Could this be the next QAFL powerhouse? Andy Lovell hopes to get Bond University scoring in the classroom and on the field.

The Gold Coast could soon have a new powerhouse QAFL club, with Bond University landing one of the biggest off season signings.

The Gold Coast could soon have a new powerhouse QAFL club, with Bond University landing one of the biggest off-season signings yet.

Andy Lovell, who played 150 AFL games across stints at Melbourne and West Coast, has been appointed Bond’s new director of football, awakening the chance for the QFA Division 2 side to one day reach the QAFL after already dominating the QAFLW scene.

The signing will lift Bond’s already thriving football department, with Lovell not ruling out an eventual move into the QAFL.

“The intention is to invest in the program and really grow it,” Lovell said.

“(We want to) grow the people, grow the program, keep pursuing that excellence and professionalism, and by extension if that’s what ends up happening (joining the QAFL) then that would be a fantastic thing.

“It’s more holistic around making sure the program is still at the forefront of what’s out there.

“By extension, if you invest in your people and your coaches and your program then hopefully the outcomes follow, and then who knows you could end up anywhere.”

Andy Lovell signs with Bond University as their Director of Sport. Photo: Cavan Flynn.

Lovell will bring a wealth of experience from senior coaching positions in the WAFL and VFL, and various roles including player welfare, head of development and senior assistant roles at West Coast, Geelong, St Kilda and the Gold Coast Suns.

The move will further strengthen Bond’s women’s program, who are already the country’s benchmark with 23 AFLW draftees — the most of any club in Australia.

“The (women’s) program is excellent, so our focus is to consolidate that and make sure that continues and keep growing it.

“Even though the program has been really successful, part of the culture at Bond is continual learning and improvement, which is part of the reason they looked to create a fulltime director of footy role.”

The role was a no-brainer for Lovell, who said he was easily lured back into the football world after a vastly enjoyable experience mentoring young First Nations boys as part of the Clontarf Foundation, many of who played AFL and rugby league.

“I was looking to get back into footy in some way shape or form, I just saw it as a great opportunity to get in,” he said.

“(At the Clontarf Foundation) it was our job to support, nurture and educate, and help get them through high school.

“Some boys we would pick up, take to school and drop home, take them on camps and excursions and classroom support. It was an awesome job, but I sort of always retained that love of footy and was keen to take on the Bond role.”

Andy Lovell signs with Bond University as their Director of Sport. Photo: Cavan Flynn.

Lovell said it was this experience of mentoring kids both on and off the field that drew him to Bond, where the focus was often on balancing work and study.

“The challenge around balancing life outside of footy is that lots of those footy players are ambitious and they want to reach as high a level as they can, and that’s part of the role – to provide that environment to do that.

“But at the same time, you need to balance life out of footy and the challenges and pressure of studies and a career.”

Lovell said his own career, where he was to complete an applied science degree at Victoria University while playing professionally, made him realise the importance of balancing football with outside life.

“I guess I was really lucky, or it was just circumstantial, that I played in an era where it was just transitioning into full time or professional.

“I had that chance to balance playing AFL footy with study, there wasn’t the same scrutiny on players back then that there is now. So I had a little bit more opportunity and free time to study, but it’s still really possible now.

“I’ve lived this in a sense. I was lucky enough to play footy and get a degree and balance that so hopefully I can bring some experience in that area.”

Lovell will begin later this month as Bond head into their pre-season.