Former AFL player Logan Austin appointed coach of Bairnsdale

A boost for the Gippsland league club as it sets down a sturdy platform for the 2022 season.

Logan Austin in a marking contest with Port Adelaide’s Charlie Dixon.

There’s a confident stride to the Bairnsdale Redlegs after the club secured former AFL player Logan Austin as senior coach for 2022.

Austin’s parents live at Lakes Entrance and the Redlegs have been talking to him for some time about joining them in the strong Gippsland league.

This year the 26-year-old played for Rochester in the Goulburn Valley.

Austin replaces non-playing coach Darren Martin, who has been in charge for four seasons, the last two hit by Covid.

The Redlegs, “ultra-young’’ according to football manager Greg McCarrey, were 1-9 when the latest lockdown interrupted the Gippy league.

McCarrey said Austin was originally from Canberra but his parents were now at Lakes Entrance, giving him a strong connection to the area.

Austin’s uncle Peter also played for the Redlegs.

New Bairnsdale coach Logan Austin.

Bairnsdale has been casting around for a coach since the start of this year, when Martin indicated he would be stepping aside.

“We’ve been speaking to Logan on and off throughout the year,’’ McCarrey said.

“He’s got that link to east Gippsland with his family, which historically is pretty important in trying to find someone given our location.

“He certainly ticks a lot of boxes in terms of what he can bring to the footy club, through his six years in the AFL. From that point of view it’s very exciting, because we’ve got an ultra-young playing group. He’s got that experience and he’ super-fit and just under 6’5 and really versatile. He should be a really influential player in the Gippsland league.’’

Drafted in 2015, Austin, 194cm, played 13 AFL games for Port Adelaide from 2015-17 and added seven more at St Kilda from 2018-20.

In 10 matches for Rochester this year he kicked 17 goals and was named in the best players seven times.

McCarrey said Martin did a “really good job’’ with predominantly local players.

“It was really a development year for us this year and we’ve been really happy with how the young players have come on,’’ he said.

“Adding Logan – and we’re confident we’ll add a couple of others before the start of next season – we think we’re in a good spot.’’

Bairnsdale last won a Gippsland league flag in 1981, when the competition was called the La Trobe Valley.

McCarrey said the league had had an influx of former AFL and VFL players in the past few years, and in 2021 was “as strong as it’s been in a while’’.