By David Nagel
Nar Nar Goon has a new face at the helm for 2023 after announcing Justin Stanton as the replacement for outgoing coach Luke Young. Stanton spoke to Dave Nagel about this history, and hopes for the Goon moving forward…
SEPTEMBER, 2022
Building relationships and opening the door to clear, concise communication will be the key components of new coach Justin Stanton’s time at Nar Nar Goon.
Stanton’s five-year reign at Eastern Division Two club The Basin came to an end just minutes after the Goon was eliminated from this year’s West Gippsland finals series by Cora Lynn.
On that same day, Sunday 21 August, Stanton’s Bears suffered a nine-point loss to Boronia at that same elimination final stage.
It brought an end to 68 games at the helm, which resulted in 35 wins, 31 losses and two draws.
The former Berwick junior, who played his senior football at both Beaconsfield and Berwick, before working through the junior and senior coaching ranks at Beaconsfield, loved his time at The Basin, but is now super-excited to replace Luke Young at Spencer Street.
“The Basin, a terrific club, we built that from a low base to being the fourth biggest club in the Eastern footy league,” Stanton said with pride.
“But I was mindful coming to the end of a fifth year, with a sixth year on the table, I felt like it was the right time to pass the baton onto somebody who was going to inherit a really strong list, rather than stepping away when things are falling apart.
“At the same time, I was invited to apply for the Nar Nar Goon spot, and I went through that process over a number of weeks.
“I’m extremely excited, because I’ve created lifelong friendships at The Basin and now, I look forward to doing the same at Nar Nar Goon.
“The similarities between the clubs are uncanny, their hunger for success is what drives me and I know I’m going to a club that has some good talent, and has the ability, with hard work, to continue on an upward trajectory.”
Stanton said there were many things that attracted him to his new role.
“I hadn’t played or coached in West Gippsland before and that was certainly appealing, and I’m familiar with the list having coached some of the guys in cricket or football in juniors and seniors over the years.
“And the age demographic is one of the most appealing things.
“They’re also a really strong club, well supported, got a great relationship with the netball club, so it’s an all-inclusive club which is what I’ve been used to in the past, from Beaconsfield through to The Basin.”
Stanton said the transition from The Basin to Nar Nar Goon had been a smooth one, and not disruptive as had been reported by Star News during the Goon’s finals campaign.
“We haven’t had a meet the coach day at this stage, because I was mindful that the season was still going for both clubs,” he said.
“It was reported several weeks ago that I had contacted players and that caused disruption, but that wasn’t the case at all.
“The news had broken on the players private social media page, and all I did was text them and just say ‘you’ve obviously heard the news, let’s not talk now, I wish you all the best for the remainder of the season and we’ll talk at the end of the year’.
“The message since has been to take your mind away from football, relax, enjoy whatever you’re doing, and we’ll be in touch over the coming weeks with what the planning looks like.
“I just want the guys refreshed and ready to go come mid to late November when we start pre-season.”
From an on-field perspective, Stanton has honestly identified some needs that will narrow the gap between the Goon and the best teams in the competition.
“The difference between the good and the great sides is the great teams have a number of on-field leaders, and that’s invaluable when the team is under pressure and the big moments come around,” he said.
“We have leaders that lead with their actions, there’s no doubt about that, but not so much with their voices and direction.
“That’s my observation and something we need to address.”
Stanton is also hoping to build an already strong culture into a winning one.
“I think something that has been missed from this year is that the club has been away from its home ground all season, training in Pakenham, and the commitment of the players and support staff to come back to the club on Thursday nights was huge,” he explained.
“That’s a sign of good culture and successful teams all have very good cultures.
“Every club has issues throughout the year, but the successful clubs have good strong leaders, they deal with those issues, and move on quickly.”
Building strong and lasting relationships with his support staff and playing group is also high on Stanton’s agenda.
“Good open discussions within the coaching group, that’s a must,” Stanton explained.
“Collectively we put planning in place throughout the week, we practice what we’re trying to implement, and that’s when you know the coaching group is coaching well.
“Ultimately the responsibility sits with me, but the line coaches will be responsible for the positive and negative things that happen in their areas of the ground.
“I don’t want coaches who barrack, I want them heavily invested in what we’re trying to achieve.
“And building relationships is imperative when it comes to the players.
“If players are reluctant to talk to me, then I haven’t put enough time into building a strong relationship with them.
“It’s about getting to know the players as much as possible and the football will look after itself.”
Stanton is also a self-confessed football nerd.
“Full on,” he says with a laugh.
“To give you an idea, when I went through the application process at Nar Nar Goon one of the non-negotiables is that all of our games must be filmed.
“Where I’ve come from, every game is filmed, and we need that to try and develop our players.
“It’s hard to coach them when you’re just going on what the coach is telling them, you need visual aids to support those positives and the negatives.
“Between Saturday and Tuesday, the players will have the opportunity to watch the game and work through the positives and negatives with their line coach.
“It’s an important part of football these days.”
Despite not tasting senior premiership success to this stage of his coaching career, Stanton is keen to take the Goon to the promised land.
“2010 is not a lifetime ago, compared to some clubs, however in Nar Nar Goon’s eyes it is a lifetime ago and that’s really exciting, because the club feels like it has underachieved,” he said.
“And the club’s expectation would be no more than what my expectation is, I take on every role to be the best at it and for the club to be the most successful.
“The placing was nice this year (fourth), but it didn’t really amount to anything.
“Have a look a Warragul Industrials, we beat them comfortably throughout the year but they squeeze every last drop out of the lemon during finals and arguably should have played off in a grand final.
“That’s what we need to learn from and we need to set our expectations high.
“I see Nar Nar Goon as a very exciting place to be.”
