By Tara Murray
New Woodend-Hesket coach Ben Tankard said he’s looking forward to the challenge of helping the Riddell District Football League club go to the next level.
Tankard was announced as the Hawks new coach on Thursday night at the club’s last training session for the season.
Tankard, who stood down as Macedon coach last month after two years, said he had spoken to several clubs, but felt like Woodend-Hesket was the perfect fit.
“It was a stressful process,” he said. “There was seven clubs I either met with or had an interview with.
“They’ve [Woodend] been really welcoming and there was a good feel in the interview process,” he said.
“Everything felt right and I’m comfortable with the decision. I’m rapt to stay in the RDFL”
Having seen first hand what the Hawks have done the last couple of years, Tankard had seen the upside with the club.
He said they had worked really hard to get things right off field, now they needed to start to see some results on field.
“They’ve basically spent the last two years getting things right off field,” he said.
“They’ve built some wins the last couple of years, but didn’t have any luck this year.
“The club is ready to make the jump into finals and I want to take them on it.”
Tankard said the base of the playing group was already together, they just needed to add a bit more experience to help them out.
He said the club’s young players coming through, also attracted him to the role.
“I could have taken on a role at a ready made team that could challenge straight away,” he said.
“They’ve [Woodend] got their under-19s playing in the grand final and at my time at Macedon, what I enjoyed most was working with the young talent.
“Hopefully we’ll attract a couple of players. We need a couple of senior players, possibly from higher competitions, to help set the standards.”
A bonus for Tankard is that staying in the RDFL, means he can put his hand up to coach the interleague side again next year.
Tankard said it was something that he had enjoyed and didn’t want to give it up.
“If that opportunity comes up again, I’ll jump at it.”
