Brendan Hickey has been appointed Timboon Demons’ new coach.
Brendan Hickey has been appointed Timboon Demons' new coach.
ONE of Timboon Demons’ favourite sons will attempt to lift the side back into Warrnambool and District league finals.
Club officials yesterday revealed experienced defender Brendan Hickey would coach the club in 2013.
Hickey takes the reins from Michael Clements, who stepped down from the job after leading the Demons to sixth spot.
Timboon Demons’ A grade netball side will also have a new coach, with Cobden goaler Hayley Plozza taking over from respected mentor Kim Jamieson.
The netballers finished 11th last season and will be keen to improve on that effort under their new coach.
Hickey, 28, played juniors at Heytesbury and stuck with the club when it merged to become Timboon Demons.
Hickey crossed to Simpson in 2010 and was an assistant coach for two seasons under Chris and Leigh Walsh before returning to the Demons in 2012.
His football resume also includes three seasons as captain, including as co-captain with Klint Wagstaff when the Demons won the flag in 2008.
“Basically since we were kids we were going to the footy at Timboon and Heytesbury,” Hickey said yesterday.
“You are proud to take the job on, but with that comes a lot of responsibility to do the best job you can.
“I suppose I’m still learning and working (my coaching philosophy) out a little bit.
“One thing is we’ll be pretty positive with everything we do.
“I imagine we’d build on a solid defence and work forward from there.”
Hickey said Timboon Demons was unlikely to have a huge player turnover and would be content with a largely home-grown list.
His brother, Marcus “Barney” Hickey, has signed with Cobden wanting to test himself at Hampden league level but will be one of only a handful of changes.
“We’re pretty happy with our retention of the group from last year,” Hickey said.
“Aside from Barney, at this stage there are no other confirmed departures and we have spoken with a lot of the group.
“Probably a few guys are 50-50 but that’d only be two or three and no more.
“That’s been a strength of our side over the last five years, the number of guys who have come through the juniors or grown up in the town and are happy to be there.”
The similar list could mean a similar result in 2013, but Hickey said he was confident finals were within the Demons’ reach.
He said he would put faith in talented first-year seniors and would blood still-eligible juniors where possible.
“We only missed out on the finals by percentage this year, so we’ll certainly be aiming to be back in there,” he said.
“We just want to work hard to get back into the five and takes things as they come, without putting any undue pressure on ourselves.”
The Demons’ announcement follows South Rovers confirming Brendan Whelan as coach on Monday.
The appointments mean only two WDFNL clubs — Nirranda and Old Collegians — are without a coach for season 2013.