AFL Yarra Ranges: Woori Yallock signs Healesville veteran Bryan ‘Jack’ Cole as new coach

The desire to freshen up after four years at the helm at Healesville has seen veteran coach Bryan ‘Jack’ Cole sign on as head coach at Woori Yallock for the coming season.

The desire to freshen up after four years at the helm at Healesville has seen veteran coach Bryan ‘Jack’ Cole sign on as head coach at Woori Yallock for the coming season.

“Four years is about the limit for a local coach,” he said. “I was looking for a change and Woori got in touch.

“It all happened pretty quickly.”

CHANGE AT THE HELM IN THE EAST AND SOUTH

KEMPERMAN RETURNS TO THE EAST

FORMER ROO, BLUE BACK WHERE IT STARTED

Woori Yallock was impressed by Bryan Cole’s ability to communicate with young players. Picture: Stuart Milligan

As well as being a good fit for his philosophy of what a club should be about, the Tigers have made the past two grand finals and have plenty of quality, both on-field and off, to work with.

“I really like the people up there, they’re a good local footy club,” Cole said.

“Guys like Danny Ryan, it’s a really good football club.

“They’ve got a core group of guys who’ve played in a couple of flags.”

In taking up the new position, Cole reflected on his time at Healesville, which garnered the 2016 premiership flag

“They’re great people, I’ve loved my time there,” he said.

“It’s a great ground to coach on.

“Obviously the flag (was a highlight) but even making the grand final that first year (2015) after finishing seventh the year before.”

With the influx of clubs from the now defunct South-East Football Netball League, to form the AFL Outer-East competition, Cole will step onto a whole new playing field come the first bounce of 2019.

“I think it’s a massive challenge for the Yarra Valley clubs,” he said.

“Just the demographics of some of the clubs coming in. They are such big areas compared to some of the tiny Yarra Valley towns.

“But, now that the decision has been made, we’re all pretty excited about it.

“We’ll have to play the first six or so games before we can tell where we are at.”

Cole is one of the most experienced coaches in suburban footy having played at Collingwood in the late 70s before 15 years of senior coaching experience at NFL clubs Greensborough and Montmorency and his premiership-winning stint at Healesville.

He is regarded by most in the game as a great communicator, particularly with young developing players.

Woori Yallock president Robert Thompson said the veteran coach had long been on the Tigers’ radar.

“We interviewed him about four or five years ago, so we’ve been watching him very closely at Healesville since then,” he said.

Like Cole, Thompson said the club is now looking forward to the challenge of the AFL Outer-East and he felt Woori Yallock was well-placed to be competitive against some of the giants that will be moving over from the SEFNL.

“The advantage for us is they’ve (Cranbourne, Berwick, Beaconsfield) got big, wide grounds which suits our side of runners,” he said. “Having a young team (like ours) they’re keen to rise to the occasion.”