Australian national team head coach John Leijten

With the 2015 IFAF Senior World Championship only three short years away, Gridiron Australia and the Australian National Team Head Coach John Leijten have taken the first steps in seeking qualification for the 2015 World Championships in Sweden. Gridiron Australia have endorsed Coach Leijten's first round of coaching appointment to his 'OUTBACK' Coaching and Management Staff. 

Coach Leijten has been able to assemble an experienced coaching staff, all of which have been involved in the game for a long period of time. There is an exciting mixture of coaches with international experience, returning World Championship coaches and returning Australian "OUTBACK" coaches. 

"I believe that we have coaches on our staff who have not only earned their stripes, but are also good teachers. All the coaches are highly motivated, are ready to start preparing for the 2015 World Championships and have set high expectations for themselves" explained Coach Leijten. 

The next three years will be integral to the Outback team preparations and the initial goal of securing qualification for the World Championships in 2015. Chris Josey, newly appointed Outback General Manager sees the Coach Leijten's expanded national team development program as essential to keeping pace with what is happen globally in the sport. 

"As nations throughout our region develop their programs, it is important that we continue to strive to create a world class program," he said. "The next three years will be an exciting period for this game in our country, and for everyone involved. I believe that John has successfully created a team of coaches that are passionate and committed to working toward a strong and structured National Program that is going to set the foundation for gridiron for Australia. It is definitely going to be a case of a lot of work, with little time to complete it." 

The new Outback coaches are: 

Offensive Line - Paul Manera (New South Wales) 

Running Backs - Martyn Carlton (South Australia) 

Wide Receivers - John Roe (Australian Capital Territory) 

Quarterbacks - Ross Smith (South Australia) 

Defensive Line - Ben Sinapati (Queensland) 

Linebackers - Antonio Piscioneri (New South Wales) 

Defensive Backs - JR Rogers (West Australia) 

Special Teams - Paul Garnham (Victoria) 

Coach Leijten expects to make future appointments to his coaching staff in the near future following the completion of his interview process. 

Congratulations to all that have been selected as Gridiron Australia looks forward to working with Coach Leijten and his team in preparing the Australian Outback National Team in its goal make it all the way to the 2015 IFAF Senior World Championship in Sweden.