Football
21 November, 2024
Rocket named as coach of Laharum's women's football team
Rod "Rocket" Hogan has been announced as Laharum's inaugural senior women's football coach, a massive coup for the Laharum Football Netball club.
Hogan has coached Dimboola, Noradjuha Quantong, and Rupanyup in senior football since the late 1990s. He has also coached junior football, his last being with Noradjuha Quantong in 2019.
Rocket looks forward to developing a new team and is excited about the opportunity.
"I felt like it was an opportunity to start from the ground up and to work with a team that needs some guidance, particularly a group willing to learn," he said.
"The part of coaching I enjoy is seeing improvement in a group and people, and being given the opportunity next year to do that in a group that won't have played much footy is an exciting opportunity.
"I have taken quite a bit out of football over the years and had good opportunities, and it will be good to give a little of it back through experience and knowledge."
Laharum has the full numbers to get a team up and running, and when asked if he would try to bring in some big names to the club, Rocket emphasised that development is the main thing.
"We want to be competitive and see improvement in that group that has committed themselves at the moment, and we will work on anything else after that," he said.
Laharum president Hamish Roberts said Rod was the perfect fit.
"When we were working out who we wanted to coach the team, we felt we needed someone with plenty of experience," he said.
"There wasn't a preference for a male or female coach — they just had to be well experienced. The team next year will be made up of a mix of talents and experience, as there are a lot of girls who haven't played before.
"We needed a person who could teach the girls basic skills, how to play the game and someone who fits in with our culture, and Rocket was the perfect fit.
"Our football director, Mark Mintern, knows Rod well, and I played against him when I was younger when he was coaching Noradjuha Quantong and Rupanyup, so I also know him well.
"He is very excited to sink his teeth into it, and the fact it's a brand new program, and he gets to figure it out from start to finish and getting it up and running is what he is most excited about.
"He gets a lot of satisfaction in seeing improvement from who he coaches, which drives his motivations."
Roberts said Rocket and their football directors will hit the ground running with various objectives over the next three to four weeks.
"We will start looking at some recruiting, and he will also introduce himself to the girls," he said.
"We will organise pre-season start dates and training programs, and he will manage them. It's an exciting time ahead."