WHILE 2023 is only at the halfway mark, Nyah-Nyah West United have already turned their attention towards next season, appointing Jason Murphy as co-coach of the Demons for 2024.
Murphy will share the reins with current co-coach Nick O’Neill, with Corey Daniels indicating his desire to step away from the role at the end of the season.
Despite the appointment being his first as senior coach, Murphy will walk through the doors at Nyah with a long apprenticeship under his belt, having spent the best part of the past decade working under dual Woorinen premiership coach Marcus Demaria.
Having held the roles of football director and head of recruiting, as well as being involved in Woorinen’s senior coaching staff between 2014 and 2022, Murphy took a step back this season to concentrate his involvement on the Woorinen girls’ football program.
But despite the love of his current role, Murphy told The Guardian that there was still an itch that he wanted to scratch – and he’s delighted to be scratching it at NNW United.
“It’s pretty exciting, but daunting at the same time, having not been a senior coach before,” Murphy said.
“I’ve been involved in football departments before, so nothing will be foreign to me, but it’s exciting to get the chance to do something I’ve always had the desire to do and that’s be a senior coach.
“One of the main reasons we have announced it now is to get it out of the way so that Corey and Nick can get on with the job of leading the team into the back half of the year, and we can get on with the job of the seeing out the girls’ program as well.
“We’ve worked really hard over the last 18 to 24 months to get where we are with the girls’ program, and to finish my time with them with a flag, and with the women’s team as well, would be the perfect end.”
NNW United president Jarrod Skinner was thrilled when speaking this week following the new appointment, after identifying Murphy as the right man for the job to keep building on the gains made under Daniels and O’Neill.
“It’s a really good appointment for the club and will keep us moving forward in the right direction,” Skinner said.
“Player retention is the biggest thing, we’ve got such a good young list that we want to start locking them away and then start filling the gaps with what players we need, not just recruiting for the sake of recruiting.
“Murph wanted the opportunity to coach senior football and, as soon as we knew that, we wanted that to be with us.
“To have someone that’s spent a lot of time in the background of a successful program, but also has the desire and willingness to have a crack at the top job, is a huge positive for our club.
Murphy and O’Neill are no strangers, having spent time together at Woorinen, which included the Tigers’ 2019 premiership – with Skinner, who also played in that 2019 flag, confident the Demons new joint coaches would quickly form a strong partnership.
“We asked Nick to sit down with Murph to see whether they could work together and since then, they’ve gotten on like a house on fire,” Skinner said.
“The club’s wrapped with Nick and what he’s brought to our playing group this season, but we also needed someone on the ground during the week and we know we’ve got the right guy with Jason.”
While the Demons have already started building towards next season, they are still all-in on 2023, starting with Saturday’s must-win home match against Balranald – and the prospect of sending their much-loved coach Daniels out with a finals appearance.
“Corey gave us the heads-up on his situation at the start of the season, which we really appreciated, as it gave us a great opportunity to start planning straightaway,” Skinner said.
“I can’t understate the way Corey has gone about his time as senior coach of our footy club, he’s set a real standard and benchmark and for him to have taken over the role at such a young age and under the circumstances he did is a credit to him.
“He’s done an amazing job to get us to where we are and our club will be forever indebted to him.”
