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BRENDAN Fevola wants to be Yarrawonga’s next coach.
The newly-appointed Ovens and Murray interleague mentor has revealed his desire to replace Pigeons’ co-coach Chris Kennedy when he decides to stand down.
Kennedy, who alongside Drew Barnes has led the Pigeons to the past two premierships, has not committed beyond this season.
And Fevola, who was unveiled as the league’s representative coach yesterday, hopes his new job leads to bigger and better things.
“Coaching Yarrawonga is something I’ve really got an ambition for and I think this is a great step forward,” Fevola said.
“Chris hasn’t got too many more years left in him, with his business and stuff, and when he steps down I’d love to take the reins with ‘Barnesy’ and coach Yarra.
“It all depends where ‘Keya’ (Kennedy) is at with his coaching.”
The two-time Coleman medallist will lead the Ovens and Murray as a playing coach against the Hampden league this season.
Fevola said he was likely to move to Yarrawonga for the next “couple of months” to focus on the job.
“I’m pretty serious about what lies ahead,” he said.
“Getting the job was the first hurdle, and now the second is getting the best players to play.
“Hands down we’ve got the best players, probably in Victoria, playing in this league.
“We’ve obviously got the best league but our position at the moment doesn’t reflect that.
“That was the main reason I came on board.”
BRENDAN Fevola has committed to taking the Ovens and Murray back to No. 1 after accepting the league’s representative coaching job.
Fevola, who said he’d landed the best job in country footy, was yesterday unveiled as interleague coach for this season.
The two-time Coleman medallist has agreed to a one-year deal with the option of another two.
And he plans on seeing it through.
“I’m not in it for the one year, I’m in it for the three,” Fevola said.
“I want to get our league back to No. 1.
“So hopefully we win and I get that option.
“It’s about time we get serious about interleague.”
Fevola denied doing a backflip on representative footy after shunning it in his first two seasons at Yarrawonga.
He said he would have played under former coach Matt Pendergast had he not had prior commitments.
Fevola missed in 2012 because of Dancing With The Stars and played a one-off game for Rockingham in Western Australia last year.
The Yarrawonga spearhead promised a star-studded line-up for the clash with the Hampden league at Wangaratta on May 24.
“The game is going to be a spectacle,” Fevola said.
“It will probably have the best players that have ever played for the Ovens and Murray interleague team.
“Some of the players we’ve got in this league are incredible.”
Fevola is already targeting a host of the league’s fellow former AFL stars to play, with Albury pair Chris Hyde and Setanta O’hAilpin at the top of the tree.
“Back in the day interleague was a big thing and it was an honour to play for the league,” Fevola said.
“Hopefully, I can get that message across.
“Nobody in this league can play better footy than interleague.
“It’s the highest you can go.”
O and M boss Aaron McGlynn said Fevola had little trouble convincing the league he was the right man for the job.
“You can tell pretty easily he’s passionate about the league and wants to see it succeed and progress,” McGlynn said.
“It’s certainly not about Brendan Fevola.
“That’s something that really stood out.
“Obviously you look at his playing history and it’s second to none in our league.
“To have someone with those qualifications put their hand up is pretty hard to ignore.”