NEXT season is shaping up to be the return of the Raiders, with the Koondrook-Barham Football Netball Club announcing two key appointments ahead of next season.
Former Koondrook-Barham junior Will Callow will return to his home club as senior coach, with the three-time premiership coach at Irymple and Wandella hoping to kick start the Raiders’ climb up the ladder after finishing last season in tenth with just two and a half wins from their 16 games.
It won’t be just the senior footballers who will be hearing a fresh voice, with Koondrook-Barham appointing Grant Matthews to the role of A Grade netball coach on the back of the Raiders dismal season, where they finished winless and on the bottom of the ladder.
While it might appear to be a long climb back based on both side’s performances, there is little doubt that Koondrook-Barham have found the right people to help pull their club back to where they belong, with both men bringing with them exceptional resumes in both sports. Callow returns to the Raiders as the reigning premiership coach in the Sunraysia Football League, having led Irymple as co-coach with premierships in 2017 and 2019 – as well as having led Wandella to victory as stand-alone coach in 2010.
Current Koondrook-Barham president Greg Lake told The Guardian this week following both Callow and Matthews appointments, and was bullish about what lay ahead for the club on and off the field.
“For anyone that knows Will (Callow), once he commits to something, he gets stuck in 100 per cent and he’s already hit the ground running with a few things that we can’t really reveal at this point,” Lake said.
“He’s going to be great for the club and to have a local kid come back to the club with his family, it’s a huge positive and I find it’s always a good thing to have your local people returning.
“He’s gone away and learnt his craft and is very, very good at his craft. He speaks brilliantly and he’s got huge care for young players, which we recognised as being a very important trait in our next coach, especially with a number of talented young footballers coming through our ranks.
“We needed a coach that has that ability to communicate with the kids and help develop them and we have definitely found that with Will.”
While Callow brings a wealth of knowledge and success on the field to the Raiders, so does the new A Grade netball coach, with Matthews having coached side to 16 premierships in A and B Grade since 2004 through stints at Mathoura, Katandra, Echuca, Echuca United and the Deniliquin Rovers.
Matthews’ resume is littered with success and Lake hopes his experience and ability to develop those around him will be the catalyst for his own club’s rise up the ladder next season.
“The club is really wanting to invest in the netball side of our community and get them back up the ladder where they should be – and we think Grant’s appointment will absolutely help us achieve that,” Lake said.
“Grant has a good coaching history and is very astute when it comes to netball and we’re really happy with his appointment. The club’s netball department have done all the leg work with getting Grant on board and need to take all the credit, but we feel now we have two of the best people leading our senior teams and it’s going to be onwards and upwards from here.”
