Mullewa reappoints coach

All seven GNFL clubs have now appointed league coaches, with two new faces and two old ones among them.

Defending premiers Mullewa have kept Adrian “Blair” Come-again after he made history last year in being the first coach in the GNFL’s 57 years to take a team from last to first.

Railways have selected Karl Pirrottina after five years with Jason Graham, who would have coached again but was happy to stand down as Pirrottina is unquestionably worth a shot.

Rovers would have happily retained Erinn McCartney, who in many ways was 2017 coach of the year, as he took a team that initially looked a rabble and made them very competitive.

McCartney was unable to commit because of work, but will play when he can. He does, however, have an excellent replacement in Ian Comben.

Comben was an assistant to McCartney and also coached with great success in the North Midlands, taking Mingenew to five flags in seven years.

He does have a previous GNFL stint behind him, way back in 1993 when he coached Brigades.

Towns has also gone back to the future in appointing Reg Hall, who has 129 league games behind him.

He previously coached Towns for five years for three premierships and was also at Brigades for three years. He has a win percentage of over 75.

Northampton has stuck with Kingsley Smith, who won the confidence of his players in 2017, even though the season did not pan out well.

The reason was simple — he didn’t have the cattle. With one or two recruits, plus some development from home-grown talent, Rams can be expected to do well.

Chapman Valley have a new man in Russell Banks — the only unknown in the mix.

He is a hugely experienced player — a workhorse with more than 300 games in Perth ama-teurs and an enthusiastic coach who first coached when he was 20.

Like Smith at Northampton, he will need to recruit quality players.

If he does, the Royals will improve.