sport, football, bracknell, gary shipton, coach, 2018, examiner, retiring, launceston
Saturday’s NTFA division 1 grand final will be Gary Shipton’s last game as Bracknell coach, and the veteran forward is determined to go out with a bang. After playing in three premierships and 245 games at Launceston, the hard-bodied warrior took on the top job at Bracknell in 2015 and led the Redlegs to a preliminary final. He has since coached the Redlegs to three straight grand finals, and there’s still a chance Saturday’s decider may not be his last as a player. “I’m not going to say I’m retiring (from playing) because I might get itchy feet, but it’s more of a backwards step to concentrate on other areas of my life with work and family,” Shipton said. “I’ll still have a kick at some stage but I’m not sure at what capacity it’ll be.” Shipton will step down from the role on a high as the club’s seniors and reserves sides prepare to both play on grand final day for the first time since 1990. When he arrived in 2015, the club had come off a seventh-placed finish in seniors and a winless reserves season. “I’m quite proud of the group and what we have achieved over the past couple of years,” he said. “There’s a few boys that are looking at possibly retiring at the end of this year so there’s a lot of drive, and to lose the last two grand finals there’s a big hype to have another crack at it and go out on a high. “Obviously it’d be nice to finish off with a premiership, so that’s our sole focus.” The senior grand final starts at 2.15pm at Windsor Park.
CALLING TIME: Bracknell coach Gary Shipton will call time on a successful four-year stint after Saturday's grand final. Picture: Neil Richardson
Saturday’s NTFA division 1 grand final will be Gary Shipton’s last game as Bracknell coach, and the veteran forward is determined to go out with a bang.
He has since coached the Redlegs to three straight grand finals, and there’s still a chance Saturday’s decider may not be his last as a player.
“I’m not going to say I’m retiring (from playing) because I might get itchy feet, but it’s more of a backwards step to concentrate on other areas of my life with work and family,” Shipton said.
“I’ll still have a kick at some stage but I’m not sure at what capacity it’ll be.”
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Shipton will step down from the role on a high as the club’s seniors and reserves sides prepare to both play on grand final day for the first time since 1990.
When he arrived in 2015, the club had come off a seventh-placed finish in seniors and a winless reserves season.
“I’m quite proud of the group and what we have achieved over the past couple of years,” he said.
“There’s a few boys that are looking at possibly retiring at the end of this year so there’s a lot of drive, and to lose the last two grand finals there’s a big hype to have another crack at it and go out on a high.
“Obviously it’d be nice to finish off with a premiership, so that’s our sole focus.”
The senior grand final starts at 2.15pm at Windsor Park.
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