Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
MARYBOROUGH coach Shane Skontra says he’s in for the long haul as the Magpies aim to fight their way out of the Bendigo Football-Netball League doldrums.
Skontra is in his first season as Magpies’ coach, and while he fully understands why questions are being asked of the club’s ongoing viability in the BFNL, his message is to have faith.
“Absolutely have faith because we will definitely turn this around,” Skontra said this week.
“I’m 100 per cent confident that the club will have a very good spike into next year and it’s performance.
“Where that takes us is unknown, but I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that we will get through this.”
While the results on-field are ugly for the Magpies – they are staring at their second winless season in a row – Skontra says the club is taking significant steps off the field in building its culture.
“You can see the resilience of the group, but obviously the last quarter last Saturday (Golden Square kicked 17 goals) has really hurt them and I feel for the players and the club that a lot of the work we are doing is going to get construed that we’re not heading in the right direction,” Skontra said.
“But most of our trigger points as a club are based around environment, culture, standards… a whole range of things that aren’t related to the scoreline.”
The Magpies are staring at their 30th-straight defeat on Saturday when they host Sandhurst – a team they lost by 208 points to in round two.