Gisborne has wasted no time in appointing a new coach for next year’s Bendigo Football League season.
Just two days after publicly announcing that Clinton Young wouldn’t be continuing on coaching next season, Gisborne announced that Rob Waters would take on the coaching role.
Waters, who played at the Bulldogs, won two premierships as coach of North Ballarat City in the Ballarat Football League. He has more recently been midfield coach at North Melbourne’s VFL side.
Bulldogs president John Wood said they thought Waters was the right fit for the club.
He said the opportunity to coach his own side again was something that interested Wood in the role.
“Rob is almost a local, he lives in the Woodend area,” he said.
“He’s a former player at Gisborne. Whenever he had the opportunity he would come and watch and has a fair knowledge of the group.”
Woods said the experience that Waters brought to the club was invaluable.
He said Waters had done a lot of work with young players.
“With North Ballarat City, I think they were quite low on the ladder with a young group.
“We’re not too dissimilar, except we’re higher on the ladder.
“He is proven to get the best out of sides. He’s been exposed to country football and having had some experience at VFL,
“We think he brings a bit of experience and knowledge. He will be really good for us.”
Woods said Waters comes to the club at an exciting time, with the side moving up the ladder.
This year they fell just short of a grand final.
“It’s been a real journey since 2016 when we started the rebuild and this year we almost got there.
“Maybe if we had a better run with injuries… At the end of the day there’s still one side on top of the hill in Strathfieldsaye.
“We have to find a way to get over the top of them.”
