A FORMER Whillas Medallist will make his A grade coaching debut at a local football club in 2021.
Former Barmera-Monash star Dillon Millard was announced last Thursday night as the Loxton Football Club’s new senior coach for next year, taking the reins from club champion Leigh Kruger.
Millard said he was “excited” about landing the new role.
“I’m just excited to get in there and meet all the new boys and see if we can do something,” he said.
Millard said the move came about after he was approached by members of the Loxton Football Club committee.
“I got approached by Les (Lange) and Mark (Cash),” he said.
“I thought about it for a long time and I concluded that it would be a good opportunity for me.
“To come meet some new guys and do something new was exciting.
“I have played against a lot of the guys in the past and have really respected them.
“Then Les came over with Mark and I have known them for a long time as well.
“I saw how well run the club was and the direction they were going in, so I wanted to get involved.”
According to Millard, coaching senior football is a natural progression for him, having gained valuable experience in various roles in recent years.
“I have coached for 15 years or so, but mostly basketball,” he said.
“I did the under 18s for Barmera last year and that was a lot of fun.
“Everything just kind of lined up and here we are.”
After battling serious injuries in recent years, Millard said he would be coaching from the sideline at this stage.
“I hurt my ACL two years ago, so now I’m just seeing how the body feels,” he said.
“At the moment I have just been appointed as coach and then I will see how my body goes.”
Millard said he will have a simple philosophy when it comes to the Tigers’ game plan in 2021.
“I like to be an attacking person,” he said.
“You win the game by kicking goals.
“It will definitely not be defensive, we will be trying to get down there and scoring as much as we can.
“I like to talk to the guys and see what they are thinking and then see what we can do.”
Millard said he has one particular task at the top of his current to do list.
“First thing at the moment is to get the coaching team together and then start looking at everything else,” he said.
“At the moment I just want to get to know as many of the guys as I can and then go from there.
“There are a lot of players, so you have got to have a few (coaches).
“I will probably want to have two or three (assistants) so we can spread some knowledge and bounce ideas off each other and go from there.”
Millard said he looks forward to taking on his former club, along with all the others next year.
“I have rung a few of the guys and they have all been pretty supportive,” he said.
“It will just be us going against them, just like we would be going against anyone else.”