Four days after falling short in the BFNL preliminary final, Sandhurst has a new senior coach.
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Ashley Connick, a multiple premiership coach in the Sunraysia and Central Murray leagues, has been appointed to replace Andrew Collins.
Collins informed the club a month ago that he would step down from the job because of work commitments.
The star midfielder is expected to stay at the club as a player.
Connick has moved to Bendigo from Mildura for work and he arrives at the Dragons with an impressive coaching CV.
He started his coaching career at the age of 24 as a playing coach with Wentworth.
In three years, Connick took Wentworth to a preliminary final, a losing grand final and then a premiership.
He then coached Swan Hill to two grand finals in the Central Murray league before returning to Sunraysia where he was playing coach of Mildura’s 2007 premiership side.
After a break from coaching, Connick coached the Sunraysia inter-league team for three years and spent the past two seasons in charge of Red Cliffs.
From a low base, Connick led the Tigers to this year's preliminary final.
"I wasn't 100 per cent hellbent on coaching anyone (in Bendigo), but I had in the back of my mind that if the right job came up that I'd give it serious thought,'' Connick said.
"It's pretty hard to knock back a club that has such a proud history, a premiership a couple of years ago, a couple of finals series since, really talented kids and is based at the QEO.
"It all added up to something that would have been incredibly hard to knock back."
Connick watched some Sandhurst games this year and liked what he saw.
"Sandhurst has just finished third, so we're not looking to alter things radically,'' Connick said.
"We'll just look at a few things that can be improved on. I've had a look at a couple of Sandhurst games and we'll put all those things together and see if we can get another week out of the season next year."
His first priority is making sure his predecessor and the club's best player stays on board.
"All the indications are that Andy (Collins) will play on and that will be huge for me (if Collins plays with Sandhurst),'' Connick said.
"I'll be picking his brain throughout and I'm really looking forward to coaching Andy.
"He's a class player and a really popular member of the team."
Connick has been appointed for the next two seasons.
Related: More BFNL news