Jake Batchelor appointed coach of Sandringham
A former Richmond AFL player has been named the new coach of Sandringham and, with the Zebras appointing triple premiership coach Mark ‘Wilbur’ Williams as senior assistant, he will have strong support at his side in the box.
Victorian Football
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Former Richmond defender Jake Batchelor is the VFL’s newest and youngest senior coach.
The 28-year-old will take over from fellow St Kilda assistant Ben McGlynn at the Saints-aligned Sandringham.
McGlynn was appointed to replace Aaron Hamill for the 2020 season that never got off the ground due to COVID-19, and so vacated the role without coaching a match.
Batchelor joined St Kilda’s coaching staff in 2019 after serving as a playing assistant at Frankston Dolphins in 2018.
He was locked in as the Saints’ development coach and as an assistant to McGlynn for 2020.
Batchelor also played a handful of matches for the Zebras last year, lending his experience to a young team.
“Delighted to announce that Jake will be coaching us next year,’’ Sandringham president Nick Johnstone said this morning.
“We met with him last week via zoom and he was a terrific candidate. He’s an excellent character. He has spent a bit of time at Sandringham and he also had that experience at Frankston, so he knows the club and he knows the VFL.
“Even though he’s a new coach we feel as though he’s already part of the team.’’
Johnstone said that although McGlynn did not get to coach the Zebras he threw a lot of energy and enthusiasm into the role after succeeding Hamill.
Drafted from the Dandenong Stingrays at No 30 in the 2010 national draft, Batchelor played 84 AFL games for Richmond, the last in the Tigers’ premiership year of 2017.
He joined the Dolphins in 2018 as they returned to the VFL after sitting out 2017.
Keen to give Batchelor support, the Zebras have installed their hall-of-fame member Mark “Wilbur’’ Williams as Batchelor’s senior assistant.
Williams played in Sandy’s 1992 senior premiership under Trevor Barker and steered them to the 2004-05-06 flags. He also coached the VFL representative team.
Sandringham secretary Dennis Galimberti said Williams was an outstanding football person and would give Batchelor wise counsel.
He said Batchelor had been keen to bring in an assistant with strong ties to Sandy.
From the Zebras Williams moved to AFL clubs Melbourne and Richmond in assistant coaching roles.
He joined St Kilda in a part-time position last year.
The AFL will announce after the grand final the structure of the VFL for 2021. Sandy and St Kilda will continue in their alignment, having been offered a licence last Friday.
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