NEW Allansford coach Ben Price’s goal is simple.
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“If I leave it in better shape than I found it, we’ve done well,” he said.
Price has signed a two-year deal with the option of a third at the Warrnambool and District league club.
The non-playing mentor has already bolstered the Cats’ playing stocks, bringing in Port Fairy ruckman-forward Robbie Hare as an assistant coach and regaining Jason Wilson from North Warrnambool Eagles.
Price said he was rapt to have two players with Hampden league experience sign on to help lead a youth-laden Cats’ outfit.
Injury restricted Hare to 10 matches – four senior and six reserves – for the Seagulls in 2017.
But he is a noted goalkicker, having booted 46 majors at Hampden senior level two years ago.
“Robbie’s a fantastic acquisition for us, a big, strong ruckman who can play forward as well,” Price said.
“He’ll be fairly hard to defend and Robbie just wants to learn a bit about coaching, which is fantastic, because a lot of the young guys his age just want to take from footy clubs and Robbie is looking to give back and put back into the football community.”
Wilson returns to Allansford after a one-season stint at North Warrnambool Eagles which netted him a reserves premiership.
The midfielder also made four appearances for the Eagles’ senior outfit.
“He’s a fantastic representative of the Allansford footy club and he’s played a lot of footy here over the years,” Price said.
“He’s got a strong base on his fitness...and he just adds a bit of strength to our midfield and will help with all the young kids playing around him.”
Price, 39, arrives at the Cats after a 12-month break from football.
He spent five seasons at Terang Mortlake prior to that, working as reserves coach and helping on the seniors bench.
The South West Kitchens cabinetmaker has also spent time at Port Fairy in a coaching capacity.
Price said he was thrilled to jump into the senior coaching hotseat for the first time.
“I thought it would be a great fit, applied and was lucky enough to get the job,” he said.
Price said Allansford “was a work in progress” but he was upbeat about its future.
“It definitely has been a lean patch, there’s no denying that,” he said.
“Next year’s probably all about rebuilding trust from the playing group in the coaching staff, getting everything right off the field, ticking a few boxes on the field and just a small bit of progression in the win-loss column.
“The main thing is to keep things really simple.
“My basic structure is working with a young group, keeping them all together and all driving in the right direction.
“We’ll try and be fairly creative. We’ll have plan A through to plan C – we have plenty of ideas and with a young group we have the ability to do that.”