Chris Maple announces retirement from coaching

The first coaching move has been made in the Ballarat league for next year. Find out why one coach is leaving.

The Ballarat Swans will have a new coach in 2025. Picture: Ballarat Swans Football Netball Club.

This year will be the swansong for Chris Maple and his football career as a coach and player.

Last night, Ballarat announced Maple would stand down as coach at the end of the season.

It ends a two-year reign with the Swans.

Maple has helped the club rebuild with the youthful squad winning 40 per cent of matches he’s coached.

This year the team is on track for finals, currently sixth in the Ballarat league, two games clear of the rest of the chasing pack.

Maple said the reason behind the move was simple, it was time to step away from it all and retire.

“I notified the club a long time ago, pre Christmas,” he revealed.

“It was a two year deal after coming out of the AFL. Rather than go from seven days a week, non stop chaos, to nothing, I wanted to do something to be involved in my local club.

“It’s been, when you put playing on top of that, 48 years. It’s been great but you have to retire at some stage.”

Maple has done it all in coaching over more than 20 years.

He started coaching with Tatyoon in 1999 before moving to Buninyong in 2001 and winning a premiership with the team in the Central Highlands in 2002.

Maple then coached the Greater Western Victoria Rebels before being part of the Western Bulldogs for 12 years as not only their VFL coach but also as an AFL assistant.

Chris Maple at the Western Bulldogs in 2021. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos)

He said while the club was in prime position for the future, the time had come for him to move on.

“It takes time and unfortunately I want to do other things in my life,” he said.

“That’s where we have got the place set up well. It’s now an opportunity for another coach to come in and mould that group to push forward to be a consistently successful team.

“The club is in a pretty good spot at the minute.”

Maple won’t be lost entirely to the Swans, he’ll stay around as a mentor to the coaches

But whether he helps the new senior coach will depend on the person recruited.

“I’ll hang around and mentor some junior coaches,” he said.

“It will be up for that person of whether I have any involvement from a mentoring point of view. It’s good to give the incumbent some clean air.

“I’ll be involved as little or as much as that person would want.”

The focus for the team is now on making sure it makes the finals.

“There’s still a lot in the air with five games left, we are not a lock,” Maple said.

“Sebastopol have got a pretty fit and firing squad at the minute and are travelling pretty well.

“They are the main danger, I think from those coming from below us.”