Aaron Gorrell has agreed to coach the Queanbeyan Kangaroos for an extra year, bringing his time as Head Coach to 11 seasons.
Queanbeyan Kangaroos President Leigh Kiely said the club is thrilled with the re-appointment and are looking forward to more success with Gorrell at the helm.
“Since Aaron’s been here, we’ve made the semi finals every year and played in six of the last ten grand finals,” Kiely said. “There’s no rule to say that after ten years you expire as a coach. We still think he’s the best coach in local footy and we’re glad to have him on board again.”
Gorrell believes his side has unfinished business and is confident that most of his senior players will join him in continuing in 2020. The former Dragons and Broncos hooker also is hopeful that the Robinson brothers will play for the club next year.
“I’m pretty confident most of them will go around again,” Gorrell said. “The common thinking there was that we have a bit of unfinished business, especially after the way we finished this year.
“I think there are a few blokes that are pretty dirty about the way that happened and have a bit of a point to prove. Hopefully we can channel that in the right way and get the right blokes around them.”
Having started coaching the Kangaroos in 2010 and leading the club to three premierships in his first four seasons, Gorrell is confident that the club’s younger players will continue to improve as well.
“I think the young blokes that were thrown into their first full year of first grade are going to benefit from last year as well,” Gorrell said. “A lot of them are kids that were here when I first got to the club. They were coming through the juniors and some of them have gone off to try and make it at a higher level and have come back.
“Hopefully the experience and things they bring back are going to benefit us next year.”
One junior who will be back in 2020 is Jedidiah Simbiken who has spent the last two seasons plying his trade for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Intrust Super Cup.
“He just brings that bit of x-factor,” Gorrell said. “We’ve got some already, but he’s somebody who can pick up the ball on his own try line, run 100 metres and score out of nothing.
“He’s an exciting, attacking player and he was with us a few years ago so I think he’s only going to come back a lot better than he was then and that could be scary for some people.”
