Decks cleared as second Swans coach calls time

OUTGOING South Barwon co-coach James Maas said family life meant he couldn’t commit to more than another season at the GFL club, forcing him to resign.

Maas told the playing group at training on Thursday night that he would join co-coach Clinton Wells in stepping away from the senior role at season’s end.

Maas welcomed his first child into the world in January — a nine-week premature birth that saw the family spend five weeks in hospital while his young daughter got bigger.

“She’s doing well now but there were a few testing times there early on,” he said.

“That really makes it an easy decision, when you look at it and ask, ‘Do you go an- other year or step aside?’ I really only had one more year before I assessed what I could commit to.”

That didn’t line up with the club’s plans — the Swans are after a three-year commitment to help return the side into finals.

“I think if we said, ‘ We’d give you one year’ he would do a year, but where we’re at, we need probably a three-year commitment from whoever’s going to keep going,” president Roger Blacksell said.

Since Wells announced his resignation a fortnight ago, the Swans have been searching for a new mentor.

The club was open to a playing-coach to work alongside Maas, but the latest news has changed that view.

“We’ve got a plan but we wouldn’t want to say too much,” Blacksell said.

“I’ve got a band of people within the club — four of them — that are actively out looking. We’re probably targeting people we’re looking for.

“We’ll have some sort of announcement in the next couple of weeks, I’d hope.”

Blacksell yesterday said Wells and Maas left the club in a “buoyant” position.

“We’re going to St Mary’s tomorrow — if you asked me if we’re going to win, I’d say, ‘If the side that turned up against Leopold last week turned up, we’d win tomorrow’,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of kids; we’re quite a young group and the points system is forcing us to go that way, but that’s the way we’ve always kept it — bred from within. We’re reloading and ready to go again.”

Maas said he wouldn’t throw his hat in the coaching ring, but is keen to find a new role at South Barwon next season.