VFL News 2024: Frankston Dolphins’ Coach Jackson Kornberg Reflects On A New Chapter For The Club

Jackson Kornberg, the new VFL coach for the Frankston Dolphins, comments on a new era for the club and discusses the peculiar first assignment given to him upon taking over. PAUL AMY writes.

Jackson Kornberg didn't anticipate that one of his first responsibilities as the new coach of VFL team Frankston would be to paint the change rooms when he signed his three-year deal with the club.

But there he was the previous Thursday, holding a paintbrush in his hand and assisting some other volunteers in decorating the walls.

It was his suggestion that they be given paint to use.

Kornberg felt that the players would welcome a new look when they presented for pre-season on Tuesday night because the Dolphins have a new CEO, Fraser Bayne, as well as a new coach and group of assistant coaches. Additionally, the Dolphins have a new coach and a group of assistant coaches.

He tells CODE Sports, "I want them to see it's a fresh start for the club, the first time we've had a full-time coach, and that there's growth under way." "I want them to see it's a fresh start for the club, the first time we've had a full-time coach," he says.

"That is the message I want to get across to them, new beginnings," you can hear me saying.

There are also some fresh faces in the squad, with Sandringham's Tomo Owens and Tyson Milne, as well as Casey Demon George Grey, being among the Dolphins' first additions.

After playing for a local football team for a season, former Kangaroo Tom Murphy has returned.

There are also a lot of other people who look familiar.

Will Fordham, known for his integrity and fair play, and Ryley Stoddart, a former swan, have both left the team. However, Frankston has kept the most of its senior players, in contrast to the previous season when it said goodbye to players such as captain Josh Newman, former AFL players Murphy, Josh Begley, and Taylin Duman, and draftees Brodie McLaughlin and Liam Reidy. Frankston has retained the majority of its senior players.

The departures will put a stop to any forward momentum achieved in 2021 and 2022.

After a disappointing season in which the Dolphins went 4-and-14, the football department is being evaluated.

Danny Ryan, the coach for four years, resigned as a result.

Kornberg has known several of his new players for ten years through his work with the Sandringham Dragons Under 18 club, which led to his appointment as head coach in 2021.

He led the Dragons to an 8-1 record before Covid-19 ended the season. Gold Coast signed him to play on their AFL team in 2020.

As it did, numerous former and current Dragons gushed over Kornberg's impact on their careers, and Wayne Campbell, the general manager of football performance for the Suns, praised Kornberg's "fantastic experience" in development coaching.

He cited his "ability to build relationships, his technical capability, and his desire to work, learn, and grow" as reasons the Suns wanted to sign him.

After leading Gold Coast's VFL team to the playoffs in his first season, Kornberg was promoted to a development role the following year after the Suns won the AFL championship.

He claims he learned a lot during his time at the AFL club, especially from Rhyce Shaw, Steven King, and Josh Drummond, the VFL coach who replaced him.

He almost needed a safety harness and helmet for the steepness of the learning curve.

Kornberg was a novice at coaching male athletes.

He was worried just thinking about it.

At the age of 28, I made the journey north. There was no AFL for me to play in. As a young coach who hadn't previously competed at the same level of football as his players, he admits that he was first worried about their reaction.

However, I discovered that fellow players don't give a damn about your professional aspirations. If you can bring something of value to their situation and show that you care about them, that's all that matters to them. It was the kind of thing you had to see for yourself to believe. No matter how you slice it, in my opinion, everyone under the age of eighteen is treated with deference. Up top, I was collaborating closely with club veterans like Sam Day and Alex Sexton, who is only a month older than me.

His relationships with the athletes, he believes, gave him the leverage to be firm when necessary.

It's not acceptable to simply walk in and say, "This is how it has to be done. When you have to "hit" someone, it's not taken as a personal attack if you've established rapport with them beforehand, as Kornberg puts it.

Relationship builder is how he defines himself.

I'm a coach like that, too. He tells me that must be my first priority at all times.

When Kornberg returned to Melbourne two months ago, he still had a year left on his contract.

The Suns were undergoing a transformation after hiring Damien Hardwick as their new head coach.

Frankston found out about his comeback and contacted him.

Two weeks later, the team offered him a three-year position as coach.

"I wanted to move back closer to the footy bubble, as well as family and friends,'' Kornberg says.

Someone recently asked me what attracted me to this position, and I said it was the chance to influence the club's development both on and off the field.

The club has a long and storied past. If you go back even just five or six years, you'll see that it was on its last legs at best. Now it's in a position where it's been able to make me full-time and we've had a high retention of players.

Kornberg has taken a look at how things ended up the previous year.

He says that the Dollies lost a few games by a kick or less, so their record of 4-14 doesn't tell the whole story.

Only Collingwood and Gold Coast managed to get their hands on them.

Kornberg explains that those four victories may have been two victories or eight victories.

A club's performance cannot always be judged just by its standing on the ladder. Talent is entering the building. Now it's up to me and the rest of the coaching staff to channel that energy and use it to advance Frankston.

He says he didn't pay much attention to the games beyond a cursory scan.

I've been trying to limit my screen time so that I can approach this with an open mind. I hope the players won't assume that I've walked in with any predetermined notions about who is sitting where. I'm excited to learn about their abilities and how we can help them improve as gamers. As I was saying before, ''it's a fresh start.

He'll have Tim McGibney working beside him as a top aide.

According to Kornberg, McGibney received high marks in the players' postseason evaluation.

Next year, the Dolphins will be coached by McGibney, former Carlton AFLW coach Damien Keeping, and former Casey assistant Troy Hemming, who coached country club Tarwin this year, making for a "leaner" organization.

"Players value clarity above everything else. Just hear what Tim and I have to say, and that's it,'' Kornberg says to his midfielders.

To quote Coach D, "We can get the best out of the players if we can simplify what they are hearing.