Lions old and new impress Greig

NEW Redan coach Marc Greig says he has been impressed with his playing group’s intensity and attitude to pre-season training.

Appointed last September, the former TAC Cup level coach and VFL player insisted he was pleased to see plenty of Lions – young and old alike – stepping up to push each other under the club’s fresh-look coaching panel.

That panel has widened to include former Western Bulldogs and Richmond player Patrick Bowden, who recently came on board as an assistant.

He joins Greig, fellow non-playing assistant, former North Ballarat star and Redan premiership player Julian Field, and on-field leader Liam Hoy, who is back in the Lions’ den following a stint with Central Highlands league club Newlyn.

They will take charge of an outfit brimming with young and emerging talent, whose ninth placing and 4-14 win-loss record last season belied their competitiveness.

The Lions lost two games by two points or less, and held their own for the bulk of matches against the likes of Sunbury, Bacchus Marsh and East Point.

With a wealth of higher-level coaching and playing experience between them, Greig said education had been a primary focus during pre-season for the coaching group.

“While we are a predominantly young playing group … and it’s great to have talent … but at the same time you have to learn to play footy,” said Greig, a three-time VFL premiership player with North Ballarat and former GWV Rebels coach.

“People say, ‘you have a good young bunch, you’ll be right in a few years’ time’, but time alone doesn’t make you good.

“As coaches, we’ve got to put the time in.

“You can’t just think that in three years’ time when they’ve got 50 games under their belt, they are going to be good players.

“It doesn’t work like that.

“A lot of young players come through the junior ranks and they are good, but it’s up to the coaches and the people around them as they get a bit older to try and teach them about their craft and growing into their body.

“So there’s been lots of education, especially pre-Christmas.

“But we will ramp things up over the next six or so weeks before round one.”

Encouragingly, Greig said it was evident there was a large group of young players putting in plenty of extra work.

“For 18, 19 and 20-year-olds, they seem to have really good heads on their shoulders and a great attitude,” he said.

“You don’t see that all the time … it’s generally the older guys leading the way.

“At the same time we have some boys who have been three, four or five years, who we’ve asked to step up a bit and take a bit of a load off the young guys.

“Yes, we do have a lot of good youngsters, and Redan has always had an exciting junior group from under-8s through to under-16s and under-18s, and that will always be there.

“But we don’t just want to rely on the young talent having to take us to the next step.

“We want the boys who have been here a while to step up again.”

A smooth pre-season for the Lions, who have been training at Ballarat Grammar as a major redevelopment of City Oval continues, got off to the best start possible as the Lions ticked off what Greig saw as their first priority – the retention of a good percentage of the playing list, in particular their young guns.

“Obviously, every footy club loses a couple of guys each year, but we’re pretty happy to have kept all the ones we wanted to keep,” he said.

“That’s been a real positive for me.

“On the flip side of that, we’ve got a bit of new blood in, particularly on the coaching side of things.

“Liam Hoy has come back; he’s a good mate from years ago and he will still play.

“That on-field leadership is something we have had a great chat about. Putting him down back and Jacob Werts as well will really help out when teams get some momentum or just with organisation.”

Werts, who coached the Lions’ under-18.5 team last year, is returning to the field of battle after missing the 2025 season while recuperating from an ACL injury.

Greig hailed the acquisition of assistant coach Bowden, who played 75 AFL games and had spent the last couple of years in the Northern Territory working with the Tiwi Bombers, as carefully considered and exciting.

“We didn’t fill all our coaching roles straight away, just because they have got to be filled. You need the right person,” he said.

“The timing was good. He was moving back down here to Victoria.

“At the same time, you have to pass the character test and he is a fantastic fellow.

“We have caught up plenty of times and we are all on the same page.

“It’s great for the footy club.”

While Redan will be without young guns Rory Gunsser and Taj Bond for the bulk of the season after being signed by Geelong’s VFL side, Greig could not be happier for both players.

“It’s a great story for any young bloke,” he said.

“To play VFL, you have to be ready to train with the big boys and train pretty hard.

 

“Particularly mentally, it’s a challenge, especially for Ballarat boys travelling down for training and gym sessions. But when you get an opportunity to train at VFL level and roughly three weeks later you are offered a contract, it’s a great story for any young fellow in Ballarat.”

The versatile Gunsser and ruckman Bond were among three Lions invited to train with VFL clubs over the summer, with clever on-baller Brody Pope spending time with Williamstown.

Greig was certain the benefits of Pope’s time with the Seagulls would be felt by both players and the wider group.

The Lions will have at least one competitive hit-out before their round one encounter against Lake Wendouree, playing Grovedale in a practice match three weeks out from the start of their season on 11 April.

Meanwhile, Redan has confirmed its netball coaching appointments for 2026, with last season’s A-grade playing coach Ashlee Smith joined by Abby Sargent in charge of the club’s top team.

The Lions’ coaching panel includes Ruby Parry (B-grade), Lauren Brennan and Mel Jones (C-grade), Caitlin Farr (D-grade), Tamara Cooper (E-grade), and Zoe Polkinghorne and Nellie Palmer (under-19).

Redan finished last year’s regular season in third spot in A-grade but was beaten in the first week of finals by Lake Wendouree in a one-goal thriller.