STAR couple Paul Hinkley and Sophie Barr are set to take their football and netball careers to a bigger stage next season.
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In a blow for the Hampden league, Cobden’s Hinkley and North Warrnambool Eagles’ Barr are just weeks away from moving to Geelong where they will launch the next phase of their lives.
The pair has signed with Geelong league club Newtown and Chilwell.
While Barr has played in the GFL before, partner Hinkley — a much sought-after, versatile big man — is looking to test himself at a higher level after a breakout 2014 saw him blanket former AFL star Brendan Fevola in Hampden’s country championships loss and then blossom in AFL Victoria Country’s representative side.
Hinkley, 26, who has been a mainstay with the Bombers for 141 senior games, said the move was not just about footy.
“It was a massive decision,” Hinkley said.
“It’s a bit of a change while we can and we are young. It’s not easy leaving Cobden and leaving the farm but I’ll come back.
“It was now or never. I’ve got no commitments as far as kids so I may as well go and have a crack while we are able.”
Hinkley said he had made his decision to leave Cobden at the end of the Bombers’ season in August. The appointment of his close mate Paul Foster and his previous mentor Wayne Robertson as co-coaches last week had made the move even harder.
“It was tough because he (Foster) is one of my best mates and I really enjoyed my 2012 and 2013 under Henry,” he said.
“That’s just the way it goes. If I put it off this year I probably will never go. The football club has been great, they’ve been so supportive.” Hinkley said his experiences at interleague level and with the Vic Country side whet his appetite for higher competition.
The choice of club had been easy for Hinkley despite being approached by several.
Former Cobden family friend Rob Corneby is vice-president at Newtown and Chilwell, the club where former Warrnambool players Jarrod and Ash McCorkell and Danny O’Keefe play.
Although he’s been dairy farming, he is a qualified builder and has found employment in Geelong.
Barr’s departure from the Eagles’ midcourt follows her good friend and fellow elite midcourter Maddie Smedts also relocating to Geelong, playing with Leopold.
The teacher has picked up a permanent classroom job in Grovedale and is excited about the pair’s future.
Barr, who played with GFL side Bell Park in 2011, had played in Victoria’s premier netball competition with Geelong Cougars and VU Western Lightning the past four years.
“This year Maddie was leaving, Laura Blackburn was leaving and they are my two closest friends at North,” she said.
“We all felt the same way, we were all going our own separate ways. (Sister) Jaime and (her husband) Xavier Mills were talking about going to Allansford and it was always going to be hard for us (to pick one club) because we were at different clubs so this is a perfect compromise to start fresh.”
Barr said 2014 had been hard socially with the pair split for their club functions. She was living in Melbourne while completing teaching rounds and travelling back to the couple’s South Purrumbete base at the end of the week before commuting to Warrnambool to play with the Eagles.
“I felt I was constantly driving, now we will both be in one spot,” she said.
Barr is undecided if she will play VNL but she is looking forward to playing under Jason Woolley at Newtown and Chilwell, a coach with VNL club City West Falcons.
“I’ve played against a lot of girls in the GFL before. Maddie and I had a year at Bell Park (in 2011) and it was a very high level of competition, which was good,” she said.
They have started pre-season training with their new club and will move to Geelong in mid-January.
grbest@fairfaxmedia.com.au