Thomastown is keen to bounce back next season with a new-look coaching panel in the Northern Football League division 2 competition.
The Bears finished second bottom this season after making finals last year with not a lot going their way.
Sash Spiroski will remain as coach next season, but his co-coach David Folino has made the decision to step down due to work commitments.
Supporting Spiroski will be new director of football, Paul Harris, and assistant coaches Adem Shemshedin and Ryan Fort.
Spiroski said it was an exciting time ahead and he was looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s a big shift this year with David not continuing on,” he said. “We’ve added three guys who are coming in. Paul Harris has experience from division 1.
“It’s huge for myself and the whole club.”
Spiroski said he had been keen on going on as coach for a third season even when Folino decided he wasn’t going to continue on.
He said he never thought to step away from the role.
“Without Dave we needed to get some extra hands on deck,” he said. “There was a big focus on getting help off field and we’re pretty happy with them coming on board.”
Harris was previously co-coach with Banyule with Ricky Dyson where they won a premiership, while he was assistant coach to Dyson at Bundoora.
Spiroski said bringing that division 1 experience to the club would be important.
“He’s been at some successful clubs and to have him around from a learning point of view for myself is massive.”
Spiroski admits that 2025 was a tough season and not what they had envisaged at the start of the year.
With just four wins, the Bears were in the relegation battle instead of the finals’ battle.
“It wasn’t ideal,” Spiroski said. “There was still plenty of growth and we’ll look to bounce back quickly.
“The playing group has been impressive and they are in pre-pre-season. There will be some improvement next year.”
Spiroski said they were still chatting with potential recruits with the club set to announce its first new players in the coming weeks.
He said they had lost a few but were looking to add some key pieces to their team.
