“Catfish” to lead Frogs in 2022-23

THE Frog Pond will have a new head coach for the 2022-23 season in the form of a very familiar face.

Murgheboluc Cricket Club announced last month that former captain and former vice-president Daniel “Catfish” Grozdanovski will take on next season’s head coaching/player role, a role he said he would relish as his senior cohort enters GCA2.

“I’m pretty excited, to be honest,” Grozdanovski said.

“I’ve been at the club since under 13s, but ever since I’ve made my way into senior cricket, I’ve done a bit of junior coaching and I’ve really enjoyed that aspect.

“It also flows on a bit through my teaching background at North Geelong Secondary College, so I thought it would be a really good opportunity to give it a go at the club I love.”

Grozdanovski’s list of accolades at Murgheboluc speaks for itself.

Since joining the Newtown-based Frogs, he has won a best clubman award, a club championship award, batting and bowling accolades, coached several junior sides, served five years on the committee (two as vice-president) and has been a member of the social committee.

In an unfortunate turn of events, Murgheboluc was relegated to GCA2 for 2022-23 and 2023-24, despite finishing eighth in the 10-team GCA1 in 2021-22.

Grozdanovski said despite heading down a division, the calibre of opposition would remain difficult, coming up against top-notch sides such as Leopold, St Peters and Bell Post Hill.

“Division 2 isn’t going to be any walk in the park,” Grozdanovski said.

“Now an eight-team competition, it’s going to be competitive.

“We can’t go into any of those games thinking we’ve got a team covered. Most teams will always have two or three players that can take a game away from you, especially if we end up starting with a one-day format like we did last year.”

Murgheboluc will also be fielding its first women’s team next season in what will be a landmark moment for the club, in addition to pavilion upgrades set to take place at King Lloyd Reserve.