New coach for Hampton, top recruit for Chelsea Heights

A former VFL assistant has been appointed the new coach of Hampton Hammers in the Southern league.

Aaron French gets in a kick for Clarence.

A French connection has kicked in for Chelsea Heights.

The SFNL Division 2 Demons have recruited former East Malvern midfielder Aaron French as they go about strengthening a team that was outside the top five when Covid killed off the season.

In another lifter for the Heights, they’ve regained their 2017 best and fairest Nathan Herrington.

French is from Tasmania and played in two senior premierships with Clarence.

He later had a stint in WA and linked with Mooroopna when he relocated to Victoria.

French joined East Malvern in 2019, playing under Nathan Robinson, and then Woodend Hesket in the Riddell District league, for whom he was named in the best in four of his seven games this year.

Robinson is now with Chelsea Heights and enticed French to the club, helped by the fact that he’s now living in Cheltenham.

French is fit, on the tall side for a midfielder and kicks the ball well.

As coach Josh Bull sees it, he’s just the type of player the Heights needed.

“I haven’t seen him play, but ‘Robbo’ (Robinson) seems to think he might be our best mid, which is a pretty big call because I reckon we’ve got some good mids,’’ Bull said.

“He said he’s an elite kick of the ball, a really good ball user, and we feel that last kick into our forward 50 probably let us down a fair bit last season so we’re hoping he adds polish on the outside.

“He sounds like he’s going to be a ripper.’’

Herrington has spent the past two seasons at Toora in the Mid-Gippsland competition but continued to train with Chelsea Heights.

Bull said it was encouraging for the club that a former leading player had chosen to return.

He said it was an endorsement of what was happening on and off the field.

“It’s a really good look when you’re able to draw them back,’’ Bull said.

“He (Herrington) said to us he’d never seen so many players on the training track or in the rooms and that’s including the year they won a flag.’’

Bull said Chelsea Heights would retain all its senior players, another good sign after a 5-7 season.

He said the Demons were speaking to other potential recruits and were after a goalkicker.

The coach believes his team isn’t far away from being able to mix it with the best in Division 2.

“There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge but I think we can definitely play finals footy next year.

“Without sounding too forward of ourselves we were the best side out of the five this year and I actually reckon if we had made the five we could have rattled a few of those good sides.

“I think we stack up really well with those top sides but we need to get to work and chip away at it.’’

New Hammers coach Jamie Marshall.

Meanwhile, Hampton has appointed a new senior coach, locking in former Emerald mentor Jamie Marshall.

Marshall was a VFL Development League assistant coach with Casey Demons, including in their premiership year of 2017.

He was also a line coach for the Demons’ VFLW team.

Marshall enjoyed great success with Emerald junior teams, captained the senior club and coached it from 2019 to this year.

The Hammers said he had “years of experience in the football world’’.

Marshall is bringing former Lyndhurst senior coach Paddy Cooke and Rob Morris as his assistants.

Morris will coach the reserves.

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