Wilston Grange Gorillas have moved swiftly in the off season to pull together a coaching “dream team” which will see young gun Matt Trewhella take the reins as senior playing coach supported by former AFL senior coach Wayne Brittain and current coach David Martin.
Trewhella is a senior premiership player with South Barwon in the Geelong Football League and Mansfield in the Goulburn Valley League, and enjoyed a highly successful first year with the club in 2012, by not only playing senior representative football, but also coaching the Wilston Grange u18s to their first Div 1 finals appearance in many years.
The Gorillas have been knocking on the door, finishing fifth the last two years, and club president Brett Gillett is hopeful that 2013 will see the club go to the next level.
“We have improved an enormous amount over the last few years with Marto at the helm, and the whole club is very grateful for the massive effort that he has put in getting us to this stage. Coaching a footy side obviously takes a large amount of time and effort, and when David told us that due to work and family commitments he didn’t believe he would be able to repeat his fantastic efforts from the past two years, we felt that giving an up and coming coach like Matt a crack at the job was a fantastic option.” he said.
Martin will continue helping the club as an assistant coach, reuniting with his old team mate, and former Carlton and Zillmere coach Wayne Brittain in what Gillett believes is the best credentialed coaching team that the Pineapple Hotel cup has seen in many years.
“To be able to have a high quality emerging young coach like Matt supported by two guys like Wayne and David is pretty special. With all of their combined experience and footy knowledge, it is a great opportunity for us as a club and for the playing list” Gillett said.
In a further boost to the Gorillas fortunes, last season’s senior best and fairest and league MVP Steve Brittain has committed to the club for another crack at the 2013 flag.
The senior, reserve and u18 teams will commence pre-season training at Sunlinc Oval (Hickey Park) at 6pm on Thursday 8 November.
