EDFL 2020: AFL great Paul Chapman departs Greenvale
Perennial EDFL contender Greenvale is on the hunt for a new coach after Paul Chapman confirmed his exit from the Premier Division club.
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Greenvale has been rocked by the departure of coach Paul Chapman after three years at the helm.
The AFL great announced his exit from the EDFL Premier Division club at training on Thursday night after leading the Jets to 40 wins from 58 games, including a grand final appearance in 2017.
Greenvale president Bruce Kent said personal commitments had forced the three-time Geelong premiership player to relinquish his coaching duties.
“Paul and I have had some discussions over the last week, as we were getting back to training, and he expressed some concern on just the difficulties of him doing it given the current environment,” Kent said.
“He lives a fair way from the ground now, he’s built a property up in the country, he’s got two young kids and he’s trying to establish a business.
“It’s just another unintended consequence of the pandemic.”
Greenvale finished minor premier in Chapman’s first season at the helm in 2017 before losing the major semi-final and decider to rival Aberfeldie.
It suffered a first-week finals exit the following year before finishing in fifth position last season.
The Jets also claimed two reserves premierships and a thirds flag during Chapman’s tenure.
“It’s been good. Last year was a bit disappointing when our seniors missed the four because we almost never miss the four,” Kent said.
“It’s been good. He’s a likeable bloke. It seems years ago since we reappointed him and had the pre-season going.
“It’s disappointing, but he won’t be the only person who has to put his family and job ahead of footy.”
Greenvale has a history of appointing high-profile coaches, with ex-AFL players Steve MacPherson, Anthony Rock, Adam McPhee and Shannon Grant steering the club this century.
Kent said the Jets hoped to lock in their interim coaching arrangements in coming days.
Premiership trio Rowan Nayna, James Rohan and Dean Smith have returned over the off-season, while Josh Smith (Heidelberg), Nick Parthenopoulos (Pascoe Vale), Cody Lynch and Matthew Bonello (both Wallan) have left.
“It’s not as if we’ve been planning for this for months, as you can appreciate,” Kent said.
“I think it’s fair to say we’ve got some options internally and externally that would all be pretty good.
“They’ll all be people that will make us a pretty good team and we’ll hope to have that decision made sometime next week.
“We’re still looking at this season as if it’s any other season – you go into it to try and win it.”
The EDFL has released provisional start dates for the 2020 campaign amid the coronavirus crisis, with Premier Division clubs scheduled to kick off on August 1, while the first bounce for Division 1 and 2 teams is slated for July 25.
Kent said he was “very confident” a season would proceed but added he remained wary of the fact the health battle was not over yet.
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