Posted on 5 September, 2022

Cobras head coach Pete Godfrey has been named the NBL1 South Men’s Coach of the Year for the 2022 season.

Godfrey enjoyed a standout 2022 campaign – his first full NBL1 season – leading the Cobras to a 16-6 regular season mark, tied for second in the league standings. The Cobras regular season was even more impressive than their 16-6 mark; they went a combined 6-2 against playoff teams in 2022 and boasted the league’s best home record, losing just once in 11 games at Kilsyth. Godfrey also developed one of the league’s top defensive units, with the Cobras allowing the fourth fewest points per game in 2022. 

The Cobras top-three finish earned them a home semi final, which turned out to be a signature win for Godfrey and co. Trailing by 19 points, Godfrey’s cool, calculated demeanour and trust in his bench guided the Cobras to an incredible comeback victory over Bendigo, advancing them to the conference final four. 

Though they would fall agonisingly short of a berth in the Conference championship game, the Cobras season was an overwhelming success on a number of fronts. Leading the charge on-court was a collection of eight Kilsyth domestic juniors – all of which had progressed to pass through the Cobras VYC program and land on the NBL1 roster. The eight local juniors was the most of any team in the league, and they – along with veteran Cobra Tim Lang – were leaned on heavily all season long, with import Trey Moses missing time with injury and Deng Deng with injury and NBL commitments.

Since taking the reins of the NBL1 Cobra Men, Godfrey has led the group to a 25-10 regular season mark from 2021-22. And after his award-winning season, he has them poised to go even further in 2023.