Caroline Springs Football Club president Dean Ellis said “communication problems” were behind the shock sacking of premiership coach Scott Korcyznski yesterday, just five weeks into the season.
The Lakers announced the sacking on their Facebook page on Tuesday morning, saying it was “a huge decision but it has been made with the best interest of our club moving forward.”
Ellis said the decision to part ways was not mutual, but the committee’s hand had been forced.
“We were made aware of a fracture between the coach and the playing group and there wasn’t any way we could amend that,” he said.
“Basically it came down to poor communication between players and coach, which was the main driver behind the issues.
“There were threats of players walking out so we had to make the tough decision to let Scott go.
“It wasn’t mutual, and it was a tough decision that in many ways I didn’t want to make, but we’ve got the best interests of the club at heart.”
Korcyznski took the club to its first senior premiership in 2016, earning promotion to division one of the Western Region Football League in the process.
However the jump to the top tier has proven difficult for the club, slumping to five straight losses to start the season.
On the club’s Facebook page reaction to the sacking has been a mixture of shock and disappointment.
“I think a lot of the comments on Facebook have been from Scotty’s ex-students or mates of his, so that’s to be expected a bit,” Ellis said.
“I mean, it’s not ideal, and I’ll lose a fair bit of sleep over this. Scotty has been great for our club but when it’s not working, it’s not working and you’ve got to bite the bullet and do something about it or it gets worse very quickly.”
Football manager Marc Raak will serve as the Lakers interim coach for the remainder of the season.
Korcyznski has been contacted for comment.
