Central Murray: Coaching great Troy Coates leaving Kerang after grand final

Kerang will farewell coach Troy Coates after the Central Murray grand final on Saturday, with a premiership to put him in rarefied air.

Kerang’s Troy Coates can add one more flag to the already most successful coaching career in Central Murray league history with victory in the grand final at Swan Hill on Saturday.

The league was formed in 1997 and Kerang has won 10 of the 26 premierships decided with Coates playing in nine of them including six as coach.

Since 2000, only Horsham Demons’ Stuart Farr has coached the same club to more flags.

Farr coached the Demons to seven premierships during a streak of 10 in a row from 2003 before being sensationally dumped from the job at the end of 2012.

But unlike Farr, the Kerang coaching legend is departing on his terms.

In mid-July, Coates called time at Kerang where his two stints in charge began with a flag in 2013.

A return to the Bendigo league, where he has also coached Strathfieldsaye to a premiership in 2019, is on the cards.

Kerang co-coaches Troy Coates and Travis Matheson flank captain Ryan Gillingham as they hold aloft the 2015 premiership cup.

But the immediate priority is leading Kerang to another premiership against Nyah Nyah West

United, which has only won two Central Murray flags, with the most recent being 2001.

Travis Matheson, who played under and coached alongside Coates at Kerang for a decade, said the traits of his sustained coaching success started with “leading from the front”.

“The things that jump out at me about his coaching are many,” Matheson said.

“First and foremost he leads from the front.

“He’s been one of the best players around during that time and often the difference in the big games.

“He unites his playing group and club with outstanding buy-in from players and community.

“He also finds improvement in everyone.

“This is evident with a quick look at the number of locals in Kerang sides over the years.”

Kerang is the only team in the league’s history to win six flags in a row with the legendary run starting in 2012 under Paul Grayling.

Kerang coach Troy Coates, left, and captain Josh Nitschke lift the Central Murray premiership cup last year. Picture: Tracy Roberts

Coates followed in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 before Matheson led the Blues to the 2017 victory with Coates a member of the flag-winning team.

Coates took over from triple premiership coach Daryl Wilson at Strathfieldsaye in 2018 and lost the grand final to Eaglehawk in his first season before turning the tables in 2019.

One of his 2019 Strathfieldsaye premiership players, Bryce Curnow, joined Coates when he returned to Kerang and led the club to back-to-back flags in 2022-23.

Curnow is now co-coach of Sandhurst, which will also play in a grand final on Saturday against Gisborne following a narrow defeat to Golden Square last year.

Originally published as Central Murray: Coaching great Troy Coates leaving Kerang after grand final