David Abetz has secured the lead coaching position at the Northern Suns for the 2017 AFL New Zealand Premiership Season.
Assistant Coach of the 2016 Premiership winners the Western Crows, Abetz has progressed well through the AFL New Zealand High Performance Programme and was awarded Coach of the Year at the High Performance Awards earlier this year.
His work as lead coach with the New Zealand Hawks Academy Level 1 team in 2016 was the catalyst towards securing the award and the challenges of transitioning young talent through to the Premiership is viewed as an asset to the sports development in New Zealand.
Currently coach of the Manurewa Raiders in the Auckland AFL, his involvement in junior talent programmes and a variety of coaching roles within the New Zealand Hawks Academy teams, will put him in good stead for the upcoming season.
With a number of talented participants from the Regional Youth Programmes now commencing their senior football careers in the Premiership, there will an ongoing connection that he has with many of the star recruits.
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Abetz was confident of the transition from his previous assisting role with the Western Crows to Head Coach of the Northern Suns and anxious to see what new talent would enter into the AFL New Zealand National Draft. “With the 2017 season leading into the 2017 International Cup in Melbourne in August, the Premiership will be a great opportunity. I’m expecting a number of talented local New Zealand based players to debut this upcoming season and look to stake their claim in both the Premiership and New Zealand representation.
