NEW Director of Coaching Danny Sexton has been at St Kilda since 2006 and is as optimistic about the future as he has ever been.
From development to opposition analysis to line coaching, Sexton’s recent promotion was one of a raft of off field changes at the end of 2014 that has the club well positioned to make an assault up the ladder, according to the 40-year-old.
“The good thing about our club at the moment is that we are probably following a bit of a Hawthorn model in terms of the pathway of the coaches coming in,” Sexton said.
“A lot are coming through the talent pathways, which is great for the VFL and TAC Cup. It’s good to have some freshness coming through.”
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Rohan Welsh and Danny Frawley have begun working with the backline, while Adam Skrobalak will coach the rucks on a part-time basis in 2015.
Meanwhile, new General Manager of Football Performance Jamie Cox began work on Monday, and Sexton said he was looking forward to working closely with the former Tasmanian cricketer.
“He has heaps of experience from his cricketing days and in an administration role with the Australian cricket team, Australian Institute of Sport and South Australian Cricket Association,” he said.
“He’s very experienced and he will have an immediate and long-term impact four our football club.
“I think Jamie wants to come in and meet the players, meet the staff, settle his feet under the desk, then take it from there.”
Initially Luke Beveridge was appointed as St Kilda’s Director of Coaching for 2015, a position which became vacant when the former Melbourne and Saints player joined the Western Bulldogs as their senior coach.
While Sexton is now firmly entrenched as the Director of Coaching, he is intent on implementing what he’s learned in other professions in his new role.
“My background is in education,” he said.
“I think I have experience in a fair few areas such as welfare, development and opposition analysis. I have coached midfield and defence as well. I just want to bring to life what I’ve learnt over the journey.”
When asked what St Kilda has to do to improve this season, Sexton suggested the onus is now on the emerging crop of 19-22 year olds to take over the mantle from the older brigade.
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“We hope to get some really good improvement from the younger parts of our list. Last year it was Jack Billings and Luke Dunstan, who both played 16 games in their first season.
“The next part of our list is ready to go. We have Nathan Wright and Jimmy Webster, and then a little bit beyond them in terms of experience are Jack Newnes and Seb Ross. We really hope that that part of our list will improve.”
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As a senior member of the Saints coaching panel, Sexton has a significant role to play in making sure these talents come to fruition.
