Daniel O’Keefe will be coaching the first standalone Carlton reserves side in over 19 years.
This has involved O’Keefe and the Blues setting up an entire team from scratch, ready for the start of the VFL and East Coast Second-Tier Competition in 2021.
O’Keefe couldn’t be more excited and proud to have the chance to build a new team from the ground up.
“It’s been 19 years since we’ve had this opportunity at Carlton,” O’Keefe said.
“To have the opportunity to coach it myself and lead the group with a well-balanced coaching group as well is something I'm extremely proud of.”
In terms of the process of recruiting a whole new side, O’Keefe noted the experience was unprecedented and something not a lot of teams get to do.
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“It’s been a strong balance of us getting on the front foot and approaching the players that we wanted to get on board, but also we’ve been in a really lucky position where the progression of our club is trending the right way, so there’s been some really quality players wanting to come play here as well,” he said.
“We’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to be quite selective, and that’s based on footy and being versatile in that way on field, but also getting the right characters off-field.”
Having a first pre-season training where none of the players know each other can be a daunting prospect, but O’Keefe said the players and the Club embraced the experience.
“I wasn’t nervous,” he said.
“I was really excited for it and I think a lot of other people around the Club were the same because it’s so new and we had zero players at the start of the year so what that brings is that sense of anxiousness at the start.
“The energy that was created on the night was fantastic and somewhat surprising because no one really knew each other.”
The support that O’Keefe and the reserves side has received from the senior group has been “enormous”, which O’Keefe believes will lead to a positive culture around the Club.
“Our leaders have been really inspired by some of the signings we’ve picked up across the journey over the last month or so to the point where they’ve contacted a few of the players themselves and that’s led by ‘Crippa’ and ‘Doc’ at the very top,” he said.
“I think that starts at the top with [David] ‘Teaguey’ and [Brad] ‘Lloydy’, they’ve been incredible support with firstly, giving our group the ability to build this program from scratch.
“We need that support and they’ve given it to us in spades.”
