BEN Haynes has been appointed senior coach of Montmorency.
The former AFL footballer has spent the past four years at Montmorency Park after joining as a player in 2011.
He played 41 senior games for the Magpies over three seasons and was a member of the 2013 grand final team – in what turned out to be his final senior match.
Haynes also played 26 AFL games with Richmond and Essendon between 2000 and 2005 and has previous experience as a playing-coach with Silvan.
Speaking to NFL.org.au, the 33-year-old said his strong ties to Montmorency encouraged him to apply for the senior coaching position made vacant by Bryan Cole.
“Once I finished playing I thought the natural progression was to coach,” he said.
“I really enjoy the club and the people. I want to be part of the next step moving forward. We’ve got a pretty good squad and have got some really exciting youngsters coming through.
“The platform is there so I put my hat in the ring.”
Montmorency finished the 2014 home and away season in third place, before suffering a straight-sets exit from the finals following defeats to premier Greensborough and Macleod.
With strong top-end talent that includes the likes of Ryan Jackson, Jesse Donaldson, Patrick Fitzgerald and Daniel Keenan, Haynes said he would be looking to develop the club’s next crop of stars.
“We’ve got some really good kids coming through which has been terrific,” he said.
“Our top end I think is pretty solid, represented by the fact that we had four in the Vic Metro side this year.
“My challenge is to develop that middle tier and our depth. That’s one area where we probably fell away this year.
“We lost blokes like Rowan Nayna and Jimmy (James) Brooker and these sort of guys last year who weren’t our dominant best six players, but they performed a role week in, week out.
“We’ll probably look to strengthen our depth.”
Haynes said he has phoned most of the playing group since his appointment and said the group will catch up soon as they commence preparations for their 2015 campaign.
