Gembrook Cockatoo has a fresh look with Troy Tharle being appointed as its new senior coach for 2026.
Tharle comes across from coaching Officer’s reserves and replaces outgoing playing coach Michael Firrito.
Tharle has an experienced footy mind after being a long-time reliable forward and two-time premiership player at Cranbourne while also spending time at Cora Lynn before stepping into coaching roles and an eventual return to playing at Starling Road.
In his time on the field, Tharle was a decorated player as he racked up over 250 senior games along with two Team of the Year nominations in 2017 and 2018 in the South East Football League.
His tremendous skill as a hard-leading forward with good marking ability has translated seamlessly into his mentoring as he was also forwards coach at Officer.
After hanging up the playing boots in 2024, Tharle has enjoyed success in his coaching career by leading the Kangaroos’ reserves side to a preliminary final this year.
He also comes with experience coaching Officer’s seniors in 2022 before transitioning into an assistant position for the following two years.
For Tharle, he can’t wait to pull on the dark green polo at Gembrook Reserve and lead the Brookers from the sidelines in 2026.
“It’s genuine excitement,” he said.
“It’s going to take a while to get used to but I’m ready to go.
“They’ve got a young, talented group and were fairly competitive in most games this year.
“The first thing I’ll be doing at Gembrook is teaching these guys a new gameplan and making it enjoyable.
“When I was coaching the reserves at Officer this year, we wanted to make it fun.
“It’s going to be fast, it’s going to be exciting and hopefully the supporters will enjoy watching the new-look Gembrook.
“Hopefully the style that I bring is going to be enjoyable and the boys will really love it, they’ve just gotta buy in now.”
The Brookers finished ninth in Outer East Premier this year with four wins and 14 losses.
Gembrook has an exciting pool of upcoming talent and Tharle has set his goals to have a perfect mix and balance of experienced recruits meshing with the youth brigade.
With six losses by less than three goals this season, it fills the side with optimism that a new level can be reached in 2026.
“I just think they’re ready to launch in 2026, that’s the most exciting thing about it,” Tharle said.
“They were close to beating some good sides and now being able to learn how to win, I think that’s the most important part.
“The main thing is getting 10 percent extra out of these young kids.
“I want to give them the confidence to know that they can actually do it.
“We’ve gone to the recruiting table to top up with some experienced players with professionalism but the most important thing with these young kids is that they’re still developing.
“Keeping them interested, keeping them engaged, for me that’s important and having some experience around these guys, hopefully they’ll feed off it.
“The younger they are, the more eager they are to learn so once we get stuck into learning all the new structures, that’s the best part of it.
“They’re going to keep absorbing any information that we pass on as coaches and they’ll just see natural improvement; that’s what I’m excited about with the young list.”
