St Pats have signed a new coach just days after winning the NTFA division one premiership.
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Jake Laskey, who was awarded the best on ground medal in Saturday's grand final victory against Old Scotch, will be the Saints' playing-mentor in 2023.
Laskey takes the reins from co-coaches Jake Lowe and Alex Russell who will remain involved with the club.
"I've been involved in coaching for a little while," the 28-year-old said.
"I was co-coach with Alby (Alex Russell) going back (to 2019) when I was at St Pats and I've been an assistant at South Launceston and I've definitely always liked the idea of coaching.
"It was probably just more so timing than anything. Now is probably the best time that suits me."
He said he was going to coach the Saints in 2020 but COVID impacted that plan and he ended up playing at North Launceston.
Laskey explained his interest in coaching.
"There's more to coaching than just putting players out there," he said.
"There's a lot of stuff that happens off-field with looking after players and being there for people - that's the side I like about it."
St Pats have also re-signed the majority of their senior group for next year in a boon for the new mentor.
"Jake Lowe and I worked pretty hard on getting that done just so we could put that behind us while the finals were going on," he said.
"As well as knowing the club going forward was going to be a bright place."
How does he feel about taking on a flag-winning side?
"Whether it was a premiership side or it wasn't, that wasn't going to determine what I was doing next year," he said.
"We sat down at the start of this year, Jake Lowe, Alby and I, and planned out what it was going to take to win one this year so to actually win it was unbelievable.
"But obviously going forward we want to keep winning them so it's exciting but at the same time probably adds a bit of pressure as well."
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Brian Allen
Passionate about covering all sports from Ultimate Frisbee through to the latest footy and netball updates. Started at The Examiner in January 2022. Was part of the Warrnambool Standard's sports team which won the 2019 AFL Victoria Best Print/Online coverage for a daily newspaper. Got a story? Email: brian.allen@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Passionate about covering all sports from Ultimate Frisbee through to the latest footy and netball updates. Started at The Examiner in January 2022. Was part of the Warrnambool Standard's sports team which won the 2019 AFL Victoria Best Print/Online coverage for a daily newspaper. Got a story? Email: brian.allen@austcommunitymedia.com.au
