By Callum Ludwig
Yarra Glen’s Senior Football side will have a new voice on the sidelines in 2023, with Dean Williams set to take on the head coaching role.
It’s his first head coaching role in a senior capacity and his first of any in the Outer East Football Netball League.
Williams said he is extremely excited about the opportunity.
“It’s been a very long apprenticeship, but since I signed the switch has really been lit and I can’t wait to get busy,” he said.
“I’ve been watching Yarra Glen from afar for a little while, first tried to apply for the Senior role in ‘14 or ‘15, and I’ve been impressed with the committee and the people that I’ve met.”
Williams first began his coaching escapades with junior sides, before spending five years with the Oakleigh Chargers representative side helping out their development squads.
Williams said he is excited about the young list at Yarra Glen.
“Their potential is uncapped, even though they only had four wins this season. I feel we can create a really good environment that we can build on over a couple of years,” he said.
“It’s just really good for kids not to be pigeonholed and have fresh eyes on them, and there’s nothing more exciting than when they get their first senior game, it’s a fantastic feeling. I’ve been with kids who were lucky enough to have gone on and got drafted as well and it’s great seeing how their journey goes.”
In 2010 Williams moved on to VFL-side Coburg as an assistant coach for their development side. In more recent times, Williams has worked as either a senior assistant or reserves coach at EFL Division One side Montrose and EFL Premier Division teams Rowville and Vermont.
Williams said he thinks there is a massive opportunity for support from the Yarra Glen community.
“It’s not just a boys club, I want the whole community to be involved and get pretty much the whole town coming to Yarra Glen games,” he said.
“Driving through the town for work, it’s exciting to be a part of a community likely to see massive population growth and I want to get around it.”
Yarra Glen finished sixth from seven sides in Division One this year, with a number of injuries affecting their campaign.
Williams said he hopes to bring a lot analytically to the club, particularly in terms of understanding the way their opposition will play and move the ball.
“I will be working through that with the players and trying to get our game plan going the way we want to times and then minimise the damage when we don’t,” he said.
“Football hasn’t really changed too much, there’s always one player with the footy and 35 on the ground without it, so I think you do a lot more work when you don’t have the football in your hands and what you do to actually create a winning environment.”
A number of players have already signed on for next season with The River Pigs, including captain Ben Ashton, Jayden Schille, Adam Moate, Blake Binion, Richard Gurney, Nick McKenzie and brothers Cooper and Blake Eggert.
Williams said he hopes to turn the Yarra Glen ground into a fortress.
“It’s definitely a different ground, I’ve walked it a few times over the last three to four weeks and having the boundary line 10 metres in is certainly something I’m not used to in the EFL,” he said.
“It will also take a bit of getting used to trying to watch the play on the far side but that’s all part of it, learning the ground and trying to build what becomes a massive hunger and home advantage whenever we play there.”
