New Greensborough coach Matt Hyde discusses club’s talent, facing an old friend
New Greensborough coach Matt Hyde discusses the club’s depth of young talent and the chance to face off against a premiership-winning mate.
Northern
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New Greensborough coach Matt Hyde has labelled the club’s list “insanely exciting”.
The Borough possesses arguably the best young talent in the Northern Football Netball League and is coming off a dominant Division 1 Under-19s premiership.
Hyde takes the reins from Saade Ghazi, who stepped down after two seasons at War Memorial Reserve.
It is Hyde’s first senior coaching appointment, following in his father Rob’s footsteps, and the depth was talent was a major factor in luring him back to football.
“Greensborough is insanely exciting, they’ve got some incredible kids,” Hyde said.
“I got down to the grand final and watched the 19s storm away and win by 60-odd points.
“So we’ve got that group, close to 25 young kids move into the senior group, and I think 90-95 per cent of the playing list is under the age of 25.
“They’re all junior kids, they live and breath green, and they’re good.
“I’m a teacher by trade, dad’s a teacher as well, so what I think I can add is helping these kids think about what they need to do to move forward and tap into the incredible talent and skill-base.
“In an era in the Northern footy league where you’ve got some prolific sides struggling to fill 19s and twos, to have the depth of kids coming through that are really good is really cool.”
Greensborough won the under-19s flag with a 64-point win over Eltham and Brody Glenn finished third in the league best-and-fairest despite playing only 10 games.
Of the 22 players to feature in the grand final, seven made at least one senior appearance in 2023, while the likes of Angus Seivers, Harrison Andronaco, Ben Fisher, Nathan Howard, Ethan Luke and Jordan Smith were all rated among the best under-23 talents.
Meanwhile, fellow young gun Jackson Hasler is on track to return from a knee reconstruction.
Hyde said he was keen to work with the club’s current list rather than recruit heavily.
North Melbourne VFL-listed midfielder Tom O’Sullivan (Seymour) is the only new addition at this stage, while ruck-forward Rayden Garrard (Watsonia) is the only major departure.
The Hyde name is synonymous at Greensborough.
Matt was premiership co-captain in 2014 under Rob and a club best-and-fairest winner.
He said a major focus of his return was to end his time as “the last premiership captain”.
“The job popped up so I thought I’d put my name forward and have a think if it was something I could take the club to the next level,” Hyde said.
“It’s been a little while since I’ve been involved so it’s nice to be back, it feels like home.
“Obviously dad coached multiple times and my grandparents’ house backed onto War Memorial, my grandfather is a life member, dad’s a life member, my uncle is a life member.
“To come back and coach a club that your family is so entwined and connected to is pretty special.
“I’ve got a little boy and work is pretty intense, I stopped playing when he was born.
“Now he’s seven and loves footy … I’ve got to drag him away, he’s coming to training and trying to sting me $20 to fill up the drink bottles on a Saturday.”
One of the first calls Hyde made before taking the coaching job was to fellow premiership co-captain and now Eltham premiership coach Tim Bongetti.
The pair will face off for the first time off the field in 2024.
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“When I was contemplating taking the job, I was really keen for Michael Hooper to come along – he was the best-on-ground in our premiership team – and he was the senior assistant at Eltham,” Hyde said.
“(Tim and I) were reflecting on how good it is to have a couple of us coaching different sides in the Northern footy league.
“Dad coached Eltham before Tim did and I did a couple of pre-seasons down there, just running around as an old bloke.
“Greensborough and Eltham, having the two of us oversees teams that I think are the best at breeding their own is a wonderful thing.”