Dennis Armfield to coach Bacchus Marsh

A former AFL livewire forward will make the move to country footy next season after signing a deal to coach.

Another ex-AFL player is making the move to coach a team in the Ballarat league.

Former Carlton player Dennis Armfield has been appointed as the new coach of Bacchus Marsh, taking over from Jason Williams who left at the end of the season to be a Port Adelaide development coach.

Williams, in his only season at the club, guided a youthful team to six wins.

Armfield played 145 games for the Blues during his career from 2008 to 2017, becoming a cult hero at the club for his celebrations and commitment to Carlton.

He becomes the second former AFL player to coach a Ballarat league team in the past 12 months after Jackson Merrett (Essendon) coached East Point.

Dennis Armfield is making the move to coach in the Ballarat league. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Media/Getty Images

In the past couple of years Armfield coached Park Orchards in the Eastern Football League.

He was also an assistant coach for North Melbourne in the AFLW in 2018.

“Dennis reached out to us and we reached out to him,” Bacchus Marsh president Ian McClure said.

“The number one criteria (for us) was the candidate, in our view, continue Jason’s work and continue to nurture our young list.

“We sat down and had a bit of a chat with Dennis, we interviewed other people as well, but Dennis with his experience and our young list, we thought he was the best choice.”

McClure said the team would not change much in the off-season with the Cobras happy with the rise of their young squad.

The team won four of their last five matches with their only loss coming by 12 points to eventual premiers Darley.

“We’ll be looking to top up our list but we’ll bring in people who fit what we need,” McClure said.

“We’ve got a very good list of young men, we just need a few top ups in certain areas.”