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NATHAN Thompson will coach both Kyneton's senior and under-18 teams in the BFNL next year.
The Tigers announced on Thursday night Thompson had been appointed the successor to Luke Beattie, who will coach his final game this Saturday against Sandhurst.
Thompson is coaching the Tigers' under-18s this year and will continue in the role next season, along with his senior duties.
"Thommo is incredibly passionate about Kyneton. He has built some incredible relationships with our younger players and is going to coach both the under-18 and senior side next year," Kyneton vice-president Rob Waters said.
"We know we have to surround him with a hell of a lot of support, but he committed to our under-18 players for a couple of years and he's going to follow through with that.
"If you look at it, the under-18s will be getting the same message as the seniors and they are set up to play the same way, so while it's rare to have the same person coaching both teams, we think there's some great advantages to it."
This will be Thompson's second stint as senior coach of the Tigers. He was a playing co-coach with Derrick Filo in 2012.
"It was tough going for him last time he did the senior coaching... he was living in Doncaster and commuting, but now he is living and working locally," Waters said.
"He's just so incredibly passionate about the Kyneton Tigers. We've got a good recruiting strategy moving forward and he's going to be central to that. We've had a tough year, but we think we'll be able to improve reasonably quickly next year."
Now aged 41, Thompson - who played 179 AFL games with Hawthorn and North Melbourne between 1998 and 2008 - has pulled the boots on in six games for the Tigers this year.
The Tigers complete their 2019 season at home against Sandhurst on Saturday, ending the coaching tenure of Beattie that began during the 2015 season.
"We went to the finals four years in a row (between 2015 and 2018) under Beatts, which not many of the country clubs recently can say," Waters said.
"He's just a fabulous person with a young family. He and his wife Shanya have devoted so much time to the club and what he did this year should never be forgotten by anyone who supports Kyneton.
"He has been magnificent in holding the place together and if he hadn't, I'd hate to think of what could have happened."
Despite the club's financial difficulties and a player exodus after last season, Beattie stuck with the Tigers as coach this year and the team has been anything but the easybeats many predicted, having managed five wins.
"By going on as coach when he probably didn't really want to, he recognised the need and selflessly sacrificed a lot to ensure the club will prosper going forward and we owe him a significant debt of gratitude," Waters said.
"I think what he has been able to do this year is right up there with anything he has done in previous years and that's a credit to him."
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