Jamie Lobb will step into the coaching hot seat at Diggers Rest.
Lobb, who has played at the Riddell District Football League club the past three years, was named the Burras senior coach on Wednesday last week.
Lobb replaces Shaun Sims, who decided to stand down from the role after four seasons.
“It all happened pretty quickly,” Lobb said. “I got a call from the club on the weekend and we sat down and had a chat.
“Shaun was always up in the air [about continuing]. He felt it was time to take a year off and freshen up a bit.”
Sims, who coached the side to four grand finals including last year’s premiership, will remain involved at the club.
“He’ll still be around the club and he’ll play twos,” Lobb said.
“The work he has done for his club has been massive. He knows the league inside out.”
One of the Burras’ key players, Lobb will combine his on-field role and coaching.
He said he always saw himself moving into coaching. He was a playing assistant coach at the Burras for the past three years.
“It’s always been on the cards,” he said. “Diggers Rest is a good place to start.”
Shane Bishop, who has also been assistant coach the past couple of years, will remain on board and provide Lobb with assistance.
The Burras find themselves in an unusual position this off season – this year they didn’t make the grand final – the first time since 2012. The Burras were knocked out in the preliminary final by Rupertswood.
Lobb said there was fire in the belly of the side after a season that didn’t live up to expectations.
“Everyone felt disappointed with the way we finished things off,” he said.
“We couldn’t string enough games together and we didn’t play well at the end of the year.
“We battled away and lost a few games we shouldn’t have.”
Lobb said he had started talking to the playing group about next season and signs were positive that the club would retain most, if not all, its list.
“I’ve spoken to every senior player and 95 per cent are on board,” he said.
“You always like to bring in a couple of players … we’ll sit down next week and work out who we want to get.
“We’ve got a pretty tight playing group and it’s a good place to be.”
