NAVARRE - Navarre Football Club is considering the option of appointing a joint coach following the announcement that assistant and match day coach, Andrew Murphy, is stepping down.
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Current Grasshoppers coach Daniel Parkin is still looking to resume his leadership duties and the club wants him to, however Parkin did say that he would be happy to share the role.
"I said to the club 'if someone wants to have a crack at it, fair enough, I'll step aside.' The club still wants me to coach, but I'm a big believer that you need a smart head on the bench to concentrate on what's happening (on the field)," Parkin said.
"I'll be happy to burden the load, so we're looking at the option for joint coach. We're still looking for a leader - as long as someone's there helping out."
Parkin heaped praise on the outgoing Murphy, saying he gave the job his all.
"What Andrew did was ridiculous. He got the respect of the playing group. It's a massive loss on that side," Parkin said.
"We haven't thought who to replace him with, but we'll sort something out."
Parkin said he needed someone to help out at training with the setting up of drills so he can concentrate more on running and ball work, so either an assistant or joint coach would be ideal.
"Just someone qualified to help out," he said.
Navarre had a terrific season, reaching its second Maryborough Castlemaine District Football grand final in just its second year in the league.
With the likes of Jayden Fowkes, Jesse Hannett and Cody Driscoll all successfully stepping up from under 17s over the course of the season, Navarre has a bright future. "People were saying with the calibre of players we had, we'd make the top eight and where we got to was an added bonus," Parkin said.
"If you look at the netballers, who are 21-22, and us (footballers) both making finals, it was only a matter of time until something clicks. Next year they'll all be a year older so 22-23. It'll be interesting."
The Grasshoppers suffered the heartbreak of losing their second grand final in a row to Carisbrook by 20 points last weekend, with Parkin conceding the Redbacks were the 'better team on the day.'
"We were just blazing and they were picking it off. We'd get one or two goals on the trot and never got that third goal, never got that spark," Parkin said.
"But it was good to get to where we got to and have another sniff at it."
Parkin told his players following the loss to 'go away and be prepared for next year.'
"Hopefully (the feeling of loss) keeps burning and if the young guys hang around, there's good times ahead," he said.
Parkin acknowledged he learnt a lot in his first year as senior coach.
"I learnt to have a good bloke like Andrew Murphy on the bench. Talking in a group, personally I'm still getting better ,but I have got a long way to develop. It's a learning process," he said.
"We're just a good batch of mates out there, so really I've got a cruisy job."
Although he is yet to speak to his players to find out their movements for next year, Parkin expects Louis Hannett to continue as captain of the Grasshoppers in 2013.