It
is with great pleasure that I announce Mr Leo ‘Ledge’ Epifania as the winner of
the prestigious Pratten Park Magpies Club Person of the Year Award.
Leo’s
playing career is well documented but tonight we celebrate his achievements as
Head Coach of various Wests Magpies teams.
Leo
was appointed head coach of our Jersey Flegg side in 2004 and remained in that
position until 2006. He had great
success during those years developing the skills of the young men under his
care and more importantly he helped them become better individuals.
In
2007 Leo was appointed Head Coach of our NSW Cup side. He remained in that position until the end of
the 2011 season. Leo’s boys reached the
semi finals each year, with the exception of 2011.
In
2008 and 2010 Leo’s boys reached the grand final qualifier before going down to
Newtown Jets and Canterbury Bulldogs respectively in close encounters.
In
2011 the team missed out by a single point of making the semi finals.
In
2012 Leo was appointed as an Assistant Coach of the newly formed Wests Tigers
NSW Cup Team. He took on this role as
our Club wanted equal representation within the coaching ranks. Leo provided invaluable assistance to the
Head Coach Paul Fletcher. The team marched
into the 2012 Grand Final before going down to the Newtown Jets 22 points to
18.
In
2013 Ledge returned to the Magpie nest to coach Wests Magpies Ron Massey Cup
team. With one round left in the regular
season the Magpies are guaranteed a spot in the semi final series. The highlight of the season to date is
undoubtedly winning six games in a row with five of those wins against higher
placed teams.
Loyalty,
integrity, honesty, the ability to build up trust in his team mates,
commitment, never say die attitude, not being prepared to accept a ‘close
enough is good enough’ attitude in areas of team performance, training
facilities or team building. Leo will
never turn his back on his team or his friends, no matter how difficult the
situation. His record shows that he has
turned good rugby league players under his charge into NRL regulars.
I am
sure no one appreciates the fact that Leo spends countless hours, often into
the early hours going over every aspect of his team’s performance before coming
up with ideas and solutions to make things better. He sits down with individual players to
improve their skills. His hand on
approach to coaching is legendary which ensures he enjoys the respect of his
peers.
Leo’s
record as a head coach should be celebrated.
He has worked unbelievably hard to develop players and raise the image
of our great Club. His understanding of
the game is second to none. His tactical
knowledge is up there with the best of them and we all hope that one day he is
given the opportunity of progressing to the elite NRL level as no one deserves
the opportunity more than Leo. We should
all do more to make this happen.
In
closing, I would like to paraphrase the comments of a couple of Magpie
individuals who stated (when referring to Leo’s role as Head Coach):
‘HE
BROUGHT CREDIBILITY BACK TO THE CLUB’
‘WE
TRUST LEO’
Ladies
and gentlemen, I present to you our 2013 Pratten Park Magpies Club Person of
the Year’, Mr Leo Epifania.