KOONDROOK-Barham’s future appears safe in the hands of senior coach Will Callow, who was last week reappointed for next season.
The Raiders moved quickly to lock away Callow, despite the senior football team being yet to register a win this season.
In further positive news, recruits Mitchell Christensen and Scott Wood have also recommitted for next year – a sure sign the River Raiders are heading in the right direction, according to Callow.
“Part of the conversation I had with the club about coming back was about stability and the club all sticking together,” Callow said.
“Me re-signing is a perhaps a sign of stability and we can now continue our work with the guys for a couple of years at least anyway.
“I don’t know if it’s me being the optimistic person that I am, but I don’t think we’re too far off it.
“Most of the teams we’ve played, the difference has been their top five or six players, and if we can find a couple of quality players and continue to develop our own, we’ll bridge that gap sooner rather than later.
“From the outside looking in, it probably doesn’t look like it, but we’re definitely having some small wins on the inside, which is good.”
Koondrook-Barham have already started looking towards future seasons, with a clear investment in youth already starting to pay dividends.
Youngsters Eli Boyd, Nick Frankling and Will Lake have been developing into impactful senior players throughout the early rounds of the season.
A spate of injuries to key senior players hasn’t helped the River Raiders’ on-field performances, with Mason Laursen, Mason Jones and Jake Lowry all making their senior debuts in Koondrook-Barham’s 100-point loss to Cohuna last weekend.
“Considering the players we had out there and with nine or 10 senior players out, it was a reasonably good performance,” Callow said.
“We’re trying to find improvement and trying to set standards, and the boys are all having a red-hot crack – we’ll just keep working on the little things and grab the little wins when we can.
“The likes of Eli Boyd, who is 16 and a starting onballer – this season will be really good for his development.
“He’s up against it every weekend but he’s all class, and it’s the same with Nick Frankling in the back line and Will Lake, who has been back from Geelong Grammar the last few weeks.
“They’re all 16 to 17-year-old kids, but they’ll be really good footballers in years to come. You can’t question their endeavour, they all have a red-hot crack.”
