Geelong Cougars VNL coach Gerard Murphy is set to take the reins as head coach of the Victorian Men’s and Mixed Netball Association, replacing Guy Keane who has joined West Coast Fever as a talent coach for the 2023 Super Netball season.
“It’s exciting, we had our first session last week and I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do and build towards the Nationals campaign,” Murphy said.
It’s a great challenge for Murphy who has played an integral role in growing men’s netball in Victoria, both from a coaching and playing perspective.
“I’ve been coaching and playing in the men’s league the past couple of years with some of the guys that are in the state team and have been watching it evolve over time.
“It’s a great time now for me to step in and hopefully bring some positive change to what’s already been established as a strong state and association.”
Murphy will need to draw upon his wealth of experience and knowledge when tasked with guiding the Victorian men’s side at Nationals next year, with preparations already underway for all six sides to ensure they’re raring to go in April.
“Victoria has always been a strong performer in Men’s and Mixed Nationals. We’ve put a lot of investment into the junior boy’s pathway in Victoria to help uplift them, so all those junior categories coming through have been really good in helping to feed our senior talent.
“Now our focus is helping to upskill and get that extra five percent out of the Opens, Reserves and Under 23s to hopefully put them in Grand Final winning positions. Not just making the Grand Final but winning it – that’s the aim for us.”
To do that, Murphy has one key area of focus – high performance – given the sides will play close to eight games over seven days.
“We want to increase the high performance activities that Men’s and Mixed has and embedding it across all the different levels, that’s really the critical part to make sure the players can achieve their best performance, prevent injuries, and increase their physical and athletic performance to get through their week away.
“That means uplifting their skills and strategies and sharing them across all six teams. Then we’ve got other things like strength and conditioning, load management and those other elements that go into higher performance,” he said.
With men’s netball garnering plenty of media attention after the recent England and Trans-Tasman series’ were broadcast, Murphy is eager to maintain that upwards trajectory heading into 2023.
“The addition of having the men playing before the Diamonds in recent months is giving people a fresh appetite, so there’s motivation to see that there’s something bigger that could be coming in the future – to be involved and to stay involved,” he said.
The Victorian dominance was on full display with four players named in the Australian side, a feat that Murphy was incredibly pleased to see.
“It was awesome to see some of our Victorians out on court. It was a great experience for the guys to be involved in that and experience what it’s like and take some of the learnings from it.
“It’s exciting and I think it will increase the competition and the performance at the Aussie level now, especially for the men given the opportunity to play prior to the Diamonds or to be part of their elite program.”
The Victorian netball pathway is thriving for players of all ages. Places are still available for boys aged 11-14 to join the current MLeague season. If you want to know more, contact Craig Moore (mleague@vmmna.org | 0402 017 383).
