HDFNL club Mt Pleasant has appointed Darren Walsh as its senior coach for the 2018 season.
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Current senior coach Matt Johnson will lead the bottom of the ladder Blues for the final five games of this season before Walsh takes the reins.
The former Bendigo Diggers captain and Golden Square playing coach has spent the past nine seasons at AFL level with the West Coast Eagles as the head opposition analyst coach.
“While Mounts have spent some time out of the finals, they’ve managed to get some senior games into their young players and that’s a positive,’’ Walsh said on Friday.
“There’s going to be more development needed for the young group and, the advantage I have in being appointed this early, I can watch the remaining few games and get a head start on recruiting.
“It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m really looking forward to getting back involved at club level and Mounts is such a proud and successful club with a lot of good people involved.”
Walsh worked alongside West Coast senior coaches John Worsfold and Adam Simpson and former football manager Neale Daniher in his time with the Eagles.
Walsh said the experience of working at an AFL club has him better equipped to coach his own team this time around.
“Even at AFL level it’s always about keeping the message as simple as possible,’’ Walsh said.
“I directly reported to (the late) Phil Walsh when he was at West Coast. His passion, work ethic and attention to detail was something I really admired.
“John Worsfold was all about believing in his players and he was a great listener. Adam Simpson was at the cutting edge with game plans and innovation.
“Coaching evolves all the time and I learned a lot over the years with the Eagles.”
Mounts president Phil Whiting said Walsh’s appointment was a coup for the club
“We are excited to have Darren join the club from next season, his early signing gives us the opportunity to plan for next year, much earlier than most,’’ Whiting said.
“We are also very fortunate that we have the support of our existing coach Johno, who is a quality clubman and Mounts premiership player, to continue the development of playing group through to the end of the season.”
Whiting said the club’s future was bright, with two-thirds of the senior list products of the club’s junior program, while this year’s under-17 team was well-placed to make the finals.
“Matt (Johnson) and the team have had a challenging season so far impacted by injuries to nearly half of our more experienced senior playing list,’’ Whiting said.
“This has created opportunities for our younger players to gain senior football experience.
“With this we have seen some significant development from our younger players. We are excited about building good depth across the playing group and looking forward to adding more experience to help with this development.”
Mounts have the bye this weekend. HDFNL games on Saturday are North Bendigo v White Hills, Huntly v LBU, Heathcote v Colbinabbin and Elmore v Leitchville-Gunbower.
