PORT Melbourne has finally overcome dual hurdles since the completion of its successful maiden rebel VFLW season by announcing Sean Buncle as its new coach on Wednesday.
The Borough, who unexpectedly lost inaugural coach Lachie Harris to an assistant role at St Kilda, had to go back to the drawing board when his replacement Mitch Skelly resigned for personal reasons just six days after his appointment early last month.
They settled on Eastern Ranges NAB League assistant Buncle as the man to help them take the next step after an impressive 10-5 debut season that yielded an elimination final appearance.
Buncle only recently re-signed for a second season with the Ranges’ under-19 girls team but gets the opportunity to take on his first head coaching role after previously being AFL Victoria’s football development manager for four years and a game development officer for one.
"I’m thrilled to be selected to lead the Port Melbourne VFLW side for the upcoming season and really excited to get underway and start working with the playing group and staff to continue to build on what's already a strong program at a great club," he told portmelbournefc.com.au.
"I have been involved in sporting communities all my life, which led me to studying and working in the sports and recreation industry as a professional background.
"My love for coaching comes from the positive impact I'm able to have on people and my future aspirations are to continue to help people get the best out of themselves and achieve greatness."
Port Melbourne CEO Paul Malcolm said the second attempt to replace Harris had been very thorough.
"We have taken our time to work through the recruitment process we had in place to ensure we could identify the right candidate for the role," he told the Borough’s website.
"Sean comes into a program that is well set up with a great mix of experience and youth and his development, people skills and experience will assist him in hitting the ground running.
"He has gained great experience in his previous roles and will bring a well-balanced coaching style to the program."
Twitter: @BRhodesVFL
