MPNFL: Crib Point appoints Steve Hamill as new coach

Newly appointed Crib Point coach Steve Hamill says he’s pumped - and can’t wait to get to work at the Magpies.

Crib Point president Stephen Espenschied (left) and Steve Hamill shake on it.

Newly appointed Crib Point coach Steve Hamill says he’s pumped.

After 10 years away from coaching, he is revitalised and can’t wait to get to work at the Magpies, who are coming off a wooden spoon.

“I’ve always been attracted a little bit to those sort of clubs where you don’t just walk in and you’ve got a ready made list,’’ Hamill said.

Hamill was a star player in the VFA with the Frankston Dolphins.

As a coach, he had immediate success when he guided Hastings to a premiership in 1995.

Successful stints at Tooradin and Dromana followed.

Crib Point presents him with another challenge.

Steve Hamill playing for Dromana in 2007.

“The exciting thing is — and you can either look at it negatively or positively — I reckon they’ve got a bit of room in their salary cap and points system to attract players,’’ Hamill said.

“At very least I might have an opportunity to hand pick a few people who I reckon will fit in for us.”

Hamill, 52, was appointed on Wednesday, explaining that family and work commitments had allowed him to re-enter the coaching ranks.

“A window of opportunity was upon me,” Hamill said.

“Then this little thing (the Cribby coaching job) popped up and I thought, ‘you know what, I’m going to throw my hat into the ring’.”

Hamill, a school teacher, has strong ties with Balnarring Junior Football Club where his son Will played (and is now an AFL draft prospect). Many of those Balnarring players are starting their senior careers at Crib Point.

“I know a lot of them, I’ve been watching them play since they started in Under 9s so I know what they are capable of,” he said.

“That will be a real focus for me to try and develop those young fellas and teach them a few things about senior footy.”

Hamill says Crib Point has a lot going for it and is excited by the challenge of rebuilding, but he‘s also a realist.

“I’m not going to sugar coat it,’’ he said.

“It’s not going to be easy but there are certainly a lot of elements there that are pretty attractive in regards to developing and working with,” he said.

For the past two seasons, Hamill has watched his son will play with the Dandenong Stingrays.

Seeing how a quality TAC Cup program does things would have been beneficial.