They say timing is everything in life, and I think Luke Wilkshire's decision to leave the Wolves at the end of this season is the right one.
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Luke announced over the weekend that he would step away as Wolves' head coach to join A-League club Central Coast Mariners as the head of youth development. The decision may have caught some people off guard but, for a career coach like Luke, I think it's a good stepping stone moving from the NPL into the A-League space.
Working with the youth team will be a good role for Luke. He's obviously brought some good young players through at the Wolves and the Mariners are historically known for promoting youth. Nick Montgomery - who was also previously involved with the Wolves - has done a great job with Central Coast's youth players in the past few years, and I'm sure Luke will continue that trend with his playing experience and recent coaching experience with the Wolves.
Luke and Monty obviously struck up a relationship when they played together here in 2018. For me personally, it's a good moment because I brought Monty to the club, and Luke to the club as well, so I played a small part in connecting those two. And it's good to see that they're going onto bigger and better things, and working as a team again. Monty has done a great job this season and the Mariners are on a high. Luke now has an opportunity to go there and help consolidate what Monty has done, and progress it even further.
Looking back on his time in Wollongong, winning the 2019 NPL premiership will obviously be the highlight of Luke's tenure. The last time the Wolves had won the championship was about 2008, so there was a bit of spell there between wins. Luke took over from me after I had done four years in the role. I had helped steady the club and did quite well, and Luke came in and took that to the next level which was great for the club. So while winning the championship was a standout moment, Luke's all-round professionalism and experience will be other highlights of his time in charge.
Luke had to navigate a couple of Covid years, which hasn't been easy for anyone. And this year, the team obviously hasn't started as well as we had liked, but there is still half a year left to finish on a good note before he moves on.
Luke's been here for four years and, for any coaching role, I've got a belief that the three to five year mark is a good time to be in the hot seat. And to be able to leave on your own terms is obviously a bonus for the club.
I'm sure there will be plenty of interest in the vacant role. The NPL is becoming a good breeding ground for coaches, and there's a lot out there, so I'm sure the club will go through the process and hopefully appoint as good of a succession to Luke as possible.
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