CENTRAL Highlands Football League anticipates a seamless transition with the appointment of Greg Middleton to the interleague helm.
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Middleton will coach the Highlanders in this year’s country championships clash with Loddon Valley in late May.
The 35-year-old, who is coach of Bungaree, takes over from the outgoing Shane Skontra, who led the league to triumphs during the past two years.
Middleton was assistant to Skontra in both wins and now has the task of building his own coaching panel.
He said it was an exciting opportunity to continue the league’s push up the country Victoria rankings.
“We just want to see the league as a whole go forward and prove to everybody that it’s a competition growing stronger each year,” Middleton said.
“Not many coaches get to coach a side that we are putting together in the coming months. I’m pretty humbled by being able to lead those boys into the interleague
match.”
Middleton said he was keen to establish a strong connection with the former Lexton Plains league clubs, which have had little involvement in the Central Highlands’ return to interleague football.
He also said there was a growing enthusiasm about the representative concept, which had been absent for well over a decade until the Highlanders joined the country championships in 2012.
“Last year especially compared to the first year, players are pretty keen to be involved, quite proud when selected and quite disappointed when they don’t make the cut,” he said.
Central Highlands officially appointed Middleton at a board of management meeting on Wednesday.
League president Eddy Comelli said he was the perfect man for the job.
“There’s obviously a game plan and all of that they have been working on for two years since the inception and it’s probably good there’s no radical changes,” Comelli
said.
Middleton is a past Central Highlands coach of the year and is preparing for his fifth season in charge of the Demons.
tim.oconnor@fairfaxmedia.com.au