Bull Mick back in the ring

By Paul Pickering
NEW Noble Park coach Mick Fogarty says he couldn’t resist the ‘romance’ of a return to the Bullring.
The former Bulls’ premiership player and best-and-fairest winner got the nod for the top job last week, before vowing to recapture the club’s winning culture.
Fogarty, who played in two premierships and a reserves’ flag at Moodemere Street between 1987 and 1991, said he was drawn to the club that had given him his start at senior level.
“It’s been an ambition of mine to get back there and it just happens to be the right time,” he said.
“Just the romance of going back to a club where I was lucky enough to play in three premierships … I’m really looking forward to it.”
Fogarty went on to play three seasons with Springvale in the VFA, before establishing himself as a senior coach during successful stints at ROC, Cranbourne and Drouin.
He was Frankston’s reserves coach in 2007 and 2008, before stepping up to assist first-year coach Shannon Grant this season.
Noble Park president Kevin Wright said he was delighted that a former player was also the stand-out among 15 applicants for the role.
“We’re rapt to get him back on board,” Wright said.
“He’ll get the club culture back to what it was, because he knows what we’re all about.”
Club culture and communication were the sticking points that led to the mid-season sacking of Alan Ezard, so it’s safe to say that those areas were a priority this time around.
Fogarty also has a history of getting the best out of young lists, so Noble Park looks to be the perfect canvas for his next project.
He has already been given a stack of DVDs of this season’s games and was preparing to meet with the 2008 leadership group on Wednesday night. Fogarty’s recruiting wishlist is sure to include a power forward and a couple of key-position defenders. Noble will hold its best-and-fairest count at the club on Saturday night, with skipper Peter O’Brien and youngster Kyle Martin likely to battle it out for the senior award.