EFNL 2024: Matt Price appointed North Ringwood coach

Six-time Eastern league medallist and Dromana premiership mentor Matt Price has returned to coaching.

Matt Price (left) lifts the 2023 MPFNL Division 1 cup. Picture: Josh Chadwick

Eastern league legend Matt Price has returned to coaching.

The former Coldstream champion will steer Division 1 club North Ringwood next season following Robbie Nahas’ resignation.

Price, who won six senior Eastern league best and fairest medals – earning official legend status after his third – is fresh from a year off coaching, following a four-year stint at Dromana.

He led the MPFNL club to the Division 1 flag in 2023 after joining the Tigers in 2017 as a player, helping them to the Division 2 premiership in ’18.

Assistant coach for Dromana’s 2019 Division 1 flag, Price also coached Coldstream across 2012-13.

The North Ringwood local said the Saints role was a “perfect fit”.

He’s spent the past year involved in the club’s junior program where his daughters play – declaring it whet the appetite for another senior gig.

“Being back involved with junior footy got the blood flowing a bit to get back into coaching,” Price said, who played in Coldstream’s 2001 flag.

“I thought it was the perfect fit – I’m involved in the club already and I’m five minutes from home, and it’s a standard I want to coach at.

“You look from the outside and you see they’ve got good juniors, a good system in place, so many teams with vets, two women’s teams, girls teams all the way through – they’re just a really well-rounded club.”

Price said he “never lost the bug” for coaching.

“When I finished up last year, it wasn’t because I hated coaching – it was purely because we’d moved back to the east,” he said.

“After we won the premiership and the next few weeks had gone past and the release of winning it had gone, it was more (a question of) ‘Do I want to jump into a job straight away?’, let’s have a look at what it looks like not coaching.

“I love teaching the young talent and watching them improve.

“I had that at Dromana and I think North Ringwood are similar – they want to get themselves back into Premier (Division) and I think I’m the right person to lead them down that path.”

The Saints were relegated from the top division at the end of 2022 – but featured in finals in Division 1 last year.

They’ve won just five matches from 16 this season – but Price was confident the club could rebound next year.

“I’ve watched a few games and I don’t think they’re far off,” he said.

“They’ve had a lot of injuries this year from what I’ve heard, they played finals last year and came from Premier the year before.

“They probably just need to consolidate with an off-field coach … I think they just need some leadership and some good coaching game-day as well, and just things like that, structuring up a little bit different.

“If they can take it all in quickly, I think we can bounce back pretty quick.”