Seagulls coach’s legacy
Zimmerle reflects on QCup stint
WHEN Aaron Zimmerle told his youngest son Zane in early July that he would be standing down as Tweed Heads coach, the six-year-old’s reaction was to burst out in tears.
Zane has only ever known his dad as a footy coach.
“I was like, ‘It’s OK mate, I am going to spend more time with you now’ and then he stopped crying,” Zimmerle said.
The Queensland Cup mentor of five years says his family of wife Marie and sons Zeke and Zane have been an enormous part of the journey that saw him farewelled a winner at Piggabeen Sports Complex last month.
The side’s 26-18 victory against minor premiers Papua New Guinea gave the Seagulls faithful rare reason to cheer and set them free of the unwanted wooden spoon.
With Titans under-20 coach Ben Woolf appointed to succeed him, Palm Beach Currumbin State High School teacher and coach Zimmerle will now take a step back in order to go forward again. If one thing is clear, he is not finished in coaching.
“I’m not done with coaching, far from that,” he said.
“It’s probably time to step back, reflect on it, get better at what I do and yeah we’ll see what happens.
“I want to earn my stripes. I want to be successful at Cup before I would ever think about the next level because I am not an ex-NRL player. I’ll definitely miss it (at Tweed) but I have got to build our school program. You have seen how successful Keebra and that are at the moment – I have got plenty in front of me there to try to get us up to their standard.”
Zimmerle’s Tweed tenure began with a first-up win he still cherishes to this day.
“I was lucky enough that my first ever game of coaching Cup was against Burleigh, so the local derby, and we got a win in that so I will always remember that day,” he said.
They almost went on to make the 2013 play-offs in his first year at the helm, only for an injury curse to see them fall out of contention late in the piece.
The following year provided another key highlight: A finals appearance underpinned by a 12-match unbeaten streak.
As clubs legends one by one hung up the boots, the Seagulls missed finals the next three seasons, with their 2017 struggles quantified by a 5-18 record – but it hasn’t been all bad.
“The Redcliffe win against the odds and the PNG win (in PNG) which was something that we have probably wanted since their inception … two of my most memorable ones are going to come in my least successful season,” he said. “That’s footy.”
He believes the club can restore its form with good recruiting: “I think we can get back to being competitive week in, week out”.