General News
20 August, 2020
Bloods lock in Ben Kenna for 2021
TERANG Mortlake coach Ben Kenna is looking forward to season 2021 after re-committing to the club.
TERANG Mortlake coach Ben Kenna is looking forward to season 2021 after re-committing to the club.
The Bloods announced on Monday Kenna had re-signed for season 2021 after his first season at the helm was wiped out by COVID-19.
The non-playing mentor said he was eager to continue in the role after taking some time to come to his decision.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Kenna said.
“This year is obviously a strange year for everyone, there was no footy or netball which has taken a bit to get around but as you can see coaches are re-committing right across the league.
“Most of my thinking was towards doing it again, I just needed to get my head around it with a few things but generally I was pretty keen to do it the whole way through.”
Kenna said he would now gauge his playing list and endeavour to lock them in for season 2021 before turning his attention to recruiting.
He expects most clubs to field similar lists next season, but he will look to add to the Bloods’ depth with prospective recruits where possible.
“Over the next few weeks I’ll get across our current players and gather their thoughts,” Kenna said.
“That’s probably the first thing to tick off and then I’ll look at recruiting.
“I get the feeling most clubs might look similarly next year as to what they would have this year.”
Bloods acting general manager Michael Williams said the club was thrilled to lock away Kenna as its senior leader.
“We’re really happy to have him recommit for next year,” he said.
“Obviously his first season wasn’t really a season but to have him recommit now creates a bit of stability around the club and will help with recruiting for next year.”
Williams said Kenna “handled the COVID-19 situation as well as he could” and led from the front in an uncertain period.
“He was restricted obviously by the regulations at the time and overall the committee’s measures put in place limited what could be done,” he said.
“But he was very keen to keep everyone active and involved during those times and it showed too.
“He then went and helped Ben Finnerty with coaching the under 18.5s on Thursday nights after the senior season was cancelled.”
The Bloods also locked in almost all of its remaining coaches, with Martin Wynd, Neil Kelly, Tim Carroll and Clayton McMaster also reappointed to their roles.