JAMIESON’S PASSION STRONGER THAN EVER

DUAL premiership coach Heath Jamieson says his passion to coach next year is as strong as ever.

The St Joseph’s mentor received a two-year extension at the end of 2015 after guiding Joeys to their first flag since 1989.

At the time, Jamieson said 2017, his fifth year at the helm, would be his last as coach at the GFL powerhouse.

He’s since backflipped on that call, being rejuvenated after having gone undefeated in the home-and-away season before winning their second premiership in three years.

“I suppose days like this make it all worthwhile, so we look forward to it,” Jamieson said at St Joseph’s Mad Monday celebrations.

“We’ll definitely enjoy these few days, we make sure we do that.

“I think we’ve won something like 73 out of our last 80-odd games of football, so they’re a pretty special group. They’re a very special group.

“But the competition is pretty tough, you can’t really take your eye off the ball. We’ve already got some things in plan for next year.

“We want to make sure after 2015, when we didn’t go quite as well as we would have liked last year, we don’t make the same mistake again.”

Jamieson said the biggest mistake of last year was to do with fitness — a hole his club rectified in 2017 by hiring strength and conditioning coach Kris Hinck.

“He’s been amazing for us this year,” Jamieson said.

“He was a bit unaware of local footy and how far he could push the boys, so he’ll come back with another program and we look forward to it.

“(After) 2015, we just didn’t come back fit enough. We didn’t do a good enough pre-season and that’s what it’s all about. That’s up to the players, I suppose. When they have this in-between period of the season, they come back ready to go.”

Jamieson said he expected his side to be competitive again next year, with veteran Daniel Lovick the only departure at this stage.

“Obviously Lovick retiring will leave a bit of a hole, but we’ve got some young players that can step into the role there and they’ll have to take over from him,” he said.

“That’s what happens with footy clubs — your legends retire and someone else needs to step up.”

PARTYP TIME: St Joseph’s Mad Monday celebrations at Gold Diggers Arms yesterday, with a guest appearance from ‘Alan Garner’ off The Hangover, left, and the Jamaican bobsled team, right, led by two-time Joeys premiership coach Heath Jamieson. P...