Alex Guy to coach Glenunga for 2025 Adelaide Footy League season

A former SANFL assistant has stepped in as A Grade coach of a rising division one Adelaide Footy League power with hopes of leading the club to a historic premiership.

A former SANFL League assistant has taken over as coach of a division one grand finalist for 2025.

Alex Guy will step in as Glenunga coach next season, replacing the departing Nathan Grima nearly two weeks after the club’s grand final loss to Port District.

Guy, who served as an assistant for Glenunga this year and also spent four years as an assistant for Sturt under Grima and Martin Mattner before becoming A Grade coach of Athelstone, said he was excited by the opportunity with the Rams.

“It’s an honour,” Guy said.

“Glenunga is a big club with a big junior program and it’s really exciting to have the opportunity to steer the club to its first div one flag.

Alex Guy has taken over as Glenunga coach after Nathan Grima's departure. Picture: Max Stapleton

“Naturally we’re all disappointed only a week and a bit on from the grand final but we’re still proud of the season we had and it’s a young group with some senior guys so let’s keep all those guys together and keep building.”

Guy combined well with Grima, who brought him in as an assistant with the view of him eventually taking over, to lead the Rams to 17 minor round wins and a second consecutive D1 grand final this year.

He said he was hoping to build off of the work his predecessor had done throughout the past four seasons.

“Nathan has had a clear idea of how the game should be played at the local level and we’ve managed to have some success.

“There might be a couple areas we can evolve in but for the most part it’s going to be about building off of what we’ve already established.

Guy served as an assistant coach for the Rams last season. Picture: Max Stapleton

“We’re confident we can continue to improve and take the next step but we also need to understand it is a challenge to do what we’ve done and that getting back to a grand final is not guaranteed.

“We’ll sit down as a group and debrief the grand final but our next step following that will be to establish what we need to do to achieve the ultimate success.”

While he has inherited a strong list with names like back-to-back league medallist Abe Davis, skilled goal sneak Beau Schwarze and Team of the Year ruckman Jordan West, Guy also signalled he would look to add to the group ahead of 2025.

“I think every club will be looking at gaps in their list,” he said.

“I’ll try to tap into existing networks as part of the recruitment process and all of them might not come to fruition but you’re always hoping you can add talent ahead of the season.

“Hopefully we can keep this group together and continue to build.”