Experienced coach Ryan Hoy will return to the Southern league
An experienced coach will return to the Southern league after one year out of the competition. He reconnects with the task of repowering a relegated side.
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One Ryan replaces another.
Experienced coach Ryan Hoy will steer Black Rock next year, taking over from Jets’ premiership-winning mentor Ryan Handley.
Hoy lands from Melton South in the Ballarat league after taking Southern league Division 1 club St Kilda City to a preliminary final last season.
Jets president Andrew Ferguson says Hoy brings a different perspective.
“A new voice, he comes from a higher level of football,” he says.
“He brings a local connection as well – it was important for us to identify someone that was local and a non-playing coach as well with all the young guys we have added to the list this year.
“Our club, without any juniors feeding in, we rely on recruitment and relationships, and Ryan Hoy has got those and is looking to bring those in.
“He has experience coaching younger players from under-19s to reserves and has seen a lot of guys grown under his coaching go on to play senior football at a high level.
“We’re excited to have him coaching.”
It's’ been a disappointing year for the Jets, winning just one game and being relegated after winning the Division 3 grand final in 2022.
Ferguson says the Jets have learned from 2023 and are working towards launching back into Division 2 for a more sustainable stint.
“We had a taste for Division 2 football this year and we want to get back there,” he says.
“We’re looking to build on the list we have got and hopefully make finals next year and then see how far it can take us.
“We want to do so in a way that if we do happen to go up again, we want to stay up, so we want to win it with players that are going to still be there and have a list to build on.
“There’s definitely a lot of lessons we take from this year, we’re looking to put those systems in place.”
The Jets will announce a footy boss and a host of recruits in coming weeks.
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