VAFA: St Bede’s Mentone has appointed its next senior coach after Steve D’Andrea’s departure

St Bede’s Mentone has welcomed back a familiar face to lead it through its next chapter. He outlines his plans for the Tigers.

It’s somewhat of a homecoming for freshly appointed St Bede’s Mentone coach Brad Berry.

Berry returns to the Tigers after a playing career that included over 150 senior games and was highlighted by a premiership in 1993.

He crosses from Cheltenham, where he served as Des Ryan’s assistant for a season.

Prior to his season with the Rosellas, Berry coached Highett for two years.

Berry, who has taken the reins from Steve D’Andrea, said an emphasis on enjoyment will be apparent in his new group.

“I have learned over the journey, especially the last three or four years, yes it’s a lot more fun when you’re winning, but there’s a club culture, value every player regardless of where they sit and that’s returned in spades,” he said.

“I am going to try and bring a lot of that, pick that up and bring us to a place where people want to be and bring some fun into it.

“There might be some hard yards to do, but if we can paint a clear picture of the end of the tunnel, we will go a long way to creating a culture of people wanting to be there.

“It’s what Kingy (Cheltenham president Adam King) and Des worked at before they were in the premiership window, turning the place into a place that people want to come to.”

Berry during his time at Highett. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Berry (front right) is valued highly by those at Cheltenham. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Another thing Berry learned while at Cheltenham was the power of opportunity.

He aims to implement that too.

“Regardless of talent, you get those shining lights, you push them to a higher level,” he said.

“There’s some exciting talent at St Bede’s Mentone and I will be doing the same thing with them.

“It’s not ‘oh we need this kid to win this game’, we need to give every player every opportunity to go as high as they can.

“For some of them that will be a senior game at St Bede’s Mentone, some of them it might be playing some steady Coates league or VFL.”

The Tigers have experienced some exits through their ranks, the majority of them to the Southern league, but Berry is looking forward to the opportunity those departures will present to the existing personnel.