Woodend-Hesket seeking new coach after Ross Sleight steps down

WOODEND-HESKET is looking for a new senior coach after Ross Sleight stepped down.

Ross Sleight has stepped down from the coaching position at Woodend-Hesket. Picture: Josie Hayden

WOODEND-HESKET is looking for a new senior coach after Ross Sleight stepped down.

Star player Daniel Toman and Paul Podbury will co-coach the team for the rest of the Riddell District Football League season.

Daniel Toman will co-coach the rest of the year for Woodend-Hesket.

Sleight, in his third year in charge of the Hawks, resigned from the post after a new job meant time commitments were too difficult to maintain.

“I couldn’t get to training until 6 or 6:30 at the earliest, sometimes not at all,” he said.

“So it would have been a bit unfair of me to expect the boys to get there at 5:45 when I couldn’t get there myself.”

Woodend-Hesket is ninth on the ladder with finals out of the equation having won only four of 12 matches this season.

Sleight said telling the players at training two weeks ago “wasn’t an easy thing to do, but something that had to be done”.

“I am pretty happy with what we’ve started and I am looking forward to seeing someone continue on with what we’ve accomplished,” he said.

One of those accomplishments is the large amount of local players who have been enticed to return to their local club.

Paul Podbury will co-coach the rest of the year for Woodend-Hesket.

The Hawks boast one of the lowest player points across the state, recording 23 points (the minimum is 22) most weeks of the season.

“When I first went to Woodend, it was all about recruiting local players back to the club,” Sleight said.

“Woodend had a pretty good talent pool that was playing elsewhere. My main goal was to get these boys back and I had no doubt when it happened there would be a lot more success in the future.

“And you can see the way things are going now, the team is a whole lot more competitive with even a few players on board.

“At the end of the day, I think I am stepping down from the role with the club in a better place than what I began with and, to be honest, that’s all you can really ask for.”

Sleight will stay true to the club, even booting 10 goals in the reserves at the weekend, and he looks forward to watching it evolve to gain some success in the near future.

“I’d like to thank Woodend for the opportunity they’ve given me to step forward as head coach,” he said.

“The relationships I’ve built over the past three years and the people I’ve met have been absolutely amazing and supported me the whole way through.”