New Ballarat Football League senior representative coach Shaun Grigg sought advice from Brisbane great Jonathan Brown during the selection process for the job.
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Brown has coached to Hampden league for the past three seasons, resurrecting the competition's inter-league status by leading the Bottles Greens to three wins in the AFL Victoria Coummunity Championships.
The BFL decided it needed to down a similar path - appointing a coach with AFL experience and an affiliation with the game in Ballarat - after losing to Hampden this year in a bid to make it more appealing to a pool of the best players.
Grigg played his junior football with Redan and returned to the Lions after retiring as a Richmond player mid-year.
Grigg said Brown told him that Brown had had so much fun in the role.
"He has similar ties to me. He grew up in that area and wanted to give back to the community and help the (Hampden) league."
Grigg said he had been really impressed by the playing talent he had seen in the BFL.
"Hopefully we can get a good mix to come out and represent the Ballarat Football League."
He said the BFL had already been most supportive to him.
ON the playing front, Grigg is strggling with a knee injury and will miss Saturday's match against Melton at the City Oval.
Other roiund 18 games: Darley v Ballarat, Sunbury v Bacchus Marsh, Melton South v North Ballarat City, Sebastopol v Lake Wendouree.