Sport
16 September, 2021
Power premiership coach stands down
KOLORA Noorat premiership mentor Ben Walsh is looking forward to priortising his young family in 2022 after confirming he was standing down from the Power’s top job.
KOLORA Noorat premiership mentor Ben Walsh is looking forward to priortising his young family in 2022 after confirming he was standing down from the Power’s top job.
Walsh, who announced his decision to the club and players shortly after the mid-season bye, will depart Kolora Noorat as a player after five seasons and coach of the last three.
The 34 year-old, who played in the Power’s 2017 premiership and coached the 2019 flag, is set to retire from playing and spend the next 12 months taking a break before potentially returning to coaching in the future.
“I let the club know a fair while ago now, probably just after the mid-year bye,” Walsh said.
“I just need a spell. I absolutely love coaching and have a real passion for it and would like to do it again at some point but I have a young family and it’s probably taken it’s toll the last couple of years.
“I’m just keen to take 12 months and have a bit of breather. From a playing point of view I was probably just hanging on as it was.
“It was probably not the way I dreamt I would finish but I’m really grateful to the club for the opportunities I’ve had and the players, but I’m looking forward to a bit of time off now.”
Walsh guided the Power to its fifth premiership since joining the Warrnambool and District league in his first year the helm.
His second season was wiped out by COVID in 2020, while this year he had the Power primed for another tilt at glory.
2020 and 2021 have been years like no other for football and netball clubs and while the two premierships created plenty of connections, the experiences of the last two years fostered them connections into tighter bonds Walsh holds “just as highly” as winning a flag.
“The last two years probably makes you reassess what is important and clearly the premiership in 2019 gives you that connection forever,” he said.
“But I think the last two years you’re really starting to value the other things more.
“Clearly we would have loved another two cracks at it and coached for three years and had three good cracks at it but that wasn’t the case.
“I’ve learnt a lot along the way about what’s important and I think I’ve placed just as much importance on the off-field stuff and the people and the relationships and connections. I feel like that’s really strong and I’ve had some really nice messages from the players that has reinforced that.”
While the Power is yet to confirm a new coach, Walsh said the club was in a “great space” to continue strongly next season and beyond under a new leader given it boasted a strong core of younger, experienced players.
“I think that’s always been a strength of the club,” he said.
“They just keep churning out the kids and we gave them plenty of opportunities and I think there is probably a time now to transition that young group and they are really start taking ownership.
“I think that happened throughout this year and they’re certainly ready. They took a massive step over the last 12 months.
“At one point I think we had 10 or 11 players that we’re 21 or under and a lot of that bracket around 20, 21 have played their 50 odd games now and are ready to really lead and take ownership of the side.”