Jake Strafehl will join Jamie Vernon and Paul Ganley to take the reins from 2016 coach William Bell.

Strafehl started playing senior football at the Rats in 1994 and played through until he won a flag in 1999.

He left the club and coaches the Ararat Eagles’ senior team in 2005 before taking over the Eagles’ reserves side in 2006.

Strafehl said he wants the club to continue its improvement on the field.

“The better reserves sides in the Wimmera Football League have got a good balance of youth and older heads,” he said.

“Jamie and I will be playing coaches and Paul will be on the boundary.”

Vernon offered leadership to the reserves team during the 2016 season from the sidelines due to injury.

He said the next step was to take on an official coaching role within the club. 

“We will all have different input into the team but as a collective we will work together to get the best out of the team both on and off the field,” he said.

Ganley returns to the reserves coaching ranks after a two year hiatus.

He said he wants to ensure everyone is enjoying their football.

“Football should be fun for everyone,” he said.

“So we hope that we can provide that kind of environment while being as competitive as we can on the football field.

Ganley said the team will have a few light training sessions at Alexandra Oval before Christmas.