Former Warrnambool and District champion Matthew Love takes on junior coaching role with South West Cricket

The decorated local cricketer - currently captain-coach of Stoneyford in the Colac District association - was unveiled as South West's under 17 representative team mentor for January's junior carnival in Warrnambool and was ecstatic to be given the opportunity to guide the next wave of talent coming through the ranks.

"It's an issue with not only junior cricket but senior cricket participation around the state, and I guess Australia as a whole, so I want to give back to associations the same sort of opportunities that I was given as a young fella," he told The Standard.

"It's something I'm really excited about and obviously it's good to be given the opportunity to coach the side."

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The Camperdown-based run machine, who led the Bulls to the drought-breaking 2020-21 division one premiership, said the squad was still to be finalised but was confident there was significant talent to work with.

"I'm getting assistance with the squad and we're running a couple of sessions coming up this weekend and early next week," he said.

"We'll get a really good idea of what kind of players I'll have at hand and utilise those strengths. You never know.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know them a lot more closely and seeing what they've got."

Love has experience at Premier level as a player with Footscray and Greenvale Kangaroos - where he also coached the club in 2018-19 - and says providing pathways to advance emerging players' cricket is vital.

"It's always a hard one when young kids go to Melbourne from the country areas to play Premier cricket," he said.

"Advice from guys that have been there, done that is important. It's a matter of getting enough senior cricket in at country level and seeing how they go against men and having a crack.

"That's what we're here to provide, that pathway for them to then move on and hopefully play at the highest level they can.

"It does come down to opportunity for these kids to advance and the ability to get travel or move there. It's the big challenge these talented kids from the country have, that's for sure."

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