By Tara Murray
The Sunbury Lions have decided that Ben Jordan isn’t the man to lead them forward in the Ballarat Football League.
The Lions made the decision last week not appoint Jordan for a third season and look at heading in a different direction next season.
Jordan said while he understood the decision, he was disappointed with how it was handled.
He told Star Weekly following the Lions final match of the year, that he was happy to coach on.
“It was a tough couple of years up and down results wise and it’s not the way you’d ideally want to finish off,” he said on Friday.
“All the way along, I said if I was the best person for the job I was happy to go on.
“I wasn’t hell bent on locking it in.
“The indications were at one stage I was going to coach on. The way things went late in the year, they decided to go in a different direction.
“That’s football.”
The Lions made finals in Jordan’s first year at the club, before this year finishing eighth, missing finals for the first time in the club’s time in the BFL.
Jordan said they had struggled to replace players who had left in the last two seasons.
Despite missing finals this year, he said his time in charge wasn’t a failure.
He thanked the club for the opportunity they had given him.
“I’m happy with the way the direction the club is tracking,” he said.
“The younger players are starting to come through and there’s good people around the club that has helped improved its direction.
“Our top age juniors made a grand final… They had been struggling for numbers. Our under-18.5s and reserves are in second semi finals.
“I’m not devastated with the stint and it’s not a total failure, I’m just disappointed with how it finished.”
Jordan said he would take some time to decide what his football future looked like.
Lions’ president Hedley Duhau said it was a tough decision to part ways with Jordan.
“It was a committee decision not to reappoint Ben and that’s where it stands.
“We voted and the decision was against reappointing Ben for a number of reasons.
“One of the major factors was the win loss record which speaks for itself.
“We’re in a win-loss business.”
Duhau was full of praise for the job that Jordan did over the last two years.
“He came in under difficult circumstances, been appointed late,” he said.
“I think he has done a lot for our club and I can’t speak highly enough about his work ethic, professionalism and integrity.”
Duhau said they were hoping to announce a new coach in the coming weeks, having only just started discussions with prospective coaches.
There has been plenty of talk that the club had already appointed former Bacchus Marsh coach Travis Hodgson.
Hodgson, a premiership player with the Lions, stood down from his role with the Cobras earlier this week.
Duhau said they had regularly spoke with Hodgson, whose children play at the club and he also coaches the club’s under-18 girl’s team.
