TRIPLE-premiership coach Gerard FitzGerald has put his hand up to guide the North Ballarat Roosters into a new era.
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FitzGerald confirmed he is seeking reappointment to coach the Selkirk Roosters into their return to going standalone in the Victorian Football League next season.
The Roosters board is reviewing all club departments, including the roles of all full-time staff, as it steps up preparations to fly solo when its partial alignment ends with AFL club North Melbourne at the season’s end.
FitzGerald’s contract is set to expire this year.
He sought reappointment in a performance review last year, as he usually would, only this time is waiting for a specific role definition to come from the board review.
But he remains firm in wanting to be part of the Roosters’ new chapter.
“It is exciting. This is a new era for the club’s involvement in the competition,” FitzGerald said. “This is a new era of change and challenges to work through.”
FitzGerald’s coaching career with the club is lengthy, but he has not coached it through such a structural transition.
The Roosters were a standalone entity during FitzGerald’s first VFL coaching stint at the club from 1997 to 2002.
When the club adopted a partial alignment with the Kangaroos, FitzGerald was leading North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup and the Roosters were under the second and final year of Gavin Crosisca’s coaching reign. FitzGerald returned to the Roosters’ helm in 2007, and this year marks FitzGerald’s 15th season as the Roosters’ head coach.
FitzGerald, aged 57, holds the VFL/VFA coaching record of 333 games – a record he broke with his 314th game in May last season and one that includes seasons at Springvale and Port Melbourne.
His post-premierships era with the Roosters has featured a major structural change – the Roosters’ development team was axed after the 2013 season, with players moving back to grassroots clubs when not required at VFL level.
The Courier understand the Roosters board will announce its internal review findings this month.
melanie.whelan@fairfaxmedia.com.au