After joining the club from Buninyong in the off-season, Michael McKenzie will step up from his role as assistant to coach Jason Hill next year.

McKenzie will work alongside Hill as a joint playing coach, while John Hind remains an assistant with a role working the bench on game day.

The alteration comes after Hill agreed to seasons 2014 and 2015 at the helm, with the option of a third year in charge.

Hill said McKenzie, who missed the early part of the campaign following off-season knee surgery, had really emerged as an on-field leader in the last couple of months. The key defender, who has spent time through the midfield at Clunes, has played in the past two grand finals with the Bombers.

“The young guys you can see are really looking up to him and quite often approach him for advice,” Hill said.

“I wanted to share the workload as much as I could and this is just another piece of that. I probably only take one in every three training sessions. We share it around amongst the leadership group. If we can share the load, it certainly helps us.”

This year is the start of Hill’s second stint as senior coach of the club, having shared the role with Owen Weatherley in 2004 and 2005.  

Saturday is a big day for the club, which takes on Learmonth for the White Ribbon Shield.

 The fixture will honour Sharon Siermans, who was murdered in her Ballarat home in 2013. 

Her son Aron will present the winner with the shield.