Devonport Strikers’ new NPL Tasmania coach Rick Coghlan has promised he won’t be re-inventing the wheel at the reigning title holders, confident he can continue the tradition of success that has been put in place.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But that will be done without the services of three senior on-field figures with Beau Blizzard set to join Brayden Mann and Michael Holden on the departures list.
“It is no secret that we have lost some key members of our squad, but it has been very clear that from day one that the Devonport Strikers are bigger than just one player,’’ Coghlan said on Thursday.
“This just opens up the opportunity for other players now to stamp their place and take their opportunity. But we will obviously try to fill the void, which is big, with Brayden kicking 35 goals and having a number of assists, Michael a number of goals and assists and Beau was a real key member, so there are some goals and key areas we need to replace.”
One of those could be Max Fitzgerald, someone Coghlan knows through his work as football operations manager and under 20/youth team coach at Gold Coast United. He described him as a “very talented, young attacking, exciting player.”
There could be another Queensland recruit and the opportunity for an overseas import, but despite that Coghlan said home-grown talent would be a priority.
“I have told the club that I am really keen to grow what we have here, as it is really important that this is a sustainable environment for players to be coming through more so than getting imports and interstate players,’’ he said.
“If we can make an environment where we can produce more local players, that is what’s important.”