New Darley coach and AFL 250-game veteran Heath Scotland will extend his playing career and line up in the Ballarat Football League this year.
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Scotland said he had initially intended to focus exclusively on coaching when signed by the Devils.
However, with everything in place, including a strong coaching panel around him, Scotland says he is comfortable about pulling on the boots again.
“The body’s good. I’m fit and well.”
Scotland said he unsure how many games he would play.
“It might be half a dozen, it might be more. We’ll see.”
He said his priority was the performance of the team.
Scotland said playing would be an ideal way to end his days as a player, given he had started with Darley as a junior before being recruited by Collingwood.
Scotland took a break after retiring at Carlton in May, 2014, but resumed his playing career as an assistant coach at Doncaster in the Eastern Football League 2015 and continued when joint coach last year.
He had his last hit-out in the EJ Whitten Foundation legends game at the end of last season.
Scotland said he had been injury-free at Doncaster and was looking forward to lining up with Darley to complement his coaching duties.
His decision means he will line up against former Carlton teammate and new Melton South joint coach Brendan Fevola – something Scotland said he would look forward to. They are scheduled to clash in round 5 on Saturday, May 27.