Henley premiership coach Jarrad Wright to replace Garry Hocking at South Adelaide
SOUTH Adelaide has appointed former player Jarrad Wright as senior coach.
SOUTH Adelaide has appointed former player Jarrad Wright as senior coach.
A former Brisbane Lions draft pick, Wright this year coached amateur league club Henley to the Division Two premiership.
He will replace high-profile former Geelong star Garry Hocking, who has joined AFL club Collingwood as an assistant coach after just one year at Pantherland.
Wright, who played at Woodville-West Torrens and South, has a strong coaching CV despite being just 33.
He coached the Eagles to reserves premierships in 2013 and 2014 before returning to the Panthers where he spent two years as midfield coach under Brad Gotch.
He joined Henley as senior coach at the end of 2016 after the club had been relegated from the Adelaide Football League’s top tier and in his first season in charge led the club to the Division Two flag and back to Division One.
He said he was excited to take the next step in his coaching career.
“It is certainly a big step forward in my career, but one I am really enthusiastic about taking,” Wright said.
“Obviously I played a fair bit of SANFL football with South Adelaide and Woodville-West Torrens and have also coached at both clubs. I experienced some great success with the Eagles, winning back-to-back premierships with the reserves.
“It certainly gives me great confidence having a pre-existing relationship with the club itself, but also having experienced some success in my coaching career so far gives me some conviction in what I can do.”
He was drafted by the Brisbane Lions as a 17-year-old at pick 35 at the 2001 AFL national draft after being the SA under-18 captain that year.
But Wright failed to play a game in two seasons — when Brisbane won consecutive flags — before being delisted.
His career was curtailed by injury.
Henley football director Rod Hill said the club is disappointed to lose Wright just one year into his two-year contract but said he was joining the Panthers with their blessing.
“Jarrad is a very talented young coach who did an outstanding job in leading our club back to Division One,’’ Hill told The Advertiser.
“As disappointed as we are to lose him we understand the opportunity that he has been presented with and we wish him all the best for the future.’’
Wright is the second former Henley coach to join the SANFL coaching ranks this month.
Former Eagles star Gavin Colville, who coached Henley from 2011-14, has replaced premiership coach Mark Mickan at West Adelaide.
Wright’s appointment at South follows that of Port Adelaide reserves/academy coach Mark Clayton as the club’s new talent manager and Centre of Excellence under-18s coach.
andrew.capel@news.com.au