ONCE a coach, always a coach.
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Talented netballer Anna Archie will return to the coaching hot-seat in 2024, eager to give back to the Warrnambool and District league club which became her home-away-from-home when she first moved to Australia from New Zealand 13 years ago.
Archie has signed on as Timboon Demons' A grade mentor, replacing joint leaders Carley Hickey and Bethany Hallyburton.
The midcourter has coaching experience - she led Nirranda in 2013 and also spent three years in charge of Central Murray league side Lake Boga before returning to Timboon this year.
"I was happy to put my coaching days behind me and slowly ween myself out of playing," Archie said.
"But Carley and Beth had a chat with me towards the end of the season (about coaching) - they knew they were finishing up - and I said to them 'I'll think about it'.
"Coaching is always an itch that wants to be scratched and when you have a club like Timboon, which has a great vibe about it and great people, you think 'it's good to be involved'.
"I said 'yes' before I'd really thought about it and it's sunk back in and now here we go again.
"(It's nice to be) giving back to a club which gave me so much when I first came to Australia."
Archie is coy about the Demons' potential.
"There is a good vibe around the club, the girls are pretty keen and our senior sides last year finished quite well," she said.
"It was a little bit unexpected by some people in the district.
"We are locked away in Timboon - it's too far for anyone to want to travel (to play) - and there's some real little gems out there who play with their heart and their soul and that's all you can really ask for."
Archie first played for Timboon in 2011-12 before joining the Blues for a season and then returning to New Zealand for five years.
She relocated to the western district in 2019, winning the league best and fairest while playing for Nirranda, before moving to Swan Hill for three years.
Her first season back in Timboon colours was solely as a player but she is ready for the added responsibility which comes with coaching.
"When you have done a few years of it, you just roll into it," Archie said.
"Being back at the club and having a season off coaching this year has given me a little bit of time to stop and reset and evaluate where I am at.
"I am looking forward to it - I've had a refresh year and am raring to get back into it."
Archie, who is also coaching the Demons' 17 and under team, is planning on playing but will step aside if the club has enough depth.
Defender Tessa Poot is the Dees' only confirmed out at this stage.
"She is leaving the district in the new year to further her adventures around the country," Archie said.
The netball team will have social pre-season training runs with the footballers in December.
It will then do a 10-week block prior to round one.
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