

By Aaron Cordy
THE Murray Bushrangers have announced Shepparton local Tyson Saunders as Regional Development Coach of its girls’ team for the Coates Talent League 2025 season.
Tyson was a former Bushie back in 2000-01 after playing junior footy with the Shepp Bears and Wanganui Secondary. He has experience coaching junior basketball and was playing coach at Katamatite before coming back to the Bushies as a development coach under Mark Brown for the boy’s squad.
As a father of four daughters, when the opportunity to coach the girl’s squad became available with the departure of Emma Mackie, Tyson jumped at it.
“Having four daughters myself and coaching basketball and a few other little bits and pieces, I just found that excitement around that. I was given a lot of opportunity as a young kid to learn a lot of different sports, and having the ability to give back is important,” said Tyson.
“I think it’s important that we don’t lose sight on what junior sport is actually about. The Bushrangers take it to another level with the athletes coming in and their dreams and goals about getting drafted and becoming better players. But at the junior sport level, it’s important that we make sure the kids enjoy what they are doing and are participating.


“I feel that playing sport and being in a team environment helps out so much more in a social outlay as well. Being healthy, working as a team and being prepared helps with so many other things in life.
“There is a lot of perception on the win/loss column externally, but for us, it’s about developing the athletes. Making sure the kids get the best possible chance to become better football players, and what the result becomes of that on a scoreboard sense becomes not the main focus.
“Our objective is to make sure these kids get the best quality coaching and best assistance to live out their dreams of becoming an AFLW player, VFLW player or really good local footballers. Our vision for the group is to be able to create an environment for them to grow.”
Three members of the squad to watch are Rain Dodd and Nikhita Spiteri of Wodonga, and Sophia Green of North Albury who are part of the Vic Country squad. But Tyson is buoyant about what he’s seen from all the girls at training.
“The squad is coming together nicely, and the girls are working hard at the moment, we’ve got some talented players in the groups this year. We look forward to what that brings, but the focus is on the individual athletes and making sure they’re developing in the right way.
“Girl’s football is something that is continuing to grow with the success of the AFLW and the Coates Talent League over the last few years. We’ve seen that 87 per cent of the kids that were drafted into the AFLW this year came out of the Coates League. You can see the shift in focus to these development squads, so I encourage any of the young girls out there interested in playing footy to reach out to local levels and start getting involved. The earlier you can start and the more education and coaching you can get, the closer you can get to being rewarded with a contract at a higher level.”