John Reynolds is ready for another Railways flag tilt after taking over as league coach

As pre-season training begins this week for most clubs it will be John Reynolds’ first chance to look over his side after he was announced as Railways’ new league coach at the end of last year. Reynolds is no stranger to the GNFL, having served as an assistant to Matt Powell last year and is considered one of the greatest players in the competition’s history. Though knee injuries brought an unfortunate end to the three-time Railways best and fairest and 2005 JJ Clune medallist’s playing career, he looks forward to the challenge of ending the Blues’ finals curse. Railways finished the 2022 home-and-away season as minor premiers but went out in the finals in straight sets. “I filled in a couple of times last year when I was assistant due to COVID and what not but this will be my first proper crack as a league-level coach,” Reynolds said. “The more I’ve dug into coaching the more I’ve enjoyed it and you get a better appreciation of what it takes. “I’m really excited, to be honest, we’ve got a really great squad and I’m not holding back and have every ambition to win a premiership this year.” Reynolds said the transition from player to coach had changed the way he looked at the game. “As a player, you’re thinking about your preparation and your training where as a coach you’re looking more at the game plan and making sure you get everyone out there on the park,” he said. “You’re always learning no matter what level you are at but I love football, I watch it, I played it for a long time and that knowledge is always with you.” Railways president Nathan Tubby had high praise for the new coach. “He did a great job as an assistant coach last year, we have a lot of new faces at the club which I think was a result of him,” he said. “The young fellas really look up to him and he’s the right man for the job.” With pre-season training beginning on Friday, Reynolds believes the club had a really good off-season. “As always we’ve had a couple of juniors go down to Perth which is a credit to our strong juniors program as well as a couple of retirees like Kyle Watts,” he said. “But the guys we’ve brought in will be able to cover those losses if not more. “We have a slightly different game plan this year and with the learnings from last season hopefully we’ll be up there when finals come around.”