Paton extends into fourth season as head coach

GEELONG United Women’s coach Matt Paton will stay on with the club for another campaign after extending his head coaching contract through to 2025.

Paton and the club announced Paton’s extension following his side’s preliminary final finish in 2023, a key indicator Paton knows what it takes to reach the NBL1 South ultimate stage.

“It was a simple decision to return for another year,” Paton said.

“I’ve enjoyed leading the program through and post-COVID and re-establishing the club as one of Victoria’s best development hubs in the NBL1 South.

“It was a case of wanting to make sure we were going to have another opportunity to make another run of success this season and hopefully beyond.

“The club and I share the goal of trying to match our success from last season and perhaps go one step further, or two, or three, or however far we can go.”

Under Paton’s guide, Geelong United has gone 7-7 in 2021, 15-7 in 2022, and most recently 16-6 in 2023, falling one win short of a Grand Final appearance.

Paton expressed his satisfaction in returning to The Geelong Arena for what will be his fourth season at United’s helm, having been contracted since the end of 2019.

Paton says the club is still working on deciding who will form his assistant coaching ranks for 2024.

This comes after the sudden passing of late-assistant coach Nick Forde in June last year, leaving a large hole in Geelong United’s coaching lineup ahead of the 2024 season.

The side has already started to take shape, with retuning players Eve Braslis, Sarah Elsworthy, and Jessica Scannell all confirmed to be in the side for 2024.

Paton has also added former collegiate athlete and former Under 19 national representative Kobe Tehau King-Hawea to the lineup in a major get for the side.

“The club is really proud of the accomplishment our girls made last year, not just in the NBL1 South, but also individually,” Paton said.

“It’s a testament to the competition and how good a development tool it is. We have players arriving to compete and WNBL teams watching intently.

“We’ll be aiming to match that this year.”

Tickets to this season’s Geelong United are expected to be released shortly.