The Mean Machine have appointed 2018 league best and fairest Jessey Wilson and Shellie Davies as joint coaches of the club’s A-grade and B-grade teams.

They replace Claudia Powell, who has stepped down, after last season leading the Mean Machine to their first A-grade flag since 2011 with a 39-32 win over Calivil United.

READ MORE – Bridgewater wins first A-grade netball flag since 2011

The coaching appointment is the first for Wilson, but not for Davies, who heads to Bridgewater with 15 years of experience behind her.

The pair are no strangers to each other having previously played together for Strathfieldsaye.

Wilson said she had relished the opportunity to captain the A-grade side in 2018 and was eager to embrace her newest leadership role.

“I was keen on having someone else coach with me, to help me grow as a coach and a player,” she said.

“In Shellie, I definitely think I have found the right person.

“I don’t think (being a playing-coach) my game will suffer; having Shellie there on the sidelines will take that pressure off me while I’m playing.”

Wilson rated her debut season at Bridgewater as her most enjoyable, both socially and from a playing perspective, and was keen to do whatever possible to grow the club.

The 23-year-old admitted she felt no pressure in starting the year as the reigning premiers.

“It would be great to have success on the netball court, but I think there is a lot more to a football-netball club than winning on-court … I think we can take the club further off-court as well,” she said.

READ MORE – Jessey Wilson wins LVFNL league medal

Davies, who has an extensive background in coaching junior sides and senior teams at Heathcote and Kangaroo Flat, hopes her netball experience and fresh outlook will be pluses for a Mean Machine team, which will be minus a few of last season’s premiership line-up.

“Having two coaches will be a lot easier, bouncing ideas off each other and just sharing the load,” said Davies, who most recently was an assistant coach with VNL club Monash University Storm’s under-19 team.

She added building a strong off-court culture would be a priority for the coaching tandem.

“Obviously you work on (netball) skills and on-court play, but a big part of success is the culture off the court,” Davies said.

“We want to unite the club as much as possible as a coaching unit; we’ll be very player and club-based rather than thinking about a premiership.

“If we take care of that, we think we’ll be where we want to be at the end of the season.”

In other appointments, Tamara Hayes and Alison Walsh will coach the Mean Machine’s C-grade team, while the club’s junior teams will be led by Leah Sartori (17-and-under), Caz Wood (15-and under) and Madeline Langley (under-13).

Georgia Mamouney-Brown will be an assistant coach for the under-13s, with a C-reserve coach still to be confirmed.

Tryouts for the Mean Machine will begin at Bridgewater on Sunday, January 13 (juniors at 4pm; seniors 5.30pm).

Two further tryouts will be held at Flora Hill Stadium on Tuesday, January 15 and Thursday, January 17 (5.3pm juniors; 6.30pm seniors).

Please register online at https://form.jotform.co/83488724777880