By Marcus Uhe
A wealth of experience and well-established relationships with the playing group will assist in the transition of leadership at Springvale South as Paul Hill begins his coaching tenure at the Bloods.
An assistant principal and former coach at fellow DDCA club Coomoora and Sub-District side Noble Park, wearing the coaches hat is not a new experience for Hill, a well-respected figure as the 2021-22 premiership captain at Springvale South.
With the club’s desire to replace Darren Arter from within, Hill’s credentials made him an excellent fit for the position.
“We’re really happy with how we’ve gone in the last few years and the culture we’ve built in the club, not just in the firsts but in the three grades,” Hill said.
“We didn’t really want to upset that by bringing someone in externally.
“As good as new voices and new ideas are, we’re pretty happy with how things are tracking at the moment.
“There’s a couple of things that we might do a little bit differently, but that’s sort of where it came from, trying to find someone internally and having a little bit of experience myself, having coached Coomoora and a little bit at Noble Park as well.”
Hill will oversee the entire coaching program at the club, assisting with the sides in the lower grades during the week, such as the victorious Turf 4 side that claimed last year’s premiership in remarkable circumstances in the grand final.
With nearly all of last year’s first 11 returning for a shot at a historic three-peat, Hill expects to play more of a soccer-style ‘manager’ role rather than a hands-on leader, confident in the leadership of Ryan Quirk and Jordan Wyatt.
“It’s really important that a coach is no-longer like it had been years ago, when you’re yelling and screaming, everyone’s doing the same thing and you’re giving them a bake after a game…we’ve moved away from that” Hill said.
“It’s more about understanding people, building relationships with them and understanding what they need to do, and what you need to do for them, to get the best out of them.
“I’ve got a really good relationship with a lot of the boys already, so it’ll be about using that to hopefully get the best out of them, and hopefully continue this winning patch that we’ve got going at the moment.”
