Interview with Matthew Rhodes

Photo: Coach Matthew Rhodes with the Nelson Eastern Suburbs women's side

Matthew Rhodes, 42, is the new coach of Division One side Metro.

Rhodes has coached South Hobart at men’s Division One level, Taroona and, at women’s level, he has coached Nelson, Clarence and South Hobart.

What prompted you to apply for the Metro job?

I think Metro are a good club. I think they have a lot to offer. They’ve got good facilities and a home ground, and I think the club itself does a lot for young kids. They’re really heading in the right direction. That was my main motivation.

What will your priorities be?

Obviously, the priorities will be to get into the top league, but also to have a youth policy where we have young players coming through the system. Various things, like they’ve got at Taroona. No-one’s been more happy at Taroona going up than me. No-one’s followed them more closely than me. Ben’s [Horgan] done a wonderful job. They’ve got good players. I, personally, didn’t have much to do with them, and where that comment came from the other day, I don’t know. Ben and the committee down there deserve a lot of credit for what they’ve done.

Are you confident of doing well?

I’d like to think we can do well. They have a lot of good youngsters and I think next year they can do very well. But, I just don’t know what the league structure is going to be at the moment. There’s all sorts of rumours. But, I’d like to think we could be competitive.

Are you familiar with the players at Metro?

Yeah, I am. Honestly, as far as I know, there’ll be no imports. But, I really haven’t talked to anybody about that at the moment. I’m not aware of anything. I’m not aware of those two guys coming back at this stage. I think one of the guys is staying - the guy who plays at the back. That’s hypothetical at this stage though. That’s all I know. I’ve only spoken to the committee twice. So, I don’t really know, until tomorrow night, where everything stands.

When are you starting pre-season training?

Pre-season will start after Christmas, basically because most of the players are involved with Futsal, so they’re active and I think the season is long enough as it is. At the end of the day, they’re only amateurs, so they need a life as well.

[Rhodes confirmed that Corey Smith has not signed with Metro. There is also a strong rumour doing the rounds that Ben Crosswell will play with Beachside next season.]