New Willaston coach Andrew Jarman talks about Barossa competition, local footy and playing
Willaston made one of the signings off the off-season with the appointment of Andrew Jarman, and the Crows legend talks about the competition, local footy and prospects of playing.
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Willaston Football Club hasn’t won a premiership since the last 1990s, and in its bid to break that drought, it has employed former Adelaide Crows legend Andrew Jarman as coach.
Jarman, who last coached Adelaide Football League side Gaza in 2019, took on the role in the off-season after the departure of Shaun Baker in the middle of 2020.
The 54-year-old won two Magarey Medals during his tenure in the SANFL and has also coached at the level, mentoring his former club North Adelaide from 2004 to 2008.
The new Donnybrooks coach went one-on-one with The Barossa, Clare & Gawler News’ Jack Hudson.
Jack Hudson: How are you feeling going into the year with Willaston?
Andrew Jarman: A lot of excitement, because I hadn’t really thought about putting my hand up to coach again.
Obviously, we’ve had the horrible year this year.
There was a phone call and another one, then I thought about it and I’ve always had a love for community football, always had a passion for it.
It’s where my DNA really is even though I’ve had a great journey playing footy at the highest level.
I thought Willaston, they’ve been a club which has underachieved the last 20-odd years, so I thought ‘why not, why not give it a go?’.
JH: How much do you know about the BL&G competition?
AJ: Not much to be honest with you.
I know a lot of good SANFL players go there, so there must be some sort of attraction.
They tell me the community gets right behind their respective teams and that’s something that’s driven me towards the Willaston Footy Club with three clubs in Gawler.
There’d be bragging rights in the town of Gawler.
You hear a lot about, coaching the ammos for a long period of time, you hear about the Barossa competition, and the things they do.
It might be a nice fit for a year or two.
JH: Have you met with the playing group?
AJ: They’re starved, they’re craving for some knowledge, structures, disciplines and as a coach you keep learning, you don’t stop learning.
I’ve learned a hell of a lot having a break this footy season, you can always do things better and they’ve been outstanding, we’ve retained nearly 95 per cent of our list from this year and got a couple back.
You’re always going to lose a couple along the way, that’s okay, that’s life, but we need to focus more on our junior program and get them up to speed and on the same page.
I met the players the other night and they were fantastic, great numbers and the supporter base was great, we just need to get to work now and see what we can put together next year.
JH: You mentioned the juniors and they’ve had a strong program for years, are there ones you’ve taken a notice of?
AJ: We have and I’ve had some good support with the president, Aldo Pasin and our footy manager, Damien Herzick, who has done a terrific job across the last nine months.
We’ve appointed a new under 17s coach in Trevor Spong and we’ll make sure the 17s are aligned to the senior program and if they’re good enough and play well, they’ll get an opportunity.
I’m not going to sway from that and I did that at Gaza, I’ll give a young lad an opportunity.
If he’s good enough as well he should be playing SANFL, so we’ll try and encourage that too.
JH: You probably have a few players who could contest SANFL footy as well, including Tyson Irlam who was a Crows top-up player a few years ago, have you spoken to him about that?
AJ: He’s driven to get some success at his footy club, and he’s had that taste.
We’ve had little discussions about it, but he’s done so much for Willaston, he’s taken on a lot of responsibility, so I just want him to focus on getting himself fit and playing some good footy and let me worry about all that now.
We can build a good side around him, don’t worry about that.
JH: You’ve added a couple of boys as well, tell us a bit about them.
AJ: Young Ollie Petrohilos played on the Port Adelaide top-ups and was at Norwood.
He’s got a great footy IQ, very clever around goals, he’s about 6’1.
He can play multiple roles and he’s a good lad, so I’m excited to get him on board.
His mate, Corey Smith, fast, can link up and when I drove into the Willaston Oval, I thought we need speed because we need some run out there as it’s a big deck.
That’s been a priority to get a bit more run and carry and he can play anywhere too.
JH: How about yourself, planning on playing in the Bs at all?
AJ: You just never know, you just never know.
I’ve never retired, only from the SANFL and told to leave in the AFL.
I’ve polled votes at Morphettville Park in four games, so there’s a chance.
I love being out there and I love competing, but first priority is to get this up and running and get everyone on board.
There’s no magic wand but we’ll get some structures in place, we’ve made some big changes in the last four weeks.
It’s exciting and I have a bit of a spring in my step.