A season review has resulted in some changes at Sunshine, according to coach Brett Jacobs.
By Adem Saricaoglu
THE Sunshine Kangaroos will adopt a new approach to its training and injury-management procedures in 2012, according to coach Brett Jacobs.
The Kangaroos missed the finals in 2011, finishing seventh on the division one ladder with just six wins from 18 games.
“We had a few injury concerns but it wasn’t the amount of injuries we had, it was the personnel that got injured that hurt us last year,” Jacobs said.
The injury-management plan will see players spend more time with trainers as they deal with niggling injuries to determine how their training should be modified.
Jacobs said the new approach was developed after the club’s procedures were reviewed at the end of the 2011 season.
Sunshine has also been active with recruiting over the break, bringing three players over from EDFL club Taylors Lakes, including Hayden Maloney, Chris Tripodi and Vincent Giacchi.
Former Keilor ruckman Jacob Koroneos was also lured to the WRFL’s Kangaroos, however Jacobs insists there are more signings to come.
“We’re also still in negotiations for four or five more players as well that we need to fill in positions like centre-half back and centre-half forward. We probably lacked a little bit of depth there last year,” he said.
Jacobs’ goal for 2012 is to get Sunshine back into the top four, and he said he won’t be afraid to promote the club’s talented juniors into the senior team.
Several juniors came into the side when injuries took their toll last year, but Jacobs denies his hand was forced in playing them.
“We have a lot of talented juniors and we simply wanted to capitalise on the opportunity to get some senior footy into them, and we’ll look to continue that into this year too,” he said.
“We’re looking to get back up the ladder, and the only way we’re going to do that is if we’re a bit fitter and a bit better prepared.
“If we can improve and keep our players healthy we should be alright this year.”
