Amid a dazzling finals series a number of Murray Football League clubs have looked to the future, appointing senior leaders for the 2024 season.
On Sunday Congupna announced current co-coach Ben Bingham would be taking over the job full time next year.
The other half of The Road’s brainstrust, Kevin O’Donoghue, will step away, but is set to remain invovled to some capacity according to Bingham.
“It was always planned out that way,” Bingham said.
“He’s getting a few grandchildren now, they live interstate as well, so he just wants that flexibility to be able to go away one or two weekends or so a year and not have the commitment.
“He’s just stepping away from the head coach role, but we’ll still have him involved in our system in some way.”
As for Bingham there was no hesitation when the job fell into his lap.
He arrived at the club three years ago and always had an eye locked on the top job.
But with The Road making finals two years in a row, there has never been a more exciting time to be involved in Congupna’s coaching framework.
“It’s always been a bit of an interest, obviously doing it this year with Kev was sort of something that could’ve been in the pipeline throughout the year if everything went well,” he said.
“Since taking on a bit more responsibility I’ve really loved the involvement, so it was sort of a no-brainer.
“We’ve had a really good group to take control of. It’s had its ups and downs during the middle part of the year with injury, but I think that’s just a credit to the depth of our list.
“Having both seniors and reserves finishing top two, we’ve been able to call upon a lot of guys this year to step up and they haven’t let us down.
“We’re really pleased with where our list is at at the moment; we’ve started to re-sign a core group at the moment and I think if we can sign 90-95 per cent of those guys it gives a good stepping stone for next year as it is.”
Bingham labelled the situation a “catch 22” as Congupna looks to juggle locking in its playing group for next season while preparing for a massive semi-final clash against Mulwala on Saturday.
One club that doesn’t have quite such a spinning plate act to perform is Tongala.
With the side finishing outside of finals contention the Blues have scoured the footy landscape and have selected Billy Barnes to spearhead the club next season.
Barnes was unveiled as the replacement for outgoing coach Matt Daniel on Sunday, taking up his first senior coaching appointment since leading Kyabram District League club Girgarre from 2019-21.
Barnes won’t be alone at the top, however, with a familiar face joining him as the Blues’ senior assistant ― Kyabram legend and former Carlton star Wayne Deledio.
The move marks Tongala’s first steps to rebounding from a middling 2023 campaign, with the Blues finishing 11th.