Dan Ryan will be coaching the Fever in 2022. (Photo: Rhinos Netball/Twitter)
The West Coast Fever announced today that inaugural coach of the Leeds Rhinos, Dan Ryan will be the next head coach of the West Coast Fever.
The role came after Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich finished her tenure at the club. Ryan said that he’s looking forward to continuing the legacy that Marinkovich has left at the Fever.
“I feel incredibly privileged as the coach coming in to be able inherit something in such a positive place,” Ryan said.
“I’ve got great respect for Stacey and what she’s been able to achieve, and really looking forward to succeeding her and honouring the legacy on what’s gone before at the club, in terms of the performances on the court and what’s been created with the group under her tutelage.
“One of my main priorities in this job is to honour what has been in place before and honour the legacy that has gotten West Coast Fever into the position that it has, and find new ways to add value and evolve the program.
“So really looking forward to the journey ahead with the club and ensuring that we have some continued years of sustained success.”
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Ryan’s first job in his new role is to assemble the playing list that he will coach going into season 2022 and beyond.
“I think myself and every other coach in the league is in a similar position and obviously the recruitment window opening on the weekend just gone, so all hell [is] breaking loose across the league,” he said.
“From our perspective here at West Coast Fever, we’re really keen to have as much stability and as much consistency as possible.
“The players have had a pretty difficult year in terms of what they had to manage, but I have so much respect for the way that they’ve conducted themselves. I’m excited for hopefully having a really consistent line up and getting stuck into securing the team.”
“The luxury of the team preforming so well particularly the past two years, they are as good as any other team in the competition.
“So it’s really about identifying some of the growth areas and opportunities might be.
“The discussions we’re having around list management can be simple things from is it an improvement in culture, is it a shift in game plan or is it personal.
“They’re the robust discussion that we’re having; nothing is off the table at this point in time.
“We’ll see where it plays out but from my perspective what currently is in place is absolutely good enough and the challenge will be can we add value to that and what we believe is the next step.
“Some great robust discussions taking place and we’ll see where that lands over the coming weeks.”
West Coast Fever has received backlash from many netball fans over the last few year, but Ryan isn’t too fussed on the public’s perception.
“I think it’s all about what we do on the court and how we represent the club,” he said.
“People are always going to have their opinions and people are always going to have their perceptions. Sometimes perceptions don’t meet reality and sometimes perceptions are reality, and that’s up to people to determine in their own way.
“For me I’m really invested in my players, my club, my people, and my team, and also uniting the organisation from Netball WA to West Coast Fever and connecting them as best as I possibly can within my role.
“I’m very much a united leader and a collaborative leader in how I work, and that’s one of the things that I want to make sure that we do well here. I think we want to make some subtle adjustments in how we play the game, but more importantly it’s because we want to make the subtle adjustments to make us better at what we do.
“I’d like to think by the way we behave, operate, and represent is what we’re going to focus on, and people will have their opinions and so be it.
“For me my focus sits on us being the best versions of ourselves and being the best possible team we can in all facets of what a team actually means.”
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