Decorated Lake Wendouree figure Gavin Webb has relinquished his position as senior coach after five years at the helm.
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Webb said the “all-consuming” time commitment of the top job was just too much for him to continue doing and he felt the time was right for him to stand down.
“I just think it’s time for the club to hear a new voice and hopefully they can continue the improvement,” Webb said.
“It’s just the time demands, other aspects of your life take a bit of a hit – I know it’s the right decision. I’ve absolutely loved my time there. The clubs in a great spot on and off the field. Hopefully it’s a pretty attractive job for someone to take on.”
Webb came down from Albury as an 18-year-old to study in Ballarat and began his career at the Lakers. He has spent 15 years at the club with 2003 and 2004 the only years away from the club where he played VFL for North Ballarat. The highlight for Webb was undoubtedly captaining the club to its first and only premiership in 2010. He took the reins in 2012 as a playing-coach before becoming a pure coach over the past two years.
His coaching record speaks for itself.
After taking over a youthful side following a mass of retirements after the premiership, the club won just three games in Webb’s first year as coach before improving on that number every year since – Winning five, eight, 12 and 14 games in the following years.
Webb leaves Lake Wendouree in a fantastic position having finished minor premier before going down to Sunbury in the preliminary final in 2016. He said he leaves the club with fond memories and while the premiership was his greatest on-field success, he was extremely proud of the work he’s done over the last five years developing the young players and building strong relationships.
“I’m fairly proud of what the groups been able to do the last five years … there’s a really good foundation for sustained success.
“We had a very young team the first couple of years I coached, to see now that some of the guys are 22 and 23 and played 50-odd games and are really good senior footballers. I’d like to think I’ve left a bit of a legacy with them.”