Saade Ghazi discusses why he took the Greensborough job, hopes for 2022

When Saade Ghazi left Williamstown he had high expectations of his new club and believes Greensborough is the perfect place to execute his plans.

New Greensborough coach Saade Ghazi.

Greensborough’s premiership ambition is what drew new coach Saade Ghazi to War Memorial Reserve.

The former Williamstown assistant coach hopes to build on the work done by predecessors Mick Harford and Rob Hyde and break the Borough’s seven-year flag drought.

The NFL Division 1 club came agonisingly close in 2019 and hasn’t had an opportunity for redemption due to COVID.

Ghazi can empathise, having been in charge of Altona when the Vikings suffered a devastating three-point loss to Deer Park in the 2019 WRFL Division 1 grand final.

The experienced coach arrives with a history of building clubs into premiership contenders and was excited by the potential at Greensborough.

“We’ll continue what Hydey and Mick have done and grow on that to challenge for a flag,” Ghazi said.

“I’ve (coached) for so long, it was enjoyable at Williamstown obviously, but there’s nothing like being in charge of the whole football department and being the coach.

“When I told Williamstown I wouldn’t seek another role the one thing I wanted was a club in a strong comp and in the top two or three.

“Most of my other local jobs have been clubs that we’ve had to work our way up into finals and then obviously with Altona got to a grand final.”

After a decorated 200-game career at Williamstown, including the 1989 Liston Trophy, Ghazi took the reins at Epping, leading the then Diamond Valley Division 1 club to a minor premiership in 2002.

He then had stints as coach of VFL club Port Melbourne, Avondale Heights in the Essendon District and Altona before returning to the Seagulls as an assistant.

After an 18-year break, Ghazi was looking forward to his return to the Northern Football League.

“It’s been a long time, my first coaching role when I left Williamstown was Epping – that was when they were in Division 1 back in 2001,” Ghazi said.

Saade Ghazi during his time at Altona. Picture: Kylie Else

“I’ve coached in the Western Region, Essendon District, VFL and now the Northern twice, so I know it’s a very strong competition with a lot of good players and good coaches.

“It’s a fairly even competition, Northcote Park struggled a bit but I know they’ll bounce back quickly and they’ve recruited well.

“That’s the other thing you want to do as a coach, challenge yourself, and an even competition bring out the best in coaches.”

Ghazi will have a few holes to fill when he gets his feet under the desk.

Team of the Year star Ben Fennell has moved to Geelong and ruckman Jake McNamara has shifted interstate.

Borough 2014 premiership players Tristan Stead and Jason Rogers have returned but perhaps most importantly, after finishing third in the Rosbrook Medal, Tom Bell is expected to remain in green in 2022.

Ghazi said there was no need for significant recruiting and believed the current playing group could comfortably fit into his philosophy.

“We’ve got a couple of good young ruckmen but if we can get a mature body in that area – like most clubs – and maybe another tall forward but we’re not going to go out and recruit too many,” he said.

“We believe we’ve got a strong base, there’s some depth in our reserves and there’s some good kids coming through, so we need to leave room for players to develop.

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“I don’t think the gameplan fluctuates too much, it’s my job to build on what’s already there.

“I do have philosophies, the one thing I want – and it might already be there – I want our opposition to understand when they come up against Greensborough it’s going to be a tough game.

“Greensborough are going to be tough to play against and you’re going to have to earn your stripes to win a game of footy.

“We want an enjoyable style, we want to score but we also want to be good in defence.”