VAFA: Paul Groves appointed St Bernard’s coach for 2020
St Bernard’s has found Mark Riley’s replacement, with the club appointing an AFLW premiership mentor who is no stranger to the VAFA.
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Western Bulldogs AFLW premiership coach Paul Groves will be calling the shots at St Bernard’s next season.
Groves has taken charge at the VAFA Premier club after steering the Bulldogs for the past three years and leading them to the ultimate prize in 2018.
He replaces Mark Riley, who stepped aside at season’s end after a four-year stint in the top job.
Groves is no stranger to the VAFA, having played at St Bedes Mentone Tigers and Parkdale, while he also coached Monash Blues.
Snowdogs president Andrew Vinecombe said Groves’ experience in the competition was “really important”.
“He was an outstanding candidate in the end,” Vinecombe said.
“We didn’t interview many people and he was one of the first, and we always said that he had set a pretty high benchmark.
“He lives local, he’s got a really good amateur background … and then he went to the next level in the (NAB League) and VFL. He ticked every box.”
Groves has also worked with NAB League clubs Sandringham Dragons and Calder Cannons, giving him the perfect grounding to guide St Bernard’s emerging young players.
“We’ve got probably 24 under-19 guys coming up and a good batch of them come out of the back-to-back Herald Sun Shield wins (in 2017 and ’18),” Vinecombe said.
“Paul being a development coach and a young coach, he’s going to really relate to them well.
“He’s really savvy technology-wise and is going to be able to give them the feedback this next generation is used to.”
Vinecombe said he was hopeful Groves’ profile would help attract recruits over the off-season.
“He’s got a good network. I’m hoping, with his addition to our club, he’s an attractive proposition to players that might want to come to our club,” he said.
The Snowdogs finished in seventh position in the top flight with eight wins from 18 games after waving goodbye to star forward Chad Jones and Tom Sullivan.
But they did knock off premier University Blues and runner-up St Kevin’s in the second half of the campaign.
“We just had a couple of lapses in the middle of the year where we were probably down a few numbers, whether it was injury or players called up to VFL,” Vinecombe said.
“The competition is just so even … every week is a grand final. Everyone is very, very good.
“I thought it was a consolidating season.”
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