TIM Clarke effectively became Richmond’s VFL coach from the final siren of Coburg’s loss to Port Melbourne on Saturday and says he is looking forward to the excitement of building the Tigers’ list for next season.
Clarke, a development coach at Richmond, said he has learnt a lot from his first year of full-time coaching in the final year of the alignment with Coburg.
“I’ve had a terrific year in terms of learning and I think that they’ve (the players) had a really big year of learning as well,” Clarke said.
“I’m looking forward next year to seeing how Coburg go but also to move forward with Richmond, because we started building three months ago so it’s good to now finally move into that.”
Clarke admitted Coburg has a big job ahead of it to remain viable but said there was optimism around the club.
“There’s a fair amount of optimism around the club at the moment about them playing next year. They’re going to have to get some good players, they’ll get a coach and they need some sponsors to get on board so that they’ll be able to help fund the club and get all the resources that you need to compete at VFL level,” he said.
“We’ve had some really good Coburg performers as well, we’ve blooded a lot of young Coburg guys who have played some good footy this year.”
He admitted that recruiting had been a problem from when he took over as coach of Coburg. Coburg has, in recent times, struggled to land a big name or two from the AFL ranks to join it.
“The frustration was there at the start with the recruiting, obviously it shows in the performance of not only our side but also our development team. That’s going to be a big part of Coburg next year. They’ve got to get some recruiting…and we lost 10 or 12 senior guys last year which really affects your club,” he said.
In saying that, he believes it wasn’t the lack of recruiting alone that let Coburg down this season.
“It hasn’t been the reason why we haven’t gone well. We’ve had some pretty ordinary performances when we’ve had 18 AFL-listed guys,” he said.
Coburg will revert back to its traditional logo and name – The Lions – from next season. But its future still remains unclear as it attempts to attract some key sponsors.