Robins leaves Hawks

By Luke West
Updated November 7 2012 - 3:56am, first published October 21 2010 - 10:29am
HEADING HOME: Kain Robins will coach Hopetoun next year.
HEADING HOME: Kain Robins will coach Hopetoun next year.

ANOTHER of Eaglehawk’s big guns has left the Bendigo Football League club, with Kain Robins retuning to play with Hopetoun next year.Robins will coach Hopetoun, his home club where he played his junior football.The 26-year-old joins this year’s captain Brady Herdman (Wedderburn) and Damien Lock (North Bendigo) as players to have left Eaglehawk in the past two weeks, while Derrick Filo - the Hawks coach for the past eight years - is now at Kyneton.While he has accepted the coaching job of the Mallee Football League club, Robins will remain based in Bendigo during the week.Robins will have assistants take training during the week, while he will take the match-day reins.“I’ve been tossing up for about a week on Eaglehawk and Hopetoun, and I just thought last night that Hopetoun has been chasing me for a couple of years, so now was the time to go back for a year,’’ Robins said yesterday.“It’s one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make, but I’ve had a lot of pull from my mates back home telling me to have one season back there.“Ideally, it would have been nice to have done it when I’m about 30, but from what I’ve been told there is a bit of talk it could be the league’s last year because clubs are just finding it tough to get recruits.’’Since last playing with Hopetoun in 2001, Robins has had stints with the Bendigo Pioneers, Eaglehawk, Bendigo Bombers and Peel Thunder in the WAFL.His achievements include BFL Michelsen medallist in 2006, Eaglehawk premiership player in 2007-08 and Bendigo Diggers-Bombers Team of the Decade member, while he also trained with Hawthorn for eight weeks in the lead-up to the 2005 AFL rookie draft.Robins returned to Eaglehawk this year from Peel, but had an injury-interrupted season.Robins was restricted to just 15 of a possible 21 games after tearing the ligaments off his elbow in round 10.Despite the injury, Robins was selected at centre half-back in the Bendigo Advertiser Team of the Year.Robins had been touted in recent weeks as a possible replacement for Filo as coach of Eaglehawk.While Robins was told the job was his if he wanted it, ultimately, the lure to play with mates back at his home club won out.However, Robins indicated - much like Herdman has - that he will return to the Hawks.As for his first coaching role next season, Robins is looking forward to tackling something new.“It’s probably more of a casual coaching job, which is something that will suit me to see whether I like it or not,’’ he said.Hopetoun was beaten by Jeparit Rainbow by 29 points in this year’s first semi-final.

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