Ben Chapman’s plans to take a year off coaching were quickly thrown out the window when his former club Thomastown came calling.
Chapman, who was coaching Oak Park in the Essendon District Football League, notified the Kangaroos towards the end of the just-finished season he would be taking a year off.
Despite Oak Park losing the division 1 grand final by a single goal, Chapman was still planning to step away, not wanting to go on for a season too long.
Then the Bears got in contact.
“Everyone gets to the point where they’ve almost had enough,” Chapman said last week.
“It does take a huge chunk of time and I thought maybe my time was up.
“I then come to the realisation that you’re a long time out of the game. So, if the right job came along and ticked a lot of the boxes, I’d look at it.”
The Bears’ job ticked those boxes and Chapman was last week appointed senior coach for 2017.
It will be his second stint at the club, after being an assistant coach, including in 2008 when the Bears won the division 3 premiership.
“I haven’t been there for eight years,” he said.
“I know the club and know what they’re like. They’re really team-oriented, similar to Oak Park.
“I know the club struggled a little bit these past 12 months, but there’s a good core group there.
“A lot changes in the last eight years. There aren’t many players left [who I’d know], only a handful. They were young fellows then and now are getting towards the end of their careers.”
Chapman says he wants to continue the work of previous coach Dean Sinclair over the past three years.
The Bears won the division 3 premiership in 2014 before just missing out on finals last year.
He says trying to attract key position players is a major aim in the offseason.
“There was a fair bit of hype this year, but it didn’t pan out the way they liked,” he said. “It gave the opportunity to some young fellows and they will be better for it.
“Most of this year’s team will stay. I think the club just needs to add some key- position players.
“We have an adequate midfield, but a lack of key position players was probably the difference.”
