Colbinabbin is searching for a new senior football coach after Matt Pinniger’s decision to stand down.
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Pinniger said the timing wasn’t right to continue in the position with his second child due in two months and work commitments also taking precedent.
“A week after the grand final I just decided I’ve probably got a bit too much on,” Pinniger said.
“I just didn’t think I’d be able to commit 100 per cent, which the club deserves, and it wasn’t going to be fair on anyone really. I’m certainly going to stay involved with Colbo, hopefully they’ll stitch up a new coach there soon and the ball will start rolling.
“Depending on who’s coaching, if they want me to help out in any way (I will), just to be a link between Bendigo and Colbinabbin with recruiting. Whether it’s just getting on the committee or doing something like that.”
Pinniger was in charge at Colbinabbin for the past two years and this season led the Grasshoppers to their first Heathcote District Football League finals since the 2009 grand final.
Colbinabbin finished second on the ladder, but went out of the finals in straight sets, which Pinniger put down to a lack of finals experience.
The 33-year-old expected Colbinabbin to retain most of its players for 2013, but said the club needed to bring in some recruits to build on this season’s improvement.
“I just think we need to keep the momentum going from this year. To improve we need to establish ourselves in the finals again and try to win a final,” he said.
“We took those steps to get into the finals and weren’t able to execute once we got into finals.
“It looks like we’re going to retain the majority of our players… we need to get fresh faces out there too. It’s only a town of 110 people, we need to get as many people out there as possible.”
Pinniger hasn’t shut the door on a return to coaching after getting a taste for the job.
“Down the track, maybe in a couple of years, I’ll do it again. I’d love to do it again, I really enjoyed it, but it’s just the wrong timing with me,’’ he said.
Colbinabbin president Tait Hamilton praised Pinniger for his effort taking the club back to finals and said the club had already interviewed internally for the role, but been unable to find a successor.
“Matt’s done a fantastic job for us.
“It’s just a shame he’s in a situation where he can’t continue.
“We’re disappointed but we certainly understand,” Hamilton said.
“We’ve tried internally so far and they’re very similar situations to Matt where it’s either work commitments or family commitments – it’s just not the right time.”
“It’s a great opportunity for someone who wants to coach, it’s all there ready to go and they would get a lot of support from us, we look forward to appointing someone over the next couple of weeks.”