GFL: St Mary’s co-coach Glenn Keast reveals ideal coaching partner

St Mary’s co-coach Glenn Keast has identified the type of replacement he wants filling Travis Robertson’s void in 2024, and revealed why he decided to go on again without his best mate.

Football GFL: St Mary's hosting St Albans St Mary's coaches Travis Roberston and Glenn Keast Picture: Mark Wilson

St Mary‘s co-coach Glenn Keast believes his decision to have one more season at the helm of the reigning premiers will help the Saints transition to new leadership smoothly.

The ladder leaders announced last week that one half of the two-time team of the year coaching tandem would finish his role at the end of the season, with Travis Robertson stepping away after finals.

Keast, who will coach in 2024 with a yet-to-be-determined co-coach, said he discussed also finishing at the end of this season with the club before signing a one-year deal.

“Six years down the track I’m quite familiar with the club and what the club’s about with the playing list, so there’s certainly a level of comfort from my perspective.

Glenn Keast on GFL grand final day 2022. Picture: Mark Wilson

“The main thing for me was that we left the club in a good position, both stepping away felt like there was a risk there that what we built up over time may be lost a little bit.

“So for me it was about trying to leave the club in a healthy place, my intention is to do next year and leave it with someone to manage and take it ongoing.”

Robertson and Keast have led St Mary‘s since the 2018 season, and the pair have led the club to back-to-back premierships in 2019 and 2022, with the club also sitting on top of the ladder in 2021 before the season was cancelled.

The pair have signed one-year extensions at the end of each season together, but Robertson said after the win over Colac on Sunday he had greater priorities over coaching in 2024.

Keast said the club had not begun looking for Robertson‘s replacement in what would be the most in-demand local coaching gig in the region, but said he did not think a playing coach would work at the Saints.

“We will look for someone to take it on from 2025 either on their own or with the view of bringing someone else in as well,” he said.

“I think we’ll certainly look everywhere, but I think we’ve decided that it isn’t necessarily a playing coach, unless it was someone in their last year of playing that wanted to be a non-playing coach into the future.

“GFL’s level of footy these days is such that it’d be near impossible to be a playing coach, so the thinking is that it’d be a non-playing coach, but we’ll certainly be taking the time over the next month or so to make sure the process is right.”

Originally published as GFL: St Mary’s co-coach Glenn Keast reveals ideal coaching partner