Local footy: University Blues coach Steve Grace outlines vision for VAFA club
Experienced coach Steve Grace explains why his time in the AFL system is over, the reasons he took on the top job at the Blues and why talent will only take a club with nine ex-AFL players so far.
Local Footy
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University Blues have one of the most talented line-ups in suburban football.
But don’t expect new coach Steve Grace to describe the group he has inherited that way.
“I don’t normally like using that word because it infers that players are gifted with something, and then (the result) looks after itself,” Grace told Leader Local footy.
“I understand what people are talking about, but from my perspective and talking to the players, it’s more the fact how the players settle into the club and enjoy their footy.
“No doubt, having players in your side who have played at a higher level helps. Generally their leadership is pretty good.
“It’s certainly enjoyable coaching players who have played at a higher level as well, but I think what you’ve got to understand is that sometimes these players have left the system for particular reasons, and they don’t want to come back into a system where they’ve got meetings, edits in their face.
“They don’t want to go from what they haven’t enjoyed straight back into something similar.”
Uni Blues’ 2019 Victorian Amateur Football Association premiership-winning side featured nine ex-AFL players.
Captain Ayce Cordy, Cameron O’Shea, Luke Russell, Ross Young, Tom Young, Kieran Harper and Piers Flanagan remain.
But former elite-level pair Jay Kennedy-Harris and Sam Grimley have linked up with the Blues since the end of last season, putting them in a strong position to ensure they are no one-year wonder in the VAFA’s Premier competition.
Grace arrives with nine years of coaching experience in the AFL system at three clubs – Fremantle, Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs – and replaces Heath Jamieson in the top job.
He has led VFL club Footscray and NAB League outfit Oakleigh Chargers, while he also filled several roles at Sandringham.
But Grace is familiar with the VAFA, having called the shots at Ormond for three years from 1998-2000 and winning two premierships, while he also coached Phillip Island for a season in 1996.
He insisted there was no added pressure given he is taking charge of a side which will be eyeing back-to-back flags in 2021.
Grace is also content his time at higher levels is finished, creating the possibility of a long-term union with the Blues.
“I wouldn’t have coached anywhere else,” he said.
“I’m done with AFL and VFL football. I wanted to be a little bit more present in my family life with my two daughters and I wouldn’t have gone back and coached local football. I’d only coach amateur football.
“They’re a fantastic club, extremely well-resourced. They’ve got smart, loyal people on their committee, led by (president) Tim Rourke.
“The eclectic nature of people at that club, they’re not necessarily tied there because of Melbourne uni – a lot of them historically may have been – but it’s a club for all people. You don’t feel obliged to be there because you’re a private school boy and that’s your club. That attracted me.
“Given the fact I’ve got a history at Ormond … I like the idea of being a non-old boys club in a competition that is dominated historically by them.”
Grace said he wanted Uni Blues to continue growing on the back of last year’s triumph.
“The advantage of being at Ormond and being there at the end of a successful period, I know the feeling of being part of that,” he said.
“It creates a generational feeling about a club and can lay a platform for sustained success. That’s what the club really wants to do. They’ve laid the foundations for that, but it doesn’t want to be a fleeting flag.
“I’d like to leave a legacy at the place, whether that’s in five or 10 years or however long it might be.”
Grace said he was looking forward to working alongside Cordy, who has claimed the past two Woodrow medals for the best-and-fairest player in the competition’s top flight.
The former Western Bulldogs tall has made 38 appearances for the Blues in the past two years, earning 22 mentions in the best and booting 61 goals.
“He loves the place, clearly from the way he is playing,” Grace said.
“To have a dominant big man who’s played at each of the levels above and still loves his footy, but loves the club more and has passion for it, it’s really great.
“Another example of a good character they’ve been able to attract to the club.”
Grace said he would not make the error of introducing AFL-style methods at local level.
Conscious of the fact his players are not full-time and have other priorities, he said it was crucial they maintained their enjoyment for the game.
“It’s very important that you don’t think you provide an AFL template and overlay it at an amateur club,” Grace said.
“A) you don’t have the time to be able to coach those methods and B) players aren’t interested in playing a very specific, highly-tactical … type of game.
“I think the principles are the most important thing having coached at pretty much all levels from under-18s, schoolboys and all the way through. Strong principles get you through wherever you’re coaching, and a brand of football the players enjoy. I think they’re the most important things.”
Rourke declared Grace was “exactly the guy we wanted”.
“He’s got a pretty rich history in the VAFA – two premierships, coached, his dad was president of Ormond for a good decade nearly,” he said.
“He’s also done a lot in the AFL. Every single person we spoke to couldn’t have been more impressed with not just his football skills but how good he is with young guys and particularly developing them.”
The Blues are in good hands.
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