The Northern league coaches have voted, see who they’ve named Coach of the Year

Who are the best coaches in the Northern league this season? We asked the men in charge themselves to decide. Vote for your choice.

South Morang captain Tye Hall and coach Gary Hall lift the premiership cup. Picture: Andrew Batsch

Who are the best coaches in the Northern league?

We asked the men in charge themselves to decide.

All 33 senior coaches, as well as NFNL journalist Ben Higgins, were given a 3-2-1 vote for the Coach of the Year in each division.

One coach almost scored a perfect 33 votes, while the other two counts went down to the wire.

See the full votes for each division below and vote for your choice.

South Morang coach Gary Hall. Picture: Andrew Batsch

Ben Turner lifts the premiership cup. Picture: Field of View Photography

DIVISION 1: MATT HYDE (Greensborough)

Guiding Greensborough back to Division 1 finals and a magical run to the preliminary final has seen Matt Hyde earn Coach of the Year honours from his colleagues.

In his first season at War Memorial Reserve, Hyde took the Borough to within two points of a grand final berth.

They would have been the first team in Division 1 history to come from fifth and make the decider.

Only a nervy 15-point win over wooden spooner Macleod – combined with Banyule’s loss to North Heidelberg – secured Greensborough’s finals spot on the last day of the home-and-away season.

Hyde’s men were also the only club to defeat reigning premier Heidelberg this season, claiming a shock 28-point win at Warringal Park in Round 15.

The Borough premiership co-captain took over a young list that had finished sixth in 2023 and turned it into one of the most exciting squads in the competition.

The team scored more than 200 points more and improved its percentage by 17 points.

Hyde pipped Heidelberg premiership coach Vinny Dattoli after he guided the Tigers to the minor premiership and into Saturday’s grand final, chasing a hat-trick of titles.

Remarkably, nine of the 10 coaches in the competition received votes.

DIVISION 2: GARY HALL (South Morang)

Delivering a second premiership in three seasons has seen South Morang’s Gary Hall named Division 2 Coach of the Year by his peers.

The Lions produced a magical finals series to earn promotion back to Division 1 for the first time since 1980.

They knocked off Diamond Creek in extra-time in the qualifying final before stunning minor premier Whittlesea in the semi-final to book a first ever Division 2 grand final berth.

South Morang then held off a desperate Creekers comeback in the grand final at Preston City Oval to claim a remarkable flag.

The club was in Division 3 for eight years but in the space of three has launched to the top flight.

Hall has overseen the development of the Lions’ list since taking over the role in 2018 when the club was on its knees.

With a strong junior pathway, the club is now the prototype for local footy success.

Lower Plenty’s first-year coach Travis Stephens was a narrow second.

The Bears narrowly avoided relegation last season, winning two games, and were favoured to go down this year but Stephens has turned the club around in lightning-quick time.

They charged back into finals this season, finishing fourth, and winning the elimination final before bowing out against eventual grand finalist Diamond Creek.

DIVISION 3: Ben Turner (Old Paradians)

It was more than winning a premiership that earned Old Paradians’ Ben Turner the nod as Coach of the Year from his rivals.

It was the Raiders’ first season in the competition, having crossed from the VAFA, and Turner’s first year in charge at Garvey Oval.

The club entered the Division 3 grand final as underdogs, against Fitzroy Stars, but took every opportunity that came their way at Lalor Reserve to secure a history-making flag.

One fellow coach labelled it an “unbelievable effort in the club’s first year in the comp”.

As such, he fell just one vote short of a perfect 33.

Grand final adversary and Fitzroy Stars great Lionel Proctor was second after guiding his club to its first decider in 10 years.

The Stars won the minor premiership for the first time in the Northern league and first time since 1992 for the club.

Proctor is also one of only two playing coaches in the NFNL, the other being Wayne Schultz, who finished third in Ivanhoe’s first season in the league.