Stand By Sandy: John Newson
The next person of focus in our Stand by Sandy series is Head Trainer, John Newson.
John Newson has been Head Trainer at Sandy for three years now and in that time has become an extremely well-respected member of the Club’s staff. For those that don’t know, the role of a Head Trainer is a tireless one and nowhere near as simple as it sounds.
Some of John’s duties include maintaining training facilities, rostering staff, organising equipment to be taken to away games and ensuring all medical and physiotherapy supplies are up to date. Simply put, he makes sure everyone and everything is right for training and match days. He does all this by making the long commute from Officer/Pakenham to Sandringham for every home game and training session.
According to John, he wouldn’t be working at Sandy if it weren’t for the persistent efforts of Sandringham Sports Physio owner Robert De Nardis.
“He (De Nardis) used to email me every year when I was working at other clubs, and kept asking me when I was coming to Sandy and eventually I got an opportunity and I came to Sandy two seasons ago,” he said.
“If it wasn’t for Rob I guess I wouldn’t be there, because he kept on annoying me pretty much.”
Upon arrival at the Zebras, John brought with him around 17 years of experience working as a trainer for VFL and AFL sides. Before Sandy he spent time with Geelong and Port Melbourne in the VFL, as well as Geelong, Melbourne, North Melbourne and Port Adelaide in the AFL.
John is no stranger to success and in 2002 was a trainer for the Geelong VFL Premiership side that featured future superstars Gary Ablett Jr and Jimmy Bartel. In 2007, still at Geelong, he got to experience something even better.
“In 2007 I did the AFL Grand Final between Port and Geelong, which we actually won,” he said.
“2007 was a good year.”
The Head Trainer was also a part of Port Melbourne’s 2011 and 2017 grand final wins.
From his time with those sides, John met many good people and made many lifelong friends. The people at Sandringham, are what he loves most.
“We (the people) have a very good understanding of each other and all the staff get on really well and also the players,” he said.
“At the moment we all blend in pretty well and we all care about each other.”
“Staff are what you mainly remember because the staff hang around, whereas the players come and go. So, it’s the staff that keep coming back every year that you get on really well with and you form friendships with for the rest of your life.”
The absence of footy due to Covid-19 hasn’t been easy for John, but it has been made easier by both the NRL and AFL seasons going ahead.
“Back in the 80s I was in QLD, so I follow the rugby league and I probably watch as much rugby league as I do AFL, so I was glad when the NRL started pushing to play the games before the AFL started,” he said.
“Now my team (Brisbane Broncos) is going pretty bad, but I mean St Kilda are doing pretty good.”
During the break John has also kept busy by going to the gym and riding his bike every day but admits that without footy everything has “sort of stopped” because it's so much a part of his world.
For now John’s sights are firmly set on the 2021 season.
Written by Matthew Hughes - Sandringham Football Club Media
