Aaron Tymms discusses his decision to step down as Melton coach

After seven years, Aaron Tymms is calling time on his tenure at Melton. The premiership coach reveals why the time was right for him to move on.

Melton coach Aaron Tymms. Picture: Hamish Blair

Aaron Tymms takes plenty of pride in what he’s achieved at Melton.

Taking a club that hadn’t played Ballarat league finals in close to a decade to four consecutive finals appearances, a preliminary final, two grand finals and a drought-breaking premiership.

Not to mention helping the club and its playing group through two COVID-cancelled seasons.

However, after seven seasons with the Bloods – he started out as an assistant to Brad Murphy in 2017 – he believed it was time for a change for both he and the club.

“I’ve got two boys so it’s time for their dad to be home a bit more and from a professional point of view I think it’s best for the boys,” Tymms said.

“They’ve probably one had one coach because of the age group, and if they’ve had two it’s only Murph, so I think it’s the right move for the boys to learn a little bit more.

“I made the decision at the start of the year so the club knew but we wanted to let the players know and the club can move forward with a new coach and re-signing players.

“It’s not taking anything away from what we’re trying to achieve and I’m certainly clocking out, I just thought it was the best thing moving forward.

“Whoever takes over can speak to the players, get the group re-signed, if we go deep in finals we didn’t want to leave them rushing around after the season once players have left.”

There’s still a couple of boxes to tick before Tymms departs.

Melton is eyeing back-to-back premierships, which would only further cement him in club folklore.

The Bloods sit on top of the ladder, two games clear, with three rounds remaining in the home-and-away season.

After a hard-fought 36-point win over Sunbury, a second straight minor premiership is essentially sown up with a bye, blockbuster top-of-the-table clash against Darley and final-round hitout against Lake Wendouree to come.

However, Tymms is taking nothing for granted as a “fairytale” finish looms.

“It would be a nice fairytale but we know life isn’t a fairytale most of the time,” he said.

“They’re not easy to win, hopefully we can get there but if we don’t I think we’ve been a pretty good mix me and Melton.

“Hopefully a good hitout against Darley can prep us for the first week of finals and the way the ladder is shaping up we’ll probably play them again in the first week of finals.

“I’m pretty proud of what we’ve done, it’s not just me, there’s been a lot of contributors and the playing group is the main one.

“I can hold my head up high and walk back into the club proud of what I’ve done and next year I can sit back, drink a few beers and watch the kids run around.”

What the future holds, Tymms is looking to take at least a year off.

Although his wife isn’t so sure.

“My wife thinks I’ll be back within three or four months,” he said.

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“I’ve never not had footy so I don’t know what it’s like without it.

“I’m looking forward to summer and not having to go to pre-season training, ringing different players trying to recruit, so I’ll be sitting back for a while.”

Elsewhere, East Point will have a new coach in 2024 after Jackson Merrett stepped down, while Darley has locked away Dan Jordan until the end of 2025.

Melton South is also on the look out for a new coach after parting ways with Jason Hamilton.