Chris Zoricich is expected to stay on for another season at Cooks Hill in what appears a key move in the NPL coaching ranks for 2025.
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The Newcastle Herald understands the former Kiwi captain, who came to Australia to support his son Zac's playing career, explored an opportunity back home recently while also being chased hard by Valentine to take over from Maitland-bound Adam Hughes as head coach and technical director.
However, it's understood Zoricich is set for a third season in charge at Cooks Hill, where departing Maitland coach Michael Bolch loomed as a potential replacement.
Valentine cast a wide net across several top-grade coaches in their hunt for Hughes' successor before the surprise call to appoint 24-year-old under-16s coach Kallum Garbett. Reserve grade coach Cas Wright will fill the TD role.
** Lambton Jaffas will roll out a line up of mostly fringe and reserve-grade players for their State Cup final against Edgeworth on Saturday (3pm) at LMRFF, Speers Point.
Assistant coach Luke Remington has his buck's show on the weekend and most of the side will be attending. Both teams also have Australia Cup clashes on August 6 and key NPL matches to prioritise.
** A hat-trick from Cooks Hill's Cody Nancarrow and four goals from Edgeworth's Ryan Feutz have spiced up the NPL Golden Boot battle.
Nancarrow, a fringe player at Jaffas and Edgeworth before joining Cooks Hill this year, leads the scoring tally on 16 after his goals in a 7-2 rout of Lake Macquarie, but he has only three games remaining.
Feutz, a mid-season addition from New Zealand, has 12 goals in just seven games to sit third on the list. The Eagles, who beat Adamstown 4-0 on Saturday, have six matches to go. In between the new faces are Kale Bradbery (Jaffas), Bailey Wells (Magic) and Braedyn Crowley (Maitland) on 14. Their teams have four games left.
