Kyneton coach Ethan Foreman discusses recruiting focus and 2024 expectations

Kyneton coach Ethan Foreman spent a season under Collingwood premiership coach Craig McRae and he plans to bring those lessons to the Tigers.

Harry Huntley gets a kick for Kyneton. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Kyneton coach Ethan Foreman spent a season under Collingwood premiership coach Craig McRae and the influence has been long-lasting.

Foreman played under McRae at Richmond VFL and is looking to implement a similar gamestyle as the Tigers embark on a maiden Riddell District campaign in 2024.

After 90 years in the Bendigo league, Kyneton will have a new home next year under the first-year coach.

Foreman said he’d been fortunate to work under some outstanding coaches such as McRae and Rob Waters at Gisborne, while Paul Chapman was at the helm at Kyneton for the past two seasons.

The new Tigers coach was looking forward to taking those lessons into practice.

Cody Young in action for Kyneton. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

“This is my first time, it’s a bit daunting, but I’m thoroughly enjoying myself and looking forward to it,” Foreman said.

“I had a stint at Gisborne and played under Rob Waters, I had a couple of hamstring injuries so spent time coaching the forward line and learning a lot from him.

“I spent a year down at Richmond VFL under Craig McRae, so a lot of our gameplan will be based on what he taught me.

“I learnt a lot from him, and I’m a Richmond supporter, there was a real emphasis on coming forward and attacking the football and running in waves.

“It’s a bit of a Richmond 2017 and Collingwood 2023 gamestyle that we’re going to try and bring into Kyneton this year.”

Kyneton has gone agonisingly close to playing finals in the past two seasons, finishing sixth in 2022 and 2023 with 10-8 and 9-9 records respectively.

The move to the Riddell District league has created a major stir in the town.

A number of local players have returned to the Tigers with the offer of local rivalries and expectations are high.

“There’s a real vibe and buzz around the club that I haven’t seen – I grew up playing juniors at Kyneton and I haven’t seen the club so up-and-about,” Foreman said.

“We had 50 or 60 people at the first night of pre-season training.

“There’s a real focus on getting the locals back, we’ve had a lot of depth players come back.

“Obviously, travel reasons, it’s a lot easier playing in the Riddell league and creating rivalries against towns that we’ve all got friends at – Woodend, Macedon, Riddells Creek.

“Dropping back from the Bendigo league, instead of competing against these big Bendigo clubs which we struggled to do, and the thought of being up there in the top-four, top-three sides has everyone excited.

“I’m quietly confident we’ll be right up there at the pointy end next season.”

Kyneton has confirmed the return of Ben Saliba (time off) and Dylan Holden (Trentham, MCDFNL) with more recruits in the works.

Saliba has VFL experience with Bendigo Bombers and spent time at VAFA heavyweight Uni Blacks before stepping away through the COVID years.

Meanwhile, Holden served as Trentham co-captain the past two seasons and is Foreman’s cousin.

Foreman said there had been a strong focus on local talent.

“Our list is looking solid, for salary cap purposes we’ve lost a couple of boys from the top end,” Foreman said.

“Boys coming from Melbourne that were getting paid decent money, we’ve had to drop some of them off, because the focus was retaining our local guys and bringing back local talent.

“We’re talking to a few more recruits to really finalise our list.

MOVE: VOTE TO DECIDE WESTERN RAMS PLAYING FUTURE

LEADER: GET YOUR RIDDELL DISTRICT FOOTY NEWS HERE

SWITCH: KYNETON’S MOVE TO RIDDELL DISTRICT CONFIRMED

“I coached the under-18s last year, so I think there’s some serious players coming into the senior squad this year from the 18s.

“The likes of Lachie Thompson, Cody Young and Jye Chambers are all training the house down and we’ve also got some under-16s training with us as well.”

Meanwhile, Kyneton will look to defend its premiership in the Riddell District women’s competition.

The Tigers won the inaugural title this season and will look to go back-to-back in 2024.