Woodend-Hesket didn’t have to look far for a new coach to replace Josh Pound

Woodend-Hesket has locked in grand final co-captain Alistair Rae as its new football coach and will have a new netball coach in 2024 as well.

Alistair Rae in action for Woodend-Hesket. Picture: Aaron Cook

Woodend-Hesket didn’t have to look far for its new coach.

The Hawks have appointed co-captain Alistair Rae to replace Josh Pound for next season.

In a similar move, the club will also elevate star netballer Tayissa Coppinger to A-Grade netball coach, taking the reins from departing premiership mentor Meg Grbac.

Rae has been a key player since arriving from EDFL power Strathmore in 2018.

He’ll look to take the club one step further this season after Woodend-Hesket reached the Riddell District grand final for the first time since 2007, going down to Diggers Rest.

Hawks president Paul Podbury was rapt to have Rae step up.

“It’s going to be really good for the club, he’s been a massive part of the place for the last five or six years,” Podbury said.

“We knew a while ago Josh was going to step down so when that happened we touched base with a few coaches and Al asked the club to look at him as an option.

“He’d been investigating that over the last month, in terms of what the commitment looked like for him and his family, and we had a catch-up on Tuesday night and it was all good.

“We’ll get a strong support cast around him because he’s going to keep playing … Paul Kennedy helped us out last year, so we’ll have a chat now that we’ve got Al in place.”

Woodend-Hesket lured the likes of former captain Daniel Toman, star ruckman Tim Martin, Kyle Baker, Daniel Davie, Sam Medland, Ethan Minns and Riley Paterson to Gilbert Gordon this season.

Toman and Martin are almost certainties to make the RDFNL Team of the Year and both should figure prominently in Bowen Medal voting.

It saw the club go from seventh to third with 12 wins in the home-and-away season before winning two finals to reach the decider.

Podbury hopes Rae’s appointment will ensure the playing group returns for another shot at a drought-breaking premiership.

“When you lose a coach after the grand final, you’re a month behind everyone else, which we haven’t been in that situation before,” he said.

“But Al’s got really good relationships with the playing group so will give us the best chance to maintain the list and was assistant to Josh and Ben (Tankard) before that.

“He’ll have a slightly different take on some of the things he wants to do but it was mostly stay the same.

“There’ll be a few (move on) because there’s a couple at the older end of the spectrum.

“We’ve got four or five really good kids that got a taste of it and we’d like to keep the majority of the list and top up with one or two and have a crack at going again.

“We’ve built slowly for the last six to eight years and as our results have improved it’s become easier on the recruiting front and this year, having that success, we’ve got a good story to tell.”

Meanwhile, Coppinger will step up as A-Grade netball coach.

Grbac took the reins in 2022, her second season at the club, and guided the Hawks to consecutive grand finals before a history-making premiership this season.

Coppinger was awarded the best-on-court medal with a defensive masterclass.

Podbury said the netball team had improved the standard across the club.

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“Tay Coppinger is going to step up, Meg’s partner is in Brisbane, so her plan is to move up there for the year,” he said.

“It’s similar to Al on the footy side, it’s someone who’s been there and we can maintain the majority of the playing group and be competitive again next year.

“It was the first netball premiership for the club, not just A-Grade but first netball premiership, which is fantastic.”

Riddell is also looking for a new coach after premiership mentor Justin Belleville stepped down.