![DREAM TEAM: Club champion Andy Hill and star midfielder Sam Carpenter will team up as co-coaches at Wangaratta Rovers in 2016. Picture: MARK JESSER DREAM TEAM: Club champion Andy Hill and star midfielder Sam Carpenter will team up as co-coaches at Wangaratta Rovers in 2016. Picture: MARK JESSER](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Zm4CTucw9LK5zMwcDbCRu9/5ebd5649-fe0b-42de-9b66-b41cbc75cf01.jpg/r141_103_2791_4759_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
I thought I may never get an opportunity like this again.
- Sam Carpenter
GUN midfielder Sam Carpenter says coaching the Wangaratta Rovers was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The O and M interleague star will share the co-coaching role with Hawks legend Andy Hill after making the tough decision to leave Corowa-Rutherglen.
Carpenter said he always held coaching ambitions and said he was kept informed by the Hawks during their discussions with AFL champion Paul Chapman.
“I thought I may never get an opportunity like this again to take on such a professional outfit like the Wangaratta Rovers,” the 28-year-old said.
“Coaching has always been a long-term ambition of mine.
“My old man (Leigh) coached over 300 games down in the Mornington Peninsula.
“I know the structures of the club, the set-up and their long-term plan.
“They ticked every box.”
Carpenter played for the Rovers in 2014 and 2013 before returning to Corowa-Rutherglen for the 2015 season.
Roos president Graham Hosier said the club was disappointed to lose the star.
He said the Roos said spoken to Carpenter about a coaching role at the club.
“We offered him a role and would have loved him to do that,” Hosier said.
“I understand where he’s coming from, but I’m totally disappointed.”
Carpenter links up with former Collingwood-listed utility Hill, who won five best-and-fairest awards in a Rovers career spanning more than 250 games.
Hill announced his retirement in 2013 due to a serious neck injury.
Carpenter will be playing coach, with Hill non-playing.
“He’s an absolute champion at the Wangaratta Rovers and I don’t think I could find a better person to share the role with,” Carpenter said.
Lionel Schutt, Jeremy Campbell and Sean O’Keeffe will form part of the coaching structure.
Carpenter and Hill replace Paul Maher, who led the Rovers to the first semi-final in his first year and ninth in his second after a host of key departures.
Carpenter said returning to the finals in 2016 was a realistic expectation.
“You’ve got to set your goals high,” he said.
“We want to put a good game plan in place and get the team structures right which will hopefully win enough games to get us thereabouts.
“There’s a lot to work with, regarding the list.
“We’ve got a long way to go and it will be a challenge, but bring it on.”