The Kats were forced to make a coaching change after talented playing-coach Trent Herbert decided to make the move to Goulburn Valley League club Shepparton over the off-season.
Scouring the local football landscape, they decided to go down the route of experience this time around and landed on Whittaker, a man who has nearly two decades of coaching experience.
A much-loved figure at the Mooroopna Football Netball Club, he has spent the majority of his career at the Cats as both a player and coach.
Over the journey he has taken up lead roles in the club’s junior program, and more recently spent five seasons as a senior assistant for the senior side.
Whittaker said it was a tough decision to leave Mooroopna, but he could not turn down the opportunity to be the senior coach of a well-renowned club like Katandra.
“I am extremely excited to take on this role and a great challenge for me at this point in my career,” Whittaker said.
“The club reached out a few weeks ago and initially I said to them that I’d recommitted to my roles back at Mooroopna.
“But then I thought opportunities like this don’t come around like this too often and decided to go through the process and fortunately was appointed pretty quickly after that.
“It’s never an easy decision to leave your home club, but hopefully I leave Mooroopna having had some sort of positive impact, and can take what I’ve learnt there into this new role.”
Whittaker takes over a Katandra side fresh off making it to a semi-final in 2022.
With a host of talented youngsters at his disposal, he said he was excited by the prospect of coming in and taking the club to the next level.
“I have seen a little bit of the squad playing and have had a lot of conversations around their developing list,” he said.
“It’s a young list, which is good because the players aren’t so set in their ways and open and adaptable to change.
“So hopefully the group will adapt to my structures, set-ups and game plan and, with a few exciting recruits added to an already solid core, I think it is bright times ahead.”
As for his hopes and expectations for the season ahead, Whittaker said he was focused on bringing about improvement.
“Hopefully I’m an engageable type of coach that presents a game plan that the group will grasp quickly and thrive within,” he said.
“Next season will be all about continuing to develop the group and you’d hope we make incremental steps forward.
“There is always that expectation to be moving forward, so going further than last year is the major goal for us.”
