Paul Nigro to keep coaching Roos

ANGLESEA Football Club coach Paul Nigro has been locked in at Ellimatta Reserve for the next two years.
Nigro took the Roos to the BFL semi-finals in his first season as coach in 2019, and Anglesea president Jamie McKenzie said he was pleased with the signing.
“We’re trying to get a bit more stability at the club, particularly after this year, so we’ve got Paul for the next few years and we’ll look at the transition.
“We’ve managed to keep all our coaches scheduled for this year and rolled them over for the next couple of years to get some development happening, which is really exciting.”
AFL Barwon postponed and eventually called off senior football and netball in 2020 due to the continuing effects of the coronavirus.
McKenzie said the 2020 season was very frustrating but the “one bright light” this year so far was seeing the junior competition begin, even if only for a few games.
“It’s really important for us as a club to get the kids still connected with the club. It was really good to see the kids get a few games; that’s been a bonus.
“Having the juniors allowed a really good connection with the parents, because the parents really stepped up with a lot of the COVID stuff.
“We’re a bit excited, too – we’ve got Jack McLean, who was at Hawthorn (in the AFL) as one of their coaching staff. He’s going to be involved in the development of our juniors – the under-15s, under-17s, under-19s and our women’s football sides – so that’s an exciting get for us; they’ve already started a bit of a program.”
He said the club had “tried to plan on the knowns rather than the constant unknowns” during this year.
“The fact that we’ve got some certainty on the salary cap – we can now go full steam ahead, get the players all sorted and all the contracts done, so that’s the next challenge over the next few weeks.”
McKenzie said the Roos would typically begin discussions about player contracts in August in a “normal” season.
“When you’re not sure what the salary cap’s going to be, you really can’t have too many discussions.
“We’ll involve the players in some of those discussions (about the salary cap) as well, because it’s going to be a big change, but that’s okay, it’s the same for everyone.
“I look at it as a bit of an opportunity time for us as a club, and a bit of reset for 2021.”