Bendigo: Goulburn Valley league star Michael Hartley takes on Castlemaine coaching job
Castlemaine has endured some tough times in the Bendigo league, but a big step towards a revival has been made with the appointment of their next coach.
Newly appointed Castlemaine coach Michael Hartley is determined to finish his two-year stint with Goulburn Valley premiership contender Seymour on a high.
Seymour is the only team to beat reigning premier Echuca this season and sits second on the ladder behind the Murray Bombers with a strong chance of winning its first flag since a famous premiership hat-trick in the mid-2000s.
Castlemaine is situated at the other end of the Bendigo league ladder, but resurrecting its fortunes was a challenge Hartley was happy to take on.
Hartley, who has lived in Bendigo for two years, was officially announced as Castlemaine’s third coach in as many seasons late Friday and watched the club push Kyneton to 17 points the following day.
“The challenge of bringing a side that is struggling a bit, and has been for a fair while, up the ladder had some appeal,” he said.
“They are a proud club and getting them back and up the ladder is a pretty cool challenge.
“I did see some signs (on Saturday) that were pretty good.
“We are talking to a few (potential recruits) and want to keep it low key.
“But once the season ends it will all wash out.”
One player Castlemaine will be hoping to have on a permanent basis next season is star onballer Bailey Henderson, who has dominated in the past six rounds since returning from VFL club Werribee.
Castlemaine’s only two victories this season have been against winless Maryborough and finishes 2023 with a tough run of matches against Golden Square, Sandhurst and South Bendigo.
Hartley has been playing mostly at centre half-back for Seymour, but will sit out the next round due to suspension.
Seymour missed finals on percentage last season when Hartley alternated between playing in the GV and for Collingwood’s VFL team.
“Things have clicked a little bit this year,” he said.
“Having players who can play here, there and anywhere has been very very beneficial.
“Fingers crossed we can go all the way.”
Hartley, who works for AFL Central Victoria, previously played at AFL level for Hawthorn and Essendon.
SALE
Sale has secured Jack Johnstone as coach for a further two seasons after he guided the Gippsland league club into last year’s grand final.
Johnstone made the big call to switch from arch rival Maffra for the 2021 season and led Sale into the grand final against eventual premier Leongatha.
“The committee was totally united in the contract extension for Jack and is committed to providing our football department further opportunity to implement continued growth and development into the football program beyond 2023,” Sale football director Sam Anstee said.
A former Maffra junior, Johnstone returned to the club in 2017 after four seasons with VFL club Williamstown that included playing in its 2015 premiership.
His reappointment at Sale heads off any possibility of a return to Maffra, which is yet to make a call on whether its current coach Anthony Robbins will continue in the role next year.
Sale made a slow start to this season and is presently sitting fifth on the ladder ahead of sixth-placed Morwell by percentage.
The Magpies should move a game clear again with a match against bottom-placed Drouin and Morwell to play reigning premier Leongatha.
Sale and Morwell then meet the following round.
Meanwhile, Bairnsdale recently reappointed Logan Austin as coach for a third season.
PORTLAND
After recently agreeing to remain in the Hampden league, Portland has confirmed a senior coaching replacement for Jarrod Holt.
Lochie Huppatz has agreed to return to the club he helped into finals last year.
This season he is playing in Queensland and for Broadbeach, which is sitting third on the QAFL ladder and coming off a win over second-placed Redland-Victoria Point last round.
Huppatz was a big part of Portland’s charge into last year’s finals series and was in the best players in the elimination final win against Warrnambool.
He then spent the summer playing for Nightcliff in the Northern Territory league.
Before returning to Portland in 2022, Huppatz played for Geelong West Giants and Sebastopol in the Geelong and Ballarat leagues respectively.
Meanwhile, Hampden league rival Hamilton Kangaroos are in the market for a coach with Hamish Waldron stepping down.
THURGOONA
Former top-10 AFL draft pick Daniel McAlister will make a comeback to coaching with Tallangatta and District league club Thurgoona next year.
The former Essendon player moved to the border region when his six-game AFL career ended and initially played with Ovens and Murray clubs Wodonga Raiders and Albury before launching his coaching career with Hume league club Osborne where his two sons presently play.
McAlister coached Osborne to a premiership in 2012.
He takes over as Thurgoona coach from Dan Cleary with the club determined to return to their glory years of three flags in four years in the late 2010s.
Thurgoona, once touted to make the step up to the Ovens and Murray league, has slipped out of finals contention since Covid.
OSBORNE
Osborne is letting go of a coach who has a near-perfect record at the helm, and an impeccable resume for the role.
Not even a premiership is able to prevent the exit of current Osborne coach Joel Mackie due to a long-held club policy.
The “club without a town” has been a Hume league powerhouse since the mid-1980s and part of the reason for its sustained success has been a rule of turning over the senior coach every four years.
Mackie, a seven-time Albury premiership player and dual winner of the Ovens and Murray league’s Morris Medal, began coaching Osborne in 2020 with his first two seasons disrupted by Covid.
Osborne was undefeated when the 2021 season was prematurely called off and the club’s only loss last year was the grand final to Holbrook.
This season, Osborne is undefeated after 13 rounds with Mackie boasting a 47-1 win-loss record leading into the club’s next clash against its grand final conquerors on Saturday.
Osborne president Jason Webster it was a “unique situation” given no previous coach had to contend with the curve balls of a pandemic.
“The idea behind it is to keep bringing in a quality coach with fresh ideas,” Webster said.
“But it’s been a funny one with Joel.
“He’s had Covid thrown in, which made it a lot harder for everyone.
“But through that period he has kept the club strong and united.
“It certainly wasn’t an easy decision.
“Whether we win a flag or not, Joel has been successful at Osborne.”
Mackie has already been appointed coach of rival club Jindera, which plays Osborne in the run home to finals.
Mackie admitted to some mixed emotions about his exit from Osborne.
“If I had four straight years with no interruptions, you would probably be happy,” he said.
“At first I was a bit sad to be leaving purely because of what we’ve got going.
“But it didn’t take much to get over it and things are not ending badly by any means.”
He said the revelation that he would be coaching his original club, Jindera, next year “won’t be a distraction leading into finals” with the appointment already announced.
“Everyone will stop talking about it by next week,” he said.
Osborne has not announced a replacement for Mackie.
PREVIOUSLY
Outgoing Osborne coach Joel Mackie will come up against his future club three weeks before Hume league finals start.
Mackie must step down as Osborne coach at the end of this season due to an “unwritten” club policy whereby a coach can spend only four years in the top job of the perennial powerhouse.
He reluctantly moves on despite his tenure being interrupted by Covid and having Osborne poised for another shot at premiership glory after losing to Holbrook in last year’s grand final.
Mackie’s junior club, Jindera, pounced on his sudden availability with current coach Andrew Wilson vacating the Bulldogs’ job.
“The idea is to keep bringing in quality coaches with fresh ideas,” Osborne president Jason Webster said.
“I think it all started when the club started becoming successful in the mid-1980s.
“It was something that began to work for them and all the old blokes around the club think it is a good model.”
Osborne and Jindera play on August 12 with seventh-placed Jindera trying to dislodge CDHBU from the top six in the run home to finals.
Mackie last played for Jindera in 2008 upon his return from a short stint in the SANFL before joining Albury the following year.
Mackie played in seven premiership teams with Albury and also won the Ovens and Murray league’s Morris Medal twice before joining Osborne.
Meanwhile, Holbrook has also confirmed a coaching change for 2024.
Premiership coach Matthew Sharp is bowing out and will be replaced by co-coaches Andrew Mackinlay and Josh Jones, who both began their careers with the Brookers.
MARYBOROUGH
Maryborough has locked in Coby Perry and Matt Johnston as co-coaches for next season as the club chases an elusive first win since 2021 in the Bendigo league.
Perry took over as playing coach this season and will perform the role alongside Johnston, who has been his senior assistant this year.
Maryborough plays Kyneton this round with the Kyneton coach since 2021, Paul Chapman, stepping down this week, effective immediately.
Darren Chambers, who played in Kyneton’s last premiership team in 1997, will take over for the rest of the season.
Maryborough lost to ninth-placed Castlemaine by 19 points in round 10 after losing their first round meeting by only 11 points.
WODONGA
Wodonga has entered the marketplace for a new coach with Jordan Taylor to depart after three years in the job.
Taylor has had a frustrating run with injury with the Bulldogs and, in only his second senior match this season, last Saturday he was reported and accepted a one-match ban for a high hit on Lavington veteran Luke Garland.
Wodonga is clinging to fifth spot on the ladder with last week’s loss to Lavington narrowing the gap between the two teams to one win and percentage.
Wodonga has not played finals since 2009 and made a brilliant start to the season by winning its first five games.
But the Bulldogs have only recorded one victory since, and play Myrtleford in a must-win match this week.
Taylor is originally from Finley and joined Wodonga from Southport.
COBRAM
John Brunskill will step down after four seasons in charge of Cobram, which remains on track to play finals again after the devastation of last year’s narrow loss in the Murray league grand final.
The non-playing coach took the Tigers to within three points of a drought-breaking premiership last year when they lost to Mulwala.
He started in the job at the onset of the Covid disruptions and agreed to do another season following the near miss of last year.
Cobram won its first 12 matches and finished minor premiers despite a mid-season slump where it lost three games in five rounds.
The Tigers sit fifth on the ladder ahead of Finley by percentage with Congupna also still in the hunt for a finals berth.
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