SPRINGBANK has turned to Terry Simpson to continue the club's journey back to the top of the Central Highlands Football League.
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Simpson is the new senior coach of the Tigers, which have been bolstered by the signing of former North Ballarat Roosters captain Michael Searl.
The 45-year-old Simpson takes over at the helm from Sam Giblett, while Searl joins shortly after announcing his retirement from the VFL.
Simpson is the son of former Richmond footballer Tom, who was also coach of Springbank.
He is a three-time premiership player with East Ballarat, who then shifted and held roles as captain, assistant coach and senior coach at Lake Wendouree during the club's early years. He also played in Springbank's 2001 flag.
Simpson, who played juniors with the GJ Gardner Tigers and spent time on a list at Collingwood, is looking forward to taking over a team that reached last season's grand final.
"It's appealing to not have to start at the bottom, like we did at Lake Wendouree, where we scrapped up two sides from the word 'go'," Simpson said.
"A lot of the work has certainly been done, so we will look at building on last year, hopefully.
"There's a great core group of people (at Springbank) and a lot of good, young kids to work with coming up through the ranks. We will look at developing them and working strongly with the likes of Michael (Searl) and Paul McMahon."
Searl made his name as a tall defender with the Roosters, which he joined in 2003 after graduating from the club's Rebels program. The 29-year-old spent 10 seasons on the Roosters' list over two stints to finish with 143 VFL games and two premierships.
Searl was a joint Allen L Stott Memorial Medal winner, a VFL state representative and VFL team of the year member.
He said the lure to play alongside former Roosters teammates McMahon and Bill Driscoll at Tigerland was a big one.
"It's going to be a different set of challenges that you are used to in the VFL system, but at the same time, hopefully it's a bit of a refresher for me and gets me inspired," Searl said.
"(Springbank) is in that premiership window and that's something that was also a big attraction to me. I don't know how many years I've got left, but they are pretty hard to win, so you want to give yourself the best chance you can."