Witney in the den

Belmont quick to fill senior coaching role

FORMER Bell Post Hill premiership player Ash Witney will take the reins as coach of Belmont after signing a twoyear deal at Jetts Oval.

The Lions moved quickly to find a replacement for Grant Tanner, who stood down last week having led Belmont to only two wins this season.

The appointment was announced to the senior playing group at training last night, and while work commitments meant Witney was unable to attend, he said he was excited about the prospect of getting stuck into his new role.

“The first thing will be to try to get the guys who have left to come back, because the list from 2015 and 2016 wasn’t too bad,” he said.

“We’re not sure why they left, but we’ll try to get them back and fill some spots with recruits around them.

“I’m not going to be recruiting 30 new players, it’s just about getting the guys back who were there previously and topping up with some guys from outside, because there are a fair few one pointers floating around at other clubs.

“With the points system you’ve got to be very mindful and strategic about who you pick up.”

Belmont was knocked out by Bannockburn in the 2015 elimination final and was hopeful of taking the next step under Tanner, who took Grovedale to the GFL grand final in 2014.

The Lions went backwards last year, winning only eight games, and started talking to Witney two months ago when it became clear Tanner would not go on.

Witney said the opportunity to coach his own side was too good to turn down.

“I’ve always enjoyed the coaching side of things — probably more than playing in my last couple of years — so it will be just a bit of a challenge and it was something I wanted to get into,” he said.

“I’ve done a little bit of coaching up in Queensland and worked with ‘Grg’ (Brent Grgic).”

Jason Young will continue as interim coach this season.