Moyston-Willaura’s senior football coach Matt Burmeister has stepped down from the role – effective immediately, citing personal reasons.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Burmeister was with the club for two and a half years and fell just short of a grand final berth last year but an increasing injury list has contributed to a 4-4 start to the season.
He also owns a farm and has a young family and said it was time to step away after he could not give the coaching role the time and attention it needed.
“I am just not able to give to the club what i’ve been able to the past two or three years,” he said.
“I don’t want to do them a disservice, I love them all at the club and it is probably time for a change.”
The former coach said it was a good chance to transition into a different direction as a group.
“The club have been fantastic, it has been a really enjoyable two or three years there but they probably need someone with a different approach to recruiting and other things now,” he said.
Burmeister said he had been thinking about the decision for a while and spoke with his family before settling on the choice to step down.
“It was an extremely tough decision, I spoke to the family and we all agreed,”
“The role was more enjoyable than what I thought it’d be, the club and players are a pleasure to work with I am going to miss being around a group of fellas with a shared goal and working towards that together.”
Club president Daniel Guinane said the decision was a shock.
“I found out on Monday and it did come as a bit of a surprise to us,” he said.
“He dedicated himself to the club for two and a half years and I think maybe he got a little bit burnt out.”
Pumas captain Aaron Pianta will take on the interim coaching role for the rest of the season with the club to put resourced in place to assist him.
“We did not discuss the captaincy with him and if he will retain it, we will talk about that later in the week but we have some senior players who can step up and help like Matt Peel and Rhys Cronin,” Guinane said.
“It was a mixture of Aaron putting his hand up and us thinking he might step up.
“He had shown potential as he matured and is currently doing an internship at Richmond Football Club, so is learning new things everyday.”
Burmeister said he wanted to thank the club and supporters for everything they have given him and the assistance during his tenure as coach.
The Pumas face the Hawks at Tatyoon on Saturday.
