Hayden Heta steps down after one season as Fitzroy Star coach
Hayden Heta helped turned Fitzroy Stars’ on-field fortunes around this season but was left frustrated by the player points system as he announced his decision to step down as senior coach.
Local Footy
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Footy. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Hayden Heta says stepping down as Fitzroy Stars coach was one of the hardest decisions he’s had to make.
Heta will only serve one season in the top job at Sir Doug Nicholls Oval but helped the Stars climb the NFL Division 2 ladder after just two wins in 2018.
With two rounds remaining, the Stars have five wins and a draw and will look to finish the home-and-away season strongly against Watsonia and St Mary’s.
DIV 3: GARRARD CALLS TIME ON TURTLES TENURE
LEADER: GET YOUR NORTHERN FOOTY NEWS HERE
DIV 1: McLENNAN STEPPING DOWN AT NORTHCOTE PARK
Heta said a young family and growing work demands meant he would be unable to commit the time he believed necessary to coach successfully.
“I put everything into it this year and I knew if I wanted to do it any justice and do it again, I’d need to step it up even more,” Heta said.
“I’ve sacrificed a lot for footy and it’s just time for other priorities to take over.”
A playing coach, Heta will also hang up the boots after 13 games and a club-leading 22 goals this season.
The Stars made a strong start to the campaign, but the club fell out of finals contention after a six-game losing streak mid-season.
Heta expressed his frustrations with the statewide player points system, believing it held the club back from achieving its full potential.
“We had an ordinary year last year and the club was in a pretty sad state with players leaving and our depth of senior talent,” he said.
“We put a power of work in to recruit but what really hurt us was the points system. We were never able to get our full-strength team on the park.
“Understanding how close we were, the ability to match the big teams — beating Eltham, beating Whittlesea, pushing Banyule to a goal — we knew we had the talent but unfortunately we couldn’t get our best team on the park.
“In saying that, I’m certainly proud of the efforts the boys have put in over the year.”
The Stars will now begin the search for their new coach with Heta confident there was plenty of leadership already at the club.
“We’ve got some amazing people in our community and our club that I know could walk into the job and carry it forward the way it deserves,” he said.
“We’ve laid the foundations around our professionalism, our standards, we’ve certainly got some clear values that hopefully the next coach can implement and make their own.”
WHAT A LEADER LOCAL FOOTY SUBSCRIPTION GIVES YOU ACCESS TO
— Match reports, features, player and coach movements and analysis of all the leagues across Melbourne.
— Unprecedented AFL coverage.
— All the latest football news from across the country including Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph and Courier-Mail.
— Latest news and videos from the world’s leading leagues.
— Exclusive digital stories and videos before they go to print.
Son of a footy gun joins Sea Lake-Nandaly
The North Central premiers of the past two seasons could be even stronger as they eye a third successive flag.
Ex-WAFL players sign at country club
A country club determined to make amends after missing finals for the first time in more than 20 years has gone on a recruiting spree landing a quartet of ex-WAFL players.