FORMER Bendigo Bombers captain James Flaherty is returning from four years in the west to coach Rochester in the Goulburn Valley Football League.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Flaherty was officially appointed the new coach of the Tigers on Tuesday night, filling the role vacated by Peter White.
Key defender Flaherty has spent the past four seasons in the WAFL with the Peel Thunder.
Previous to that he played four years in the VFL with the Bendigo Bombers, including three of those as skipper.
Flaherty was also captain of Peel this year.
“We’re really pleased to get James as our new coach,” Rochester recruiting committee member David Hodgens said on Wednesday.
“One of the criteria we were looking for was we wanted a playing coach to provide that on-field leadership.”
The appointment of Flaherty as coach follows Rochester last week securing another former Bendigo VFL captain, Steven Stroobants.
“James is really positive about the coaching opportunity and is obviously going to be a very good player for us as well,” Hodgens said.
Flaherty was the Bendigo Football League rising star winner in 2005 while at South Bendigo.
