AFTER taking Morwell to back-to-back flags over the past two years, the challenge for Harmit Singh in 2015 lies with Northcote Park, who finished eighth in 2014 after a strong run of finals campaigns.
The new Cougars playing-coach has had his share of challenges to date in his short tenure at Bill Lawry Oval. Returning a proud Division 1 club to its former glories has been at the forefront of a long list.
“From my point of view I thought the list was a good one. Last year wasn’t the greatest year for the football club but I think there were some gaps that we tried to fill as a coaching group,” Singh told NFL.org.au.
The Cougars wasted no time filling the gaps, with the football club enjoying the spoils of a number of experienced heads.
To name just a few, former VFL player Wayne Schultz has joined the Cougars, alongside Collingwood great Tarkyn Lockyer, Bryn Barnes-Webb, Ash Close and St Albans ruckman Joel West, in addition to Collingwood VFL duo, Jordan Collopy and Ryan Pendlebury.
Singh has been impressed with all the new recruits when they have been available for selection and is confident the Cougars can run the season out strongly.
“I think somewhat we’ve gone towards filling those gaps. It’s a very even competition so hopefully we can have a good second half of the season,” Singh said.
One man tipped to have a ripping second half of the season is the captain, Bronik Davies.
The dual Frank Rosbrook Trophy winner has had an interrupted start to season 2015, trading in the footy boots for the Blundstones to star on Seven’s hit show, House Rules.
“It was difficult for Bronik in terms of his preparation because he was away on the show for such a long period of time, which limited the amount of time he had at the footy club in the pre-season,” Singh said.
“He came back against Greensborough, and due to commitments to the show, he had to miss a game and then had a bit of a shoulder injury. With the last three or four weeks, he’s trained extremely hard and played some really good footy.
“(Bronik) is respected internally but externally as well. He’s very well respected in the Northern Football League community. Not many work harder than him."
If juggling reality television commitments of one of the club’s superstars wasn’t enough, another coaching challenge has been living up to a legacy famous at the Cougars.
In his maiden season as Northcote Park senior coach, Singh has taken the reigns from the formidable Jason Heatley.
Heatley guided Wantirna South to the 2008 Division 2 premiership in the EFL, as well as Northcote Park to a flag in 2012 – two achievements in a long, illustrious football CV.
Singh remains thankful for the club culture set by Heatley during his tenure.
“I was fortunate that such a fantastic coach like ‘Heater’ was coaching for the past few years. He was the coach of the team of the year and a premiership coach back in 2012. I’ve brought my own stamp to it I guess, and I just try to continue to educate and develop the players,” Singh said.
“I think that’s really important. To ensure that their game-sense is massive at training so they can make quality decisions on the weekend.”
And, in a season that has seen the Cougars enjoy a strong start to sit 5-4, with two close losses in Round 7 and Round 8, the weekend saw Northcote Park comfortably defeat Heidelberg at Warringal Park by 35 points.
Singh knows defeating the Tigers at home is no mean feat, especially after trailing by three goals at quarter-time.
“Our inability to maximise opportunities going forward with our scoring accuracy hasn’t been ideal; we started at 0.7 on the weekend again. It wasn’t a great start, but we responded pretty well after quarter time,” he said.
The long line of challenges on Harmit Singh’s list are seemingly being crossed off, one by one, week by week.
Northcote Park now takes on Eltham this weekend in a match Singh hopes will play out differently from the pair’s Round 2 encounter.
“We were touched up against them in Round 2 when we played against them.
"They were the better side on the day, and we hope that our game’s developed individually and collectively to put a better account of ourselves this weekend at home.”
