne), Paul Kennedy (Brighton), Matthew Smith (New Norfolk), Nathan Brown (Claremont), David Hunt (co-coach Dodges Ferry), Thor Boscott (Cygnet) and Tim Castle (Sorell) all answered the hard hitting questions.
Who wins the premiership?
Six out of the eight coaches believe the Huonville Lions will go on and win the flag. Brilliantly coached by Nick Doyle, Huonville is undefeated to this stage of the season and have a clear path to the grand final if they continue to produce their best.
One coach backed Cygnet to win after its narrow loss to Lindisfarne in the grand final last year, and one backed the Two Blues to go back-to-back.
WHO IS THE LEAGUE’S BEST COACH?
Paul Kennedy – Brighton’s former TSL coach was the popular choice among his peers as a competition’s best.
“PK” was the pick of the bunch for three coaches, while Cygnet coach Thor Boscott was the only other coach to score multiple votes from his SFL colleagues, with two rating him the best.
The other coaches voted for New Norfolk coach Matthew Smith, Lindisfarne coach Trey Westbury, and Huonville Lions coach Nick Doyle respectively.
The coach who picked Smith said: “He’s doing a really good job with a really young list.”
WHO IS THE SFL’S TOP YOUNG GUN?
Brighton ball-magnet Darcy Gardner was by far the most popular pick by the coaches as the competition’s best young player.
Six of the eight coaches picked the Robins’ wrecking ball as their number one young gun, and his form this year has made him the stand-out rising star of the competition.
The other two coaches chose different players.
One went for a teen machine from Cygnet, wingman/half-back Jesse Cowen, and the other for Sorell young gun Brock Daniels.
One coach said of Gardner: “He’s got everything. He shouldn’t even be playing at this level. He’s the hardest player to stop.”
The coach who picked Cowen said: “He’s a first-year player and made an outstanding start as a 15-year-old. He plays like a fully-fledged senior player.”
The coach who chose Daniels as his young star put it simply: “He dominates games.”
IF YOU COULD HAVE A PLAYER FROM ANOTHER CLUB, WHO WOULD IT BE?
It was a three-way tie among the eight coaches for the player they would love to steal.
Not surprisingly, two coaches chose Darcy Gardner, while two would love to steal Lindisfarne’s goal-kicking machine Josh Green, and why not? As an AFL player he kicked 132 goals — 107 for the Brisbane Lions and 25 for Essendon, across 105 games.
Two more would love to steal Huonville Lion forward Ethan Brock.
One of the coaches who nominated Brock said: “He’s a goal-shooter and every club would love to have an extra two or three goals a game”. The other said: “He won the William Leitch Medal at a young age. He can do everything, on the ground and in the air.”
One coach would love the have the services of Dodges Ferry player Ben Richmond, another would steal Sorell dominator Brock Daniels, and the other liked Huonville defender Cam Johns.
The coach who picked Richmond said: “He’s a good player and as tough as nails.”
Originally published as SFL coaches survey: Their premiership favourites, one opposition player they love
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