Sunraysia: Star player Josh Gregg to co-coach Ouyen United

Ouyen United’s patience in searching for the right coaching set up for 2025 has paid off. See who will lead the Sunraysia club.

Ouyen United has shored up its coaching structure for the 2025 Sunraysia league season with Josh Gregg stepping up as co-coach.

A premiership player and Sunraysia league medal winner in 2018, Gregg returned to Ouyen United this year and won the club’s best and fairest after playing for Naracoorte.

Gregg lives in Adelaide, but has agreed to co-coach alongside Andy Jardine, who coached the 2018 flag, and was at the helm this year when the club dipped to eighth.

It finished just ahead of wooden-spooner South Mildura, which also has a new coach next year, Jydon Neagle.

Josh Gregg tackles a South Adelaide opponent when he played for North Adelaide in the SANFL in 2016. Picture: Matt Loxton

Early this month when most clubs had coaches locked in, Ouyen United opened up its senior job in the hope of attracting fresh blood.

Vice-president Andrew Willsmore said Gregg’s appointment had already translated to “four or five” Adelaide-based recruits coming on-board to boost the club’s on-field stocks at a time when it was putting in plans to “secure our future”.

“He’s a premiership player, dual league medallist, multiple club best and fairest,” Willsmore said.

“He’s got a phenomenal country footy CV.”

Dallas Willsmore playing for Box Hill Hawks in 2018. (Photo by Michael Dodge/AFL Media/Getty Images)

In a further boost, Dallas Willsmore, who spent the 2024 season on the sidelines with a knee injury, will return as assistant coach.

Off field, Ouyen United has engaged consultant Anthony Nicholls to help with plans to guarantee its long-term survival.

The club, formed in 2016 with a merger of Ouyen United and Walpeup-Underbool, joined the Sunraysia league following the Mallee league demise the previous year.

“Other than the coaching announcements, the strategic planning work we’re doing under new president Mick Pole is so vitally important,” Willsmore said.

“The work we’re doing with Anthony touches on everything, recruiting, how we set up committees, how we pretty much run the entire club.

“It is about securing our future.”

Ouyen United won the Sunraysia flag in 2018 under Andy Jardine. Picture Glenn Milne

One of the first moves will be appointing a junior co-ordinator in Mildura to recruit junior players and run training sessions for them.

This year’s senior premiers Imperials, and Ouyen United merged their under-16s players to field a term with a decision still to be made whether those arrangements will remain in 2025.

“We’ve really got to attract more juniors and there are plenty in Mildura who miss out,” Willsmore said.

Ouyen United won the A-grade netball flag this year.