NFL 2018: Montmorency coach Ben Haynes to step down at end of Northern Football League Division 1 season

MONTMORENCY has spent more than a month canvassing potential senior coaches for 2019 after Ben Haynes announced he would vacate the role at the end of the season.

MONTMORENCY has spent more than a month canvassing potential senior coaches for 2019 after Ben Haynes announced he would vacate the role at the end of the Northern Football League season.

Haynes told Magpies officials about “six or seven weeks ago” he would step down after four years as coach, citing business and family commitments.

“We kept it quiet because when I did it, we were sitting third or fourth and things were going well,” Haynes said.

“We wanted to quietly go about it, see if we could test the waters and see who is out there.”

Haynes has been in charge since 2015 and Montmorency has finished ninth, sixth and seventh during his tenure.

The club was considered a premiership contender after a fruitful recruiting drive which netted former AFL players Matthew White and Ben Kennedy and started the campaign with three wins to Round 5.

Montmorency coach Ben Haynes will stand down at the end of the season. Picture: Stuart Milligan.

But a spate of injuries to key players has caused the Magpies to fall to eighth.

“When I took over, we don’t hide from it, we were probably the biggest spending club,” Haynes said.

‘We probably shaved $50,000-$60,000 off our playing budget in the first year I took over. “That was hard and the first year or two was just about survival.

“Last year we had some injuries and felt we got going for a bit.

“This year we thought was our year to make some inroads and for a whole host of reasons it just hasn’t worked out that way.”

Captain Jesse Donaldson (groin/ankle), prime mover Ben Fennell (lacerated spleen), forward Danzo Bzenic (knee), wingman Matthew White (hamstring/shoulder) and Stephen McCallum (shoulder) headline the players whose impact has been limited by injury.

Tyrone Leonardis (North Melbourne), Sam Binion (Coburg) and Luke Collins (Essendon) have been called on for VFL duties, further stretching the Magpies’ stocks.

“I think whoever takes over will inherit what is a pretty good list. Our list is strong enough to compete with the best in Div 1,” Haynes said.

“I think it (finals) is going to be tough. Our form has dropped away significantly with those top-end guys out of the team.

“Our aim is just to finish off the season strongly.”