Tara Murray
New Keilor Park coach Colby Blyth is excited to be back in a senior coaching role.
Blyth joined the Devils as an assistant coach for the Essendon District Football League division 1 season this year.
The club announced last week that he would step up into the senior role, replacing Leigh Coles.
Blyth said there was always a possibility that he might make the transition into the senior role when he took on the role, but nothing had been locked in.
“It is good to be back,” he said. “There was a plan in motion to see how everything was going and see how it went to start with.
“I thought I would try being at Keilor Park and see where it goes.
“It’s ended in the senior coaching role and I’m excited for the challenge and being at Keilor Park makes it more exciting.”
Blyth spent two years as the senior coach at Sunshine Heights before crossing to the Devils.
Before then he played in South Australia and Queensland.
Blyth said having been at Keilor Park for 12 months he’d had the chance to get to know the players and get that knowledge and understanding of the club.
It hasn’t been the season the Devils had been after.
They’ve had just one win for the year and will be relegated back to division 2. The Devils finished their season on Saturday against Moonee Valley, after deadline.
Blyth said it had definitely been a trying year.
“Most of the things have been out of our control,” he said. “Injuries have depleted us and it’s taken on us.
“We’ve had players miss with work commitments and travel and it all compounded and put us in the position we are in now.
“It’s unfortunate but we’ve put some plans in place and some blocks to get back up there.”
Blyth said he wanted to help further instil a culture at the club and would get the playing group to understand his theory.
“We want to get that excitement back around the group,” he said. “We’ll look at how we can move forward the next few years.”
The Devils have announced a number of re-signings in positive news for the club. Skipper Daylan Kempster is the biggest re-signing announced.
Blyth said that was exciting for the club and a key with the club lacking juniors.
Ahead of the club’s final match, Blyth said they were hoping to finish the season off on a high.
“We’ll have a few ins this week,” he said. “We want to have a crack.
“We don’t have footy for a while after this. We haven’t been too far off in some games.
“We’ve made some inroads and there’s some positive signs out there.”
