Mixed feelings as Drysdale coach calls it quits

DRYSDALE coach Wade Chapman will stand down at the end of the BFL season.

The club champion, who is out of contract at the end of the season, informed the playing group of his decision on Thursday night after training.

Drysdale’s constitution only allows a coach to be in charge for three seasons before it must go through a recruitment process again.

It meant Chapman would have had to reapply for his job at the end of the season.

President Greg Collier said Chapman decided he did not want to go through the process again.

“There’s mixed feelings from the playing group as well. There’s the recognition for what he has done for the club and the development he has put in to the players,” Collier said.

“But then also there’s acknowledgment that going early and announcing early signals to the group that they need to do their own planning for next year as well.

“He was very adamant that even though he is making the announcement before the end of the season, it’s business as usual.

“There was a strong acknowledgment that it was a real team thing to do (by Wade) by announcing (his decision) early.”

Chapman, who has spent seven years at the club over two stints, will play a part in Drysdale’s search for a new coach. He leaves as the club’s longest serving coach after first joining in 2007 and leading the club to two premierships. He then returned in 2016.

“His win/loss percentage across his tenure is just under 60 per cent,” Collier said.

“That’s better than (Kevin) Sheedy and (Mick) Malthouse. It’s pretty impressive.

“He is a very important part of our club. It’s been great to have him back.”

Collier said Chapman would also still be around the club in 2019. “He is going to put his time into watching his kids play. He will still be involved,” he said.

The Hawks have battled in 2018 and are still not out of relegation danger, just four points above the BFL’s bottom two.

Injuries have had a significant impact on the club’s form with just five players playing all 11 games this season.

“We lost those two games in a row to Portarlington and Newcomb, the two sides below us on the ladder. That hurt us a bit,” Collier said. “If you put two wins on where we are at, we would be knocking on the door of the five, which is where we thought we would be.

“We were always targeting nine or 10 wins for the year. That hasn’t come to fruition.”

Collier said the club was in the middle of a thorough on and off-field review as it builds towards 2019.

“We have been working towards a 2015-2018 strategic plan and that comes to an end in September,” Collier said. “We are already starting to work on a 2019-2022 strategic plan.”