Colac lands dual St Kilda best-and-fairest winner Seb Ross as new co-coach
After missing the finals this year, Colac is well placed to go deep in September in 2025 after signing a two-time AFL best and fairest winner. Here is how they did it.
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Colac has secured the biggest signing of the Geelong league off-season, landing dual St Kilda best and fairest winner Seb Ross as its new playing co-coach.
Ross, 31, played 13 games for the Saints this season up until round 14 before suffering a calf injury at training.
The hard-edged midfielder was then delisted at the end of the season with 211 AFL games and two Trevor Barker awards — one in 2017 and another in 2019 - to his name across 13 seasons.
Ross becomes the third former AFL player at the Tigers, joining Hawthorn premiership player Jonathan Simpkin and ex-Geelong and Carlton forward Darcy Lang.
He will replace outgoing Colac coach Rowan McSparron who had been at the helm since 2019, with Ross to be part of the process of signing a co-coach.
Ross told SEN last month he was still eager to play in the AFL system but Colac will now be the beneficiary of his talents, with it becoming clear in the last fortnight that his career was over.
Colac president Matt Gibson said a couple of connections within the club helped land the prized recruit, who had strong interest from rivals in the Geelong region.
Ross confirming that he had chosen them on Friday was music to their ears.
“It has probably been one of the most high profile signings for our club for a long time. A couple of connections who started talking to him for a period of time and worked through a lot of stuff, what he wanted to do and where he was based and what he was trying to get out of the next chapter of his life,” Gibson said.
“He was more looking around career and stuff like that in the last couple of weeks. In the last week we’ve had some off and on conversations, but to talk to him Friday afternoon/Friday night and get the confirmation that he was jumping on with us created a buzz around the club, there is no doubt about that,” Gibson said.
“I knew other clubs had been talking to him as well, the conversations we had had been pretty good and honest and transparent.
“Anyone that has played over 200 games and is a two-time best-and-fairest winner and part of the Saints’ leadership group, he is obviously a natural leader. And the dealings we have had with him so far you start to sense some of that.
“I think he is going to bring that excitement, the training standards and everything that goes with it. That’s the sort of thing, a lot of the younger guys at the club after we announced it on Friday night, you could just see the instant impact it has had on them and the energy it is creating around those guys.”
Gibson believes the signing of the former Saints star could encourage more to join the Tigers — particularly those from the Colac & District league, like Sam Giblett who signed with Colac last year.
“The opportunity is there that if you put the work in, you’ll get an opportunity with us and the rest is up to you really what you make of it. When you pick up guys of the calibre of Seb it creates a buzz for guys to want to be a part of that,” Gibson said.
Colac missed the finals by one win in 2024 after consecutive straight sets in the previous two seasons.
The acquisition of Ross will certainly help their cause of not only returning to the finals but going deep into September.
“We won’t define (our season) by winning a flag, I think for us it has always been about being competitive and this year it is a really tight and even competition,” Gibson said.
“Last year (2023) we went out in straight sets and the clubs that went out in straight sets this year, it is really tight so to win a premiership is pretty hard at GFL level.
“I think as a group we will always be shooting to make finals and then re-evaluate from there.”
Ross, who originates from Horsham, is set to be based in Geelong and pursue a career in the finance space as his job now turns to helping Colac sign his coaching partner.
However, there are no guarantees it will be someone connected to Ross.
“Getting him over the line was the first box to get ticked,” Gibson said.
“He just wants to be able to sit down and have some input into what it does look like – whether it is playing or non-playing.
“We are keeping it fairly open at the moment but we will start to ramp up those discussions in the next week.”
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