Tara Murray
Gisborne Giants have locked in their inaugural Riddell District Football League senior football coach.
The Giants, who will field a senior side next season for the first time next year, announced Andrew Hall as their first coach.
Hall is currently an assistant coach at Essendon District Football League premier club Strathmore, having been involved with the Sunbury Lions and Rupertswood previously.
Hall said he was excited for the opportunity.
“It’s a privilege to be appointed the inaugural coach of a senior program.” he said. ”It’s something that I’ve been working towards.
“Every coach should do a long apprenticeship, which I’ve done. The Giants’ process has been outstanding and quite comprehensive.
“It’s an incredible opportunity and privilege to build a senior program on the back of immense investment and effort put in by the current coaching groups and committee.”
Having been part of so many strong programs, Hall brings plenty of experience to the role from higher levels.
He said most of those clubs had a strong focus on juniors coming through, which suits his style of coaching.
It’s something the Giants are keen to build on, having had under-19s the past two seasons.
“I’ve been lucky enough to see some games already,” he said. “There is some clear talent, which is a really great sign.
“There’s some really good top end talent in the RDFL program, players that look like that will develop into super local talent.”
As well as having been about the local football scene for a number of years, Hall was a match day physio for Port Adelaide’s AFL team.
Hall said this added to his coaching ability.
“I spent 17 years at Port,” he said. “It solidified my transition into coaching.
“I was in an environment and seen a few different things and it was appealing to me.”
Hall will finish out the season at Strathmore, while working in the background to get the Giants program up and running.
He said having a new gold standard facility was something that was also exciting.
Joining Hall at the Giants is new football manager, Aaron McLean. McLean was football operations manager at the RDFL for a number of years.
Hall said now the work begins to establish a pathway for young players in the area.
“There’s opportunities for young players who have missed out on Calder Cannons and Western Jets to develop in the under-189s and senior program.
“There will be development programs in place. I’m really excited to be back in the RDFL in the senior space.”
The club has also announced AJ Craske as the netball director and A-grade coach.
President Brad Gaucci said from a club perspective they were thrilled with the appointments they had made and it was full steam ahead for 2025.
