Nathan Blair discusses taking on the coaching role at childhood club Romsey

Coaching wasn’t on Nathan Blair’s radar but when Romsey asked the question it was “pretty easy” for the Redbacks skipper and he’ll take his leadership values into the job.

Nathan Blair leads Romsey out. Picture: Josh Chadwick

Romsey captain Nathan Blair wasn’t even considering coaching.

However, it was a “pretty easy” decision when his childhood club asked the question following Justin Sherman’s departure in September.

The star midfielder won the club best-and-fairest this season and earned RDFNL Team of the Year honours.

Blair is a born-and-bred Redback and wasn’t going to let his club down.

“To be honest, it wasn’t (on my radar). It was something I’d never thought of,” Blair said.

“I spoke to my partner and we thought ‘give it a go’ what was there to lose.

“I love playing with the group, I respect them and I think they respect me, so I thought it was a good opportunity.

“It’s obviously my home club and the club has put its faith and trust in me.

“I had a look at the list, the group we’ve had for the last four or five years, and how close we are.

“It was pretty easy, we’ll recruit a couple, but we’ve got a lot of improvement in our list being so young and being together for so long.”

Having returned to Romsey in 2019, Blair has been club captain since 2020.

He doesn’t expect too much to change in terms of his demands now that he’s coach.

“Being captain, a lot of the stuff, will be very similar,” he said.

“I like to value team stuff, it’s all about being honest with each other and your team.

“It’s no different to be honest, my values won’t change from a teammate to coach.”

Samuel Wilson in action for Romsey. Picture: Hamish Blair

Darcy Lockens in action for Romsey. Picture: Hamish Blair

Romsey finished the season in fourth but crashed out of the premiership race, losing to Macedon in the elimination final.

The Redbacks will be looking to challenge top-three powers Riddell, Wallan and Diggers Rest in 2025.

Jack Jedwab’s potential return full-time from Essendon VFL would be a significant boost after he played just eight games and kicked 12 goals.

The club has secured Joe Stapleton for next season.

The key position swingman arrives from Ovens and Murray club Lavington, where he played six reserve grade games this season.

He has previously played for the Sydney Swans reserves in the NEAFL and Queanbeyan Tigers and spent a year at EDFL Premier Division club Maribyrnong Park.

Blair said the club was in talks with a few more potential recruits.

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“We’re in talks with a few, which sounds promising, and they’ll come down to a few trainings,” he said.

“Signing Joe, a big key to play both ends of the ground, was big for us.

“We’ve just got to bring the right people in on and off the ground and a lot of the improvement will come from the group being so young.”

Romsey will kick off pre-season training in December.