Port Adelaide vice-captain Hamish Hartlett will be a development coach at Goodwood Saints
A division one amateur football club will be boosted with an AFL star signing on as a development coach ahead of the 2021 season.
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Port Adelaide vice-captain Hamish Hartlett has 181 AFL games under his belt so far, giving him plenty of experience with what it takes to make it at the top level.
Now the 30-year-old is set to impart some of that wisdom on to players and coaches at Adelaide Footy League division one powerhouse and reigning premier Goodwood Saints.
Hartlett, who is preparing to enter his 12th season with the Power, will be a development coach at Goodwood this year, working with all grades at the club.
The half-back said he was looking forward to helping at various training sessions at least once a fortnight, pending the AFL’s COVID-19 rules.
“My role is to be a bit of a mentor to the coaches across all grades through juniors and seniors,” Hartlett said.
“They can lean on me for any piece of advice that they’re after.
“I’ll try to analyse things from afar and hopefully can make some improvements to some of the coaching practises and what the guys are doing at training.”
Hartlett, who was selected at No. 4 at the 2008 AFL National Draft, said he was considering a career in coaching once his playing days were over.
It would be a chance to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Adam who mentored the Imperials to the 2019 Sunraysia Football League grand final before signing as a defensive coach with West Adelaide ahead of the 2021 SANFL season.
“One of the values of Goody Saints is that they’re really keen to develop guys at a junior level and then get them to play football at SANFL level and above,” Hartlett said.
“Having a standard set that is quite high will help them to achieve that.
“It’s obviously a great football club that wants to achieve more success and they are trying to make sure they do everything to make that happen which is fantastic.
“Coaching is certainly something I have become more interested in as I’ve got a little bit older, I really enjoy mentoring younger players and helping them develop.
“I feel like this is a little stepping stone towards that and it would be great for my experience in helping my career develop outside of my playing career.”
Goodwood’s A grade side won last year’s top tier flag, beating Rostrevor Old Collegians by 24 points and dedicated the victory to former teammate Shane Tuck, who died suddenly three months before the grand final.
Premiership coach Luke Donaldson said the club was focused on sustained success and having Hartlett join as a development mentor to help players and coaches as a step in that direction.
“It’s fantastic … to have someone with his (Hartlett’s) expertise and the level he’s playing at is great for us as coaches but also for the playing group.,” Donaldson said.
“We want to have the best 17.5 program in the state so that helps feed effectively the senior squad and I think Hamish will definitely draw players to the club that want to be involved at somewhat elite program.”
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