Daniel Vasilevski steps down as Wangaratta head coach

Vasilevski led the Devils to a league-and-cup double in 2019, and Wangaratta shared this season's championship with Albury United, but the strain of two COVID-ravaged years has taken its toll.

Stepping down after three years as coach, Vasilevski is looking forward to a break away from the sidelines.

"The last couple of years really took it out of me and getting players motivated last season was a very big challenge," he said.

"I need a bit of time off to freshen up.

"My work does comes into it, I've got three (barbers) shops now and I'm travelling around quite a bit.

"I love being around the club so I won't go too far from it but, as head coach, last season was tough.

"Towards the end of last season, it wasn't very nice.

"The fun was gone, it was just a drag.

"The boys and myself probably need a freshen-up and I think the club should head in a different direction when it comes to recruiting.

"I'd like to promote more younger players but I don't know where the club stands on that so I'll step down and see how things go."

Under Vasilevski, the former Melbourne Victory player, Wangaratta became a powerhouse in AWFA and may well have won more silverware had the pandemic not struck.

"I look back and think we did some really good things," Vasilevski said.

"We won three trophies in two seasons and it was a really good thing we had going.

"We got a good group of boys together and we were very competitive but with that comes a lot of effort in training, a lot of effort on the Sundays and keeping players up all the time.

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"It's an amateur league and you're trying hard to keep these boys up, keep standards high and it does take a lot out of you.

"It comes with recruiting, trying to get players to come over to the club and then you've got everything else that comes with doing that.

"Some teams aren't happy with it, all that kind of stuff, and it's worn me down.

"I've told the club they should probably start heading in a different direction.

"Let's build from the ground up and let's put some young boys in there.

"That might not give us trophies in the near future but it will be better off in the long run."

Vasilevski will stay with the club as vice-president.

"I still have a desire to be involved, which is why I've taken on a role within the club and I'll probably help out when it comes to finding a coach, looking at improving players and looking at a style of play that we are going to play," he said.

"I'm happy to help out but I won't have the responsibility of getting to every training session and coaching them on Sundays."

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