New Albanvale coach Scott Oldfield is hoping to bring some stability to the Western Football League division 2 club.
Oldfield, who was an assistant coach at the club this year, will step up into the head coaching position next year.
He said he was excited for the opportunity.
“It has been good so far,” he said. “I did a lot of work as an assistant coach this year under Anthony Montrose.
“I learned a lot of things. It was my first year with the senior side and it was an interesting year.
“I’ve always wanted to be a senior coach and I’ve learned a lot along the journey and I think I bring something to the team and club.”
The Cobras started this season with two coaches, Phil Crea and Montrose.
The parted ways with Crea during the season and things were tough at times on and off field for the group.
Oldfield said he felt he had the backing of the club to help get things back on track. He said there had been six coaches in seven years at the club.
“I’ve created some good relationships,” he said. “I’ll have some good assistants on board with me.
“I’ve got some good people on board.
“We’ve got an exciting core group and if we get the buy-in and commitment it will be an exciting 2026 and beyond.”
Oldfield coached at Melton Centrals before coming across to West Footscray where he led the under-18s to two preliminary finals and a grand final.
The club decided to move him on and he then joined the Cobras.
The Cobras just missed out on finals this year, finishing in sixth spot a game outside the top five.
“It was a really tough season,” Oldfield said. “We had no ruck early in the season and our full back went into the ruck and did a great job.
“At one stage we had 13 or 14 injuries. We had injuries, week win, week out.
“We looked at the reserves players to step up and play vital roles. We didn’t win many games after round seven.
“It was difficult but the reserves players stood up and did what they had to do for the team.”
Oldfield said they would only benefit from getting games into players heading into next season as they increase their depth.
He said they would look at adding some more players into the squad as well.
“So far we’ve signed four new players,” he said. “I’ve got eight more meetings set up.
“Hopefully we can get another four or five on board and have a few more come down to pre-season and see what it looks like.”
Tara Murray
