New coach will let his Devils shine
AFL Tasmania has officially announced outgoing Clarence coach Jeromey Webberley as the new head coach and talent manager of the Tasmania Devils.
The Devils were left to hunt for a new coach after Cameron Joyce left the role mid-season to take up his new role as head coach of the Gold Coast Suns’ new AFLW team.
On Wednesday it was announced the Devils got the man they were after with Webberley given the highly sought after role of coaching and developing the state’s best crop of young footy talent on a two-year contract.
Following a 16-game AFL
career with Richmond, Webberley returned to his home state where he coached Clarence for the past five seasons and oversaw the rebuild of the young Roos list and lead them to third spot this season before recently announcing his time as coach was done.
Webberley will coach both the Tasmania Devils NAB League Boys and Girls sides and said he was up for the challenge of guiding the best young talent the state has to offer.
“It’s another step in my coaching career, which I’m really excited about,” Webberley said.
“But ultimately I’ve got a real passion for Tasmanian
football and this is the pinnacle of it and I’m really attracted to coaching the younger people and the younger
generation.
“The role was something I’ve had my mind set on and obviously the opportunity arose this year and seemed to fit in really well with stepping away from Clarence.”
The 33-year-old said a key objective in his role would be forming close relationships with his young players and said when it came on field plans he would give his players a licence to shine. “In terms of how we go about it and our game plan we want to be really brave and we want to show the individual talents and the team talent that we have,” he said. “When we come out to play, both the boys and the girls, we’re going to make sure we play a really
exciting brand of footy where we encourage them to display their talents.”
Head of AFL Tasmania Damian Gill welcomed Webberley to the role. “It is exciting to welcome Jeromey to our team and into an important role for Tasmanian football,” Gill said.
“Our Tasmanian boys and girls deserve a quality coach and leader to continue the great work of Cameron Joyce and I am confident our program is in good hands with Jeromey.” The Devils under-19 and under-17 teams head for the Gold Coast on Thursday to play Queensland on the Gold Coast on Friday, under interim coach Mathew Armstrong.