New club-coach combo a ‘perfect fit’

THE start of a new Ballarat Football Netball League season is always an exciting prospect, especially for a club with a new coach at the helm.

For North Ballarat, the arrival of Clint Proctor has been a breath of fresh air for both club and coach.

As focus turns to the Roosters’ round one clash against Ballarat Swans this Saturday at Alfredton Recreation Reserve, Proctor, who last coached Box Hill’s VFL team in 2022, took a quick moment to reflect on his first few months at the club.

He could not have imagined a more perfect fit.

“It’s an awesome club – the people are fantastic,” Proctor said.

“One of the reasons I took the job was not only the obvious standing the club has in the community and the work it has done in the past, but the facilities and what they can offer for a coach.

“It’s been really good fun. We have a lot of young guys, kids that are eager to learn and develop. It’s a really professional environment and a great club.

“That aspect of it has been really refreshing for me. It’s been great to pass on some knowledge, so hopefully we can develop as a team and play good footy.”

Under Proctor’s guidance, North Ballarat has spent the last few weeks finetuning its game in practice match wins over round one rival Ballarat and Bell Park (Geelong FNL) and a competitive hit-out against reigning Bendigo league premiers Sandhurst in Bendigo last Saturday.

He is confident the Roosters can hit the ground running as they take aim at rebounding back into the five after a sixth-placed finish to last year’s injury-riddled campaign.

“We had a lot of banged up bodies when I arrived – a lot of injuries, a few boys coming off syndesmosis and shoulders, so we are slowly nursing a few back,” he said.

“But we have a really solid base – we really do. (Former coach) Brendan McCartney was a highly credentialed coach and goes about it the right way, so the boys have a really solid foundation of work ethic and contested footy.

“That’s been refreshing.

“If we can keep getting a few boys fit and keep growing the young blokes, we should be competitive in most games.”

The Roosters will have plenty of what Proctor refers to as moving parts with Riley Polkinghorne (on the comeback from injury), Josh Sparkman, Hugh Trigg, Malachi White and James Van Es (delisted by St Kilda at the end of last season) all joining former Roosters coach McCartney at Port Melbourne as VFL-affiliated players.

While their absence will need to be overcome, Proctor could not be happier to see them embracing exciting opportunities.

“It’s great that they are getting exposure at that better level as they come back better players for it,” he said.

“It is a little bit challenging in the sense that you lose your top-end talent, which did hurt us a bit in pre-season.

“But I think we have got to the level now in our conditioning and contest work that it won’t worry us.”

Asked to nominate a potential smokey for round one and extended senior action, Proctor declared 16-year-old midfielder Oscar Stone as in the mix.

“He missed out on the Rebels, but he hasn’t missed a beat at the moment,” he said.

“I’ll have a good dialogue with him, but he has impressed me a lot. And there’s couple of other young ones who have grown a lot over pre-season.

“Reggie Palmer has an amazing tank and good speed and has had an amazing pre-season on the wing, so there is definitely some great young talent here.”

Proctor has signed with North Ballarat for two seasons.

Other round one games: Bacchus Marsh v Lake Wendouree (Maddingley Park); East Point v Sebastopol (Eastern Oval); Sunbury v Redan (Clarke Oval).