New Bacchus Marsh coach Jason Williams is keen on developing the young talent at the Ballarat Football League club.
The Cobras announced on Sunday that Williams had been appointed coach of the side for 2023.
Williams, who played both NAB League and in the Victorian Football League, has spent the last five years coaching in both competitions along with the AFL Indigenous Talent programs.
Williams said he was excited by the opportunity at the Cobras.
“I really enjoyed chatting with Ricky Millar, the head of the football department, and he made me excited to work for the football club.
“I think over the five years I’ve spent in the NAB League and VFL, I’ve really enjoyed it and learned a lot.
“I’m looking forward to putting some of the stuff I have learned into place as a senior coach and see what sort of coach I want to be.”
Williams said the chance to be a senior coach was the next step in his football career development, having worked with others for a long time.
He said his experiences as both a player and assistant coach, gave him a lot of insight into the football industry.
“I was really lucky to be part of some really good football programs and had some really good coaches as well,” he said.
“They’ve got some good football brains and I’ve picked up some good habits.”
Williams comes to the Cobras with a bit of background on the club, having grown up in the Sunbury area, while some of his cousins have played at the club.
He said he was excited to work with the young group of talented players coming through. At just 29, he isn’t much older than many of the group.
“The club has a good bunch of young players coming through and my main focus is the development of those kids,” he said.
“I want to try and get the most out of them and understand what they want to do with their football career.
“That’s my number one focus. We need to go through the process and figure out what we need to be successful and what success looks like with the players we have.”
The other area Williams wants to work on is making the club somewhere people want to be.
He said the club had lost a number of players the last few years.
“I want to bring some pride to the footy club and the club to be a place that everyone wants to go,” he said.
“We want players who left to want to come back and people wanting to be affiliated with us as their home club.”
