EDFL: Jimmy House locked in as Airport West coach

New Airport West boss Jimmy House has made no secret of his ambitions for his new club, revealing he did an “extensive amount of homework” before accepting the job.

Jimmy House has signed a two-year deal with Airport West. Picture: Facebook

New Airport West coach Jimmy House is targeting an immediate return to Premier Division after putting pen to paper on a two-year deal.

House replaces Geoff Maddern, who led the Eagles to the EDFL Division 1 flag in 2018 before they were relegated from the top flight this season.

The former North Heidelberg mentor said he was “excited” about Airport West’s list and made no secret of his ambitions.

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“I’m not there to coach in Division 1 for more than 12 months,” House said.

“They’re young and there’s raw talent.

“I did quite an extensive amount of homework on them prior to accepting the job and everyone said the talent’s endless on the list.

“They probably lacked the technical structures and modern-day game patterns that are required to go to the next level as a list.”

Airport West and Greenvale lock horns this year. Picture: Hamish Blair

House led North Heidelberg to the NFL Division 1 preliminary final in his only season at the helm in 2018 and was named the AFL Victoria Coach of the Year (northern region).

He resigned from the top job in January due to personal reasons and was a senior assistant coach of the NFL’s interleague team this year.

“Just the quality of the people involved at the footy club,” House said when asked what attracted him to Airport West.

“It’s been a long time coming. I was applying for a few VFL gigs, but the level of commitment involved to go to the next level was probably a little bit too much.”

House said the Eagles had already started recruiting for next season and praised the club’s committee for their “proactiveness”.

“A club’s only successful on field if it’s got really good support mechanisms behind it,” he said.

“They’ve been able to retain pretty much the whole list and secure four or five players already, which we’re really excited about.

“There’s a couple of blokes I’ve got in my networks who we’ll talk to … and I’m very confident the improvement from within will see us up the top end again.”

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