GFL: Coaching contract status revealed ahead of finals
The GFL home-and-away season is almost done, and so is the majority of the coaching signings and movements. We break down every coaching contract here.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
With six teams still fighting for a top five spot, the GFL season is starting to heat up on the field.
But there is plenty of action off the field as well, with clubs announcing coaching movements or re-signings as they set their sights on 2024 and beyond.
We break down every coaching contract here, and when supporters can expect to see some fresh faces at the helm of a club.
St Mary’s
Coaches: Travis Robertson (2023) and Glenn Keast (2024)
The reigning premiers announced at the start of August that their hugely successful partnership between the two-time coach of the year duo would be ending at the end of the 2023 campaign. Robertson will move on from his time at St Mary’s, while Keast will remain at the club for one more year, before finishing after the 2024 season. The succession plan has not been locked in, but it is expected Keast will have a co-coach in 2024 before handing the club over ahead of the 2025 campaign.
Colac
Coaches: Rowan McSparron (2023) and Darcy Lang (2023)
Neither McSparron nor Lang have put pen to paper to continue their coaching tenures at the Tigers, but the finals-bound duo have both expressed their desires to stay on at Colac. McSparron joined the Tigers from Geelong Amateur at the end of the 2018 campaign to share the role with Kane Leerson, who retired from GFL football to take up a role with Birregurra in the Colac & District Football League. Lang returned to Colac after his stint in the AFL system and took on the co-coaching role for the 2022 season.
Newtown & Chilwell
Coach: Damien McMahon (2023)
McMahon has not signed on for the 2024 season, but the leader of the Eagles has also expressed his desire to remain at the club. Last year’s preliminary finalists look likely to challenge again in 2023, having spent the first half of the season on top of the ladder. McMahon joined Newtown & Chilwell at the end of the 2016 season and is the club’s longest-serving coach, having spent 15 years coaching in Western Australia following a 120-game career at the Eagles. McMahon told this publication in July that contract talks between him and the club were typically casual, and would come at the end of the season.
South Barwon
Coach: Mark Neeld (2025)
The former Melbourne coach signed at South Barwon at the end of the 2022 season, taking over from Dave Farrell who moved to Ocean Grove in the BFL. Neeld signed a three-year contract at the Swans, and currently has the club sitting fourth on the ladder, percentage outside of the top three but still with a chance to miss finals.
Leopold
Coach: Garry Hocking (2026)
After leading Leopold to a grand final in his first season in charge, ‘Buddha’ signed a three-year extension in July, taking his deal to the end of the 2026 season. The former Geelong champion arrived at the Lions after spending time at St Joseph’s as an assistant coach, and said to this publication he “can’t see myself going anywhere else … or doing anything else.” Hocking currently has the Lions sitting in fifth position, with games against St Albans and Newtown & Chilwell to finish the home-and-away season.
St Joseph’s
Coach: Ron Watt (2024)
The former Geelong VFL and North Shore premiership coach made his return to the GFL, 26 years after guiding the Seagulls to a fourth flag in five years, when he accepted the St Joseph’s gig at the end of the 2022 season. Watt had spent the previous five years coaching Central Highlands club Gordon, leading the club to a premiership in 2022, and replaced Paul Carson who left the Joeys after their elimination finals exit against Leopold. St Joseph’s early season form had the club eyeing a premiership in Watt’s first season in charge, but Joeys are currently sixth on the ladder on equal points with Newtown & Chilwell, Leopold and South Barwon, and are battling for a spot inside the top five.
Geelong West
Coach: Greg Mellor (2024)
Mellor signed a two-year extension in the middle of the 2022 season that, at its conclusion, would make him the longest-serving Geelong West coach in GFL history. The former West Adelaide captain spent five years at Richmond before joining Geelong West at the star of the 2018 season. The Giants are currently seventh on the ladder with eight wins from 16 games, and while they cannot move up the ladder, the club is fighting off Bell Park for the ladder position.
Bell Park
Coach: James Saker (2025)
Saker joined Bell Park at the end of the 2022 campaign, initially signing a one-year contract to lead the Dragons after Shane Jack finished his tenure at the club. But halfway through the season Saker inked a two-year extension, taking his contract to the end of 2025. Saker said he initially could not sign a multi-year deal because of work commitments, but he was eager to secure his future at the club going into 2024. Bell Park is currently eighth on the ladder.
Grovedale
Coach: Daniel Fraser (2023)
Fraser has not signed an extension taking his tenure into 2024 yet, but the Tigers leader does have an option to extend his contract by one year. Last month the club president Michael Schulze said Fraser had been great for the club and the board was eager for Fraser to continue in his role in 2024, despite the Tigers languishing in ninth with three wins and two draws against Bell Park and North Shore. Fraser has not yet indicated whether he will trigger the extension for 2024.
Lara
Coaches: Shayne Stone (2024) and Devon Smith (2024)
The newly-formed co-coaches have recently extended their tenures at Lara, with Stone and Smith committed to coaching on again in 2024. Smith, who retired from his career in the AFL, initially joined the Cats as a playing co-coach, but tore his achilles in the pre-season. The former Giant and Bomber has not indicated whether he will return to playing football in 2024, but he will coach alongside Stone, who has been at the club since 2019.
North Shore
Coach: Darren Winter (2023)
Winter has spent 2023 as a sole coach after former pairing Nick Dixon left the Seagulls to play in the VAFA for Old Geelong. He has expressed his desire to land a co-coach in 2024 after the club was unable to find a suitable candidate for this season to replace Dixon, but has also flagged the potential of him stepping away at the end of the season. North Shore has won just one game, against St Albans, and had a draw against Grovedale and sit last in the competition.
St Albans
Coach: Alex Tortora (2025)
Tortora led St Albans to its first win in more than four years, breaking a hoodoo that had enveloped the club. The former VFL player took over from Ben Patrick, who left the Supersaints after accepting an assistant coaching role at Port Melbourne. St Albans beat Lara to break its winless streak that dated back to 2019, with the losing streak starting during Chris Carlon’s tenure, with Carlon now coaching in the BFL with Modewarre. The club then won its second game of the season over North Shore in round 16.
Originally published as GFL: Coaching contract status revealed ahead of finals
Ex-AFL player joins Bellarine as GFNL club lands rival ball-magnet
It is mixed news for a GFNL contender, losing a former AFL player but landing one of the top midfielders in the competition from a rival club.
50+ names: Best Geelong junior cricket performers from R1
Blistering knocks from a North Geelong duo headlined the best displays in the opening round of Geelong junior cricket. See who impressed.