TATYOON has appointed Adrian Pilgrim to lead its senior side this season in the Mininera and District Football League.
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Pilgrim replaces Damian Cameron, who left the Hawks in October to join Wimmera Football League club Minyip-Murtoa as a senior assistant coach.
Speaking to The Wimmera Mail-Times, Pilgrim outlined why he took on the job as Tatyoon’s senior leader for 2016.
“I guess I’ve always had an interest in coaching, I have a coaching background. I had a break from it last year to freshen up, and with ‘Camo’ (Cameron) leaving, the opportunity opened up,” Pilgrim said.
“Josh McDougall mentioned something about it to me, and people just started talking. It snowballed from there.”
Pilgrim’s previous coaching experience includes a three-year stint at Avoca in the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football League. He took a break from the caper in 2015 when shifting to Natte Bealiba.
The new Hawks coach said he was really impressed with the club when he sat down at a meeting.
“I was impressed with what they had to say and it’s a great fit, seeing as I work in Ararat. I live in Ballarat, but Tatyoon’s just as far from Ballarat as Ararat is,” Pilgrim said.
“It is very much a family club at Tatyoon and that’s what was really appealing to me.”
The new coach was asked if he felt the pressure of inheriting a Tatyoon team that hasn’t missed a finals series in recent years.
“Yeah I guess so. Not pressure from outside of the club, but you do want to continue to be fairly successful. You talk to people within Tatyoon and they wouldn’t say they’ve been successful,” Pilgrim said, in reference to Tatyoon’s five grand final losses in the past 10 years.
Pilgrim did say, based on watching the Hawks’ matches late in the 2015 season, he thought there was still room for improvement.
However at this stage, Tatyoon’s main focus has been securing its current list, particularly the premiership-winning reserves players.
“It’s important to hold onto our list in order to keep our depth,” Pilgrim said.
“We’ve been targeting players who are going to have a impact and are a good fit for the club – good people, not just good players.”
Tatyoon has added a couple of former Ararat Rats’ players to their list in Jake Williamson and Harry Ganley.
Williamson is a half-back/midfielder and Ganley will float through midfield and across half-forward. Both are handy additions to the Hawks outfit, who have lost Cameron, Tory Chapple and Sam Munro.