A foundation player for Brisbane Roar in the inaugural Isuzu UTE A-League season, Karl Dodd is back at the club as head coach of the men’s NPL team. He speaks to aleagues.com.au about the academy and his fascinating coaching journey.
There is Karl Dodd the coach, but also Karl Dodd the academic.
It’s a fascinating story of an Australian coach guiding the next generation of footballers while trying to make a life-changing impact.
Dodd is over two years in and hoping to graduate next year.
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“As I’ve grown and you go through life, you see everything as a system, and everything influences everything. So that way you can always optimise a system, make it as best as can be,” Dodd told aleagues.com.au.
“We’re applying this to an area that’s pretty pertinent, I will say, in sport, and something that probably hasn’t been unpacked properly.
“It’s just providing a different way of looking at things and methods. So rather than just looking at a victim and perpetrator level, we’re looking at the whole system. So all the way from the top, from guidelines and rules and what control does FIFA have all the way down? What does the government have all the way down? So how are we really preventing this occurring.
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“It’s a dynamic situation, because a perpetrator will always find a way. The rules can’t stay set in stone. You’ve got to keep adapting and try to stay ahead. But if you have this controls and feedback process and systems thinking, you can kind of improve or optimise the system. It’s transferable across all codes and businesses and everything and football.
“It’s just, what do we do another topic on something else, or do we do something that’s life changing or has huge impact and positive impact?
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
All of this while the 44-year-old Queenslander juggles life as a coach in Brisbane.
A foundation player for Brisbane Roar in the inaugural Isuzu UTE A-League season, Dodd is back at the club as the club’s NPL head coach for season 2025.
The former defender is working with Roar’s young cohort, looking to unearth the next talent following the emergence of academy graduate Lucas Herrington and co with Brisbane focusing on Queensland prospects.
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“I think all Queenslanders are proud of of Queensland and we just want to see boys and girls that have come through Queensland and the pathway and representing the top teams,” said Dodd.
“That will definitely get bums on seats. We’re very patriotic up here, so we’d love to see that.”
Dodd added: “We’ve got a lot of good players, even within the youth team now, there’ll be boys, if we get them up to speed, banging on Ruben’s (Zadkovich) door, pretty soon.
“We’ve got about four or five already training on a regular basis with him. So that’s testament to the hard work that those boys have put in, and also the environment we’ve created.
“The broader picture in Queensland, it’s a geographical nightmare, and you have different demographics. So when you have players from up north, you get a different type of player than the ones down in the city. So you need a good mixture because the Queensland mentality has to shine through on all our teams, in my opinion, so you need to make sure that’s evident.”
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Dodd is an integral part of that pathway from the academy to the Isuzu UTE A-League setup, which saw James Durrington debut prior to the international break.
The former Guam boss and Ruben Zadkovich are closely aligned but there are various layers to Dodd’s position as NPL head coach.
There is more to just on-field coaching when it comes to youth football.
“I think Ruben’s going through a transitional phase in the top team with players and such, and I’ve just come in, so I’m basically trying to produce well rounded players,” said Dodd.
“So if Ruben wants to play this formation or play this way, it’s like, okay, well, we can do that. These boys can adapt to it.
“There’s definitely principles that we want to play. We’re brave on the ball, we press, we work hard, all that kind of stuff but then they’re adaptable. Whatever formation or style that Ruben wants to take into a game, I’m just trying to get those boys well rounded, so they can do that. He doesn’t just go ‘well, he can go back down because he couldn’t this and this, or couldn’t keep up or attitude’, or anything like that.
“A lot of it is off-field stuff, with ego regulations too with the young boys. We can be a big fish small pond, and we haven’t made it. I tell the young boys you’ve never made it, even if you signed your pro contract or your second or third, you’ve never made it so the day you’ve made it, you’ve finished because you stop getting better.
“So you shouldn’t ever think about that stuff and the Instagram athlete mentality. It’s I want to be the best footballer, the best version of myself, and I’m continually getting better and better and better. The rest is part and parcel, but you don’t get caught up in that.
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“I think this generation probably gets to them a bit more. I mean there’s a lot more social media, there’s a lot more access right, visibility for them as an athlete, especially compared to when I was coming through. It’s part of what they’ve got to deal with. So teaching them how to deal with those kind of things as well, and keeping their head on a swivel.
“There’s always a gentle conversation about keeping your ego in check and having a healthy ego. You’re confident but it’s because you’re competent, because you are the best you at your work. So there’s a balancing act off the field.
“Then a lot of the boys have got school, so you’re balancing all these things. There’s a lot going on. So they’ve just got to learn to be good organisers, and you teach them to be adults.”
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The former Brisbane City head coach added: “We’re big on the person, because the person transfers to the field, so who you are as a character, and they’re developing that. We all go off a little bit and we test the waters.
“It’s just about, are you willing to adjust and keep being a good person, getting better?
“I’ll talk about the Gold Coast boys that drive up. So there’s five of them that pretty much all got their licenses recently. So instead of car pooling, they’re all driving separately because they just got their license. Guys, you gotta use your brain. I know you’re excited because you’ve got your license.
“So just little things, training is the easy part, right? Herding cats almost. Then all the things that happen off the field, keep on top of your schoolwork, so you don’t have 10 assignments due this week, and then you come in mentally fatigued because you’ve been spending all week on your assignments. All those things, and then getting on top of your washing, are you making your meals properly? Do you know how to do that because if you want to make it as a pro, you’re going to be living alone, and that’s one of the biggest reasons for home sickness when you go overseas, because you don’t know how to cook, shop, all those little basics. So life skills.
“If you don’t make it as a pro, then it’s going to help you in whatever work you do. That’s what we’re trying to develop on and off the field. There’s a lot that goes in when we’re the first entry point for these players.”
Dodd continued: “There’s a saying, right? You’ve got to be young and reckless before you’re old and wise. I’m lucky social media wasn’t around back in the day like I’ve done just about everything you can imagine wrong so I know when things are going on and when they’re lying or they’ve done something.
“It’s just good to see them have fun and all that, but stay as a good person and don’t get into too much trouble.
“James Durrington is a fantastic one because his biggest improvement wasn’t on the field, yes he improved on it but it was his off-field development that was the biggest one.
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“He’ll be a really good midfield general, and his leadership and care for the group, he’s grown a lot on that side, and that’s transferred to his football. When he first come in, he was probably a little bit underdone, to be honest. He come back into the youth team and he worked his butt off, on and off the field as part of the leadership group. You’re so happy for him, because he’s such a good person. He deserves it.
“It’s the same with a lot of the other boys and I think a lot of the other boys know that if you’re a cancer and you’re not a good person, then you won’t be in this group. I’ve already moved some players out because of that, because it transfers to the field.
“If you’re not willing to demonstrate mateship, then you’re out. That’s not what we’re about as a club. That’s our identity, we are about each other. That’s our strength, our point of advantage as well.”
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Dodd – who also played with Wellington Phoenix and North Queensland Fury in the A-Leagues – is up, close and personal with his Roar prospects.
He has been impressed so far and high hopes for a “handful” of them.
“There’s a lot of good ones coming through that I rate,” he said. “I think there are going to be, in this next year or so, probably more than a handful of players coming through this system into the top team. That’s my opinion.
“I said, I don’t want you just to make the A-League squad. I don’t want you to be number 23 and you’re training. We’re developing you to go up there and take a spot and start, that’s the mentality.
“That’s what I want to produce. Otherwise you go up there, you spend a year on a contract and you never play, and then you get released because you haven’t demonstrated that you’re worthy of a starting spot.”
The Roar’s youngsters are benefiting from the experience of a coach who spent four eye-opening years at the helm of minnows Guam.
Ranked 203 in the world, Dodd took charge of the country in 2017 as part of an attempt to engineer a football revolution.
That stint is still not lost on him.
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“Where do you start? Personally, your values will get challenged every day because you’re alone and you’re being tested,” Dodd reflected.
“You’re alone, trying to implement a philosophy and it’s not just the players, it’s to a board, it’s to staff.
“So you’re training up, and you’re constantly questioning yourself and they’re questioning you, and until you get that success or traction, where they see it, it’s the unknown, right?
“You become another outsider selling a dream. That takes time so personally that. Coaching wise, I learned to break it down to the molecular level. I had pros, guys playing MLS, USL, good players and then I had guys that were decent players, but they’d just never been taught to the depth that we were taught, or I was taught coming through.
“You’re giving a bit of a technical of advice, they look at you, what do you mean? So how do I get this message through and explain it so that you understand. You learn to become very good at simplifying your message and getting it across, otherwise, you’ll be out on that pitch for 30 minutes just talking, explaining every little thing. You become very good at (that).
“It was good. Lots of tests, travel everything. You learn to be a CEO. (I) can probably work at a travel agent now.
“It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever done for my coaching development, because you always think you’re doing alright as a coach, and you go somewhere and it’s that saying, ‘everyone’s got a plan till they get punched in the face’.”
Featured image: Brisbane Roar
