Danielle McInerney appointed as Koroit netball coach for 2024

Experienced mentor Danielle McInerney, who coached the Saints in 2021, will take over from Kate Dobson and Kerri Jennings.

McInerney, a decorated player who also coached Merrivale in the Warrnambool and District league, is returning to the area with husband Luke after spending the past couple of years residing in Townsville.

She expects to have relocated by round one of the season and is looking forward to mentoring the Saints once again.

McInerney moved to Townsville with Luke and sons Jag, Moss and Sol midway through 2021 while daughter Paris stayed in Warrnambool to finish year 12.

Both children are now living in Warrnambool, with Jag a rising ruckman for Koroit's senior football side and Paris a member of the Saints' division three netball team.

McInerney said the reason for returning was so the couple could be closer to their children.

"Our older two children, Paris and Jag, are both back in Warrnambool," she said.

"We love it up here but we miss our kids. We miss watching them play as well."

McInerney has followed the Saints this season from afar and already has experience coaching most of the side's players at various levels.

"I still keep in contact with all the girls back home," she said. "So even this season, Kerri and Kate, I talked to quite regularly, I've watched a lot of the videos from this season.

"Millie Jennings, Molly McKinnon, Layla Monk and Nell Mitchell, all played in the season that I was coaching anyway. And I've coached them in their juniors as well.

"Now with Shelby O'Sullivan and Scarlett O'Donnell, a few of the younger girls which I've coached at junior level as well, they're playing open now too."

Mentoring the next generation and seeing them develop was something that drew McInerney to the role.

"The junior sides are doing really well this year so there's so much more potential even with our 13s, 15s and 17s," she said.

"The talent is definitely there and I think that's probably what excites me so much at the club, is just (to) keep bringing those kids through really. Definitely for me, I love coaching the juniors. I just love that junior development and it's exciting and it's rewarding, seeing a kid from the age of 12 and then seeing them play their first open game."

McInerney, who wants the development of netball coaches to remain a focus at the Saints, said she would lean on Dobson and Jennings throughout most of the pre-season while she was still in Townsville.

"I will be going to Kerri and Kate a lot, you always need to debrief with someone and they're two people I really trust around the club and they know the kids," she said.