Calder Cannons are searching for a new coach after Andrew Jago decided to stand down.
Jago, who took the club to this year’s TAC Cup grand final, said he was unable to fully commit to the job.
“It’s more a time thing than anything,” Jago said.
“I’ve had a change of role at work, which means I don’t have the same amount of time. But I’ll still be around the club.”
Jago said while it would have been nice to finish his two years as coach on a winning note, the job had always been about more than results.
“It’s been a fantastic side and hopefully we will have a few players’ names called out on [AFL] draft day.
“It’s the relationship with the players that I will take out of it. They will be lifelong friendships.”
The Cannons’ awards night was on Friday, with Nick O’Kearney the run- away winner of the Robert Hyde medal for best and fairest with 101 votes.
“Nick is a very good footballer. He played well in a lot of games,” Jago said.
‘‘I’m not surprised he won it, but the margin surprised me. You had a lot of the senior players like [Matt] Goodyear and [Touk] Miller play for [Vic] Metro in the carnival, but so did Nick … it shows how good a
player he is.”
Goodyear finished second on 69 votes, ahead of Miller’s 66.
O’Kearney will be in the Cannons’ squad again in 2015 as he’s not old enough to be drafted this year.
Jack James was named best finals player, while Roarke Smith received the coaches award.
Jago said there was talk about Smith being a possible AFL draftee.
“It’s his improvement; that was the biggest thing,” said Jago. “He’s showing the belief in himself. He started in the back pocket, worked his way onto the wing and began showing leadership.
“Certainly clubs are starting to talk about him. Outside of the usual suspects, he’s the one player they’re asking about.”
The Cannons have already named their training squad for 2015.
Players slated to return next season include O’Kearney, Mark Kovacevic, Mitch Conn and Hisham Kerbatieh.
