Southern league: Dingley appoints Zach Horsley as senior coach

Dingley’s new senior coach is a bit of a mystery man but inside the football world he’s regarded as an astute operator.

Zach Horsley is the new coach of Dingley. Picture: Facebook

By his own admission, he was “just an average twos player”.

But Zach Horsley found his niche in coaching and developed an ambition to be a senior coach.

Successful Southern league club Dingley has given him that chance.

Horsley, 32, takes over at the Dingoes after serving a long apprenticeship as an assistant coach under Beau Muston at Frankston Bombers in the Mornington Peninsula league.

“Yeah, seven years, I’ve learnt a lot under big Beauy,” Horsely said.

Horsley applied for three senior coaching jobs last year and two this year.

He said he felt ready to take the leap.

“I did another year (at Frankston Bombers) trying to chase success, being Musto’s last year we felt like, ‘let’s have one more big crack together sort of thing’,” he said.

“You get to points in your career when you feel like, ‘yep, I’m ready to go’, and that was definitely this year, whereas maybe last year I was a bit unsure.

“But going into every meeting I went into this year I felt like, no stress, I was a lot more comfortable with the interviews because I just felt I was ready for the job.”

Dingley champion Lucas Walmsley takes a strong mark. Picture: Stuart Milligan

Horsley’s start in coaching came at Carrum Patterson Lakes when he was asked to steer the club’s reserves side in 2015.

It started his passion for coaching.

“I gave up pretty early on my football career because I knew it wasn’t for me,” he said.

“But the analytical side of it probably took over and I started doing oppo analysis for Musto and that kept driving it forward.

“I look into that side of things a little bit more than relying on playing history. I have a different gauge on the game.”

Muston said Horsley would make a fantastic senior coach.

“Zach’s done a pretty long apprenticeship,” Muston said.

“He’s coached his own side and he’s always tried to develop his craft as a coach and I’m really rapt that he’s got a job.

“He’s missed out on opportunities over the last couple of years maybe because he felt he didn’t have a name because he hadn’t played at a high level of footy but he’s just got to work and has become a really astute, smart coach, both tactically and on game day.”

Muston said the Bombers rated Horsely’s football IQ highly.

“He might have been a mystery man to some but we knew we had a coach in waiting,” he said.

“I know some guys at Dingley who dialled me up after the appointment and I told them that they had a cracking coach and they would have no problems, he will do a fantastic job.”

Horsley has wasted no time getting to work at Dingley, meeting players this week.

“I’ve been getting in front of a couple of young blokes and the leadership group,” he said.

“I’ll try and meet the whole club within the next 10 days, or as many as I can, before they get some time off and then we crack into pre season.”