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READ MORE - Tigers moving on with new coach Beattie
OUTGOING Kyneton coach Luke Beattie says it's the camaraderie and community connection he expects he'll miss most when his tenure ends at the final siren on Saturday.
After four-and-a-bit seasons in charge - he took over late in 2015 as Mark Adamson's replacement - Beattie will coach his final game for the Tigers against Sandhurst at home on Saturday.
Such has been the consistent coaching turnover of late, Beattie is currently the BFNL's longest-tenured coach ahead of Golden Square's Bernie Haberman and Castlemaine's Derrick Filo, who both took over their clubs in 2017.
"I think I'll miss the camaraderie and the connection to the community the most... they were the greatest drivers for me," Beattie said.
"I always had a passion for coaching Kyneton; some of my movements prior to that in coaching at different clubs were around gaining the experience to ultimately move into that role at Kyneton in a community that I care deeply about and be able to have an influence."
On-field, Beattie led the Tigers into four-consecutive finals series between 2015 and 2018. Before that, the Tigers hadn't featured in the finals since 2003.
Beattie admits it will continue to frustrate him that the Tigers weren't able to win any of the five finals they played in those four seasons - particularly after finishing top-three for the first time since 1999 last year.
"I suppose you look back on some regrets and to not achieve a finals win that was my measure of success initially is one," Beattie said.
"Last year we had a very strong group of players and to win that last game of the season against Golden Square when we needed it to get third showed some real resilience that I felt would have allowed us to progress further into the finals than we did. We potentially tired mentally more than anything else quicker than I thought, so that was a shame, but we moved past it and we're in a really good space now."
The Tigers lost their two finals last year by a hefty 104 and 112 points.
Beattie this year faced his greatest coaching challenge following an exodus of players after last season to the extent that the 41-year-old had to pull the boots back on, as well as the club continuing to navigate through its financial difficulties.
There were many external predictions of doom and gloom for the Tigers this year, but the club has won five games, with vice-president Rob Waters saying Beattie "has been magnificent in holding the place together and if he hadn't, I'd hate to think of what could have happened."
Nathan Thompson has been announced as Beattie's successor.
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