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BRYCE Curnow says his move from Strathfieldsaye to Central Murray league club Kerang will provide an opportunity to further develop his coaching aspirations.
Curnow, 28, is joining the Blues as an assistant coach for next season where he will work alongside joint senior coaches Troy Coates and Jesse Clark.
Coates was Curnow's BFNL premiership coach last year at the Storm.
Strathfieldsaye beat Eaglehawk by 14 points in the grand final - a game in which Curnow earned the Nalder Medal as best-on-ground for his starring role playing both forward and defence.
"I'm looking forward to heading up to Kerang and being able to learn a bit more under Coatesy as a playing assistant," Curnow said on Wednesday.
"I'm really keen to pursue coaching; I'm hoping to do my level two coaching and see this is a really good opportunity to take some learnings from to be able to have another crack at senior level again."
Curnow previously shared the Strathfieldsaye coaching role with Darryl Wilson in 2016.
I'm really keen to pursue coaching; I'm hoping to do my level two coaching and see this is a really good opportunity to take some learnings from to be able to have another crack at senior level again
- Bryce Curnow
"I've got a lot of really good mates at Strath and have been there for eight or nine years, but this is a really good coaching opportunity, which makes it a bit easier to make the decision because I know that I'll be developing myself," Curnow said.
"And my wife Amy's family is from up that way as well, so we'll be able to spend more time with her family, which will be nice."
Curnow first joined the Storm as an aligned player while he was with the North Ballarat Roosters in the VFL.
The key position swingman has played in two premierships in the past three seasons - last year with the Storm and in 2017 with Calivil United when he was the Loddon Valley league's leading goalkicker with 76.
With there no BFNL senior season being played this year, Curnow has had to find other ways to fill in his Saturdays that are usually reserved for football.
"The house and garden are looking pretty good at the moment," Curnow said.
"I've made an outdoor table, done all my landscaping, played a bit of golf and took a bit of time getting used to remote learning with teaching, so I've been able to fill in the time and get a bit done."
Kerang missed the Central Murray finals last year finishing sixth, but has been a power of the competition, winning seven flags over the past decade.
While the Storm have lost one of their key position players, president Glen Cowling said it would create opportunities from within for the club's host of young talent.
"Bryce has made his decision and we'll move on. We see it as an opportunity for one of our younger players to be developed," Cowling said.
"Our under-18s played last Saturday and you could see that we've got plenty of good young kids running around in that side and we haven't even looked at the kids who were coming out of the under-18s last year because we haven't had the chance to play them this season, so we think we have plenty there who can step up for us."
50 MOST DOMINANT FLAG SEASONS IN BFL, HDFL, LVFL SINCE 1990 - THE LIST SO FAR
No. 30 & 29 - Maryborough 1998; Gisborne 2005
No. 32 & 31 - South Bendigo 1994; Golden Square 2009
No. 34 & 33 - Castlemaine 1992; South Bendigo 1990
No. 36 & 35 - Mitiamo 1999; Sandhurst 2016
No. 38 & 37 - North Bendigo 2019; Leitchville-Gunbower 2018
No. 40 & 39 - Bridgewater 1991; Calivil United 2017
No. 42 & 41 - Heathcote 1992, Sandhurst 2004
No. 44 & 43 - Eaglehawk 2008, Elmore 2007
No. 46 & 45 - Mount Pleasant 1990, Newbridge 2018
No. 48 & 47 - Gisborne 2006, Calivil United 1990
No. 50 & 49 - Calivil United 2003, Eaglehawk 2018
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