Daniel Hore-Smith appointed playing coach of Henty

He replaces Heath Ohlin who was appointed at the start of 2020 and will remain as a player.

Hore-Smith was Ohlin's assistant coach and is eager to continue the good work of Ohlin who had the Swampies in finals contention before the season was abandoned.

"Taking on the role is something that I have not taken lightly and I talked to quite a few people whose advice I respect before I committed," Hore-Smith said.

"Now that I have, I'm excited by the opportunity.

"Personally I thought we did well to finish inside the top-six considering the amount of injuries we had and missing up to half-a-dozen Victorian players due to COVID.

"Full-strength I thought we could match most sides in the competition besides Osborne and Holbrook.

"Even against Osborne we matched them for a half before their class shone through."

Hore-Smith said the Osborne blueprint for success was one he was keen to replicate.

"Osborne are the powerhouse of the competition and their blueprint is the one that I have watched closely," he said.

"They just keep backing their junior talent and it keeps paying dividends.

"That's the exciting part of coaching this year, we have got about six or seven juniors coming back to the club that people don't know much about.

"But they are all talented footballers.

"Osborne are able to do that on a consistent basis, find talented kids who remain at the club."

Hore-Smith is a former Swampie junior.

He played one year in the seniors before joining The Rock-Yerong Creek.

Hore-Smith suffered a serious back injury after a handful of matches for the Magpies which resulted in him having five years off.

The 29-year-old said his passion for football returned after playing under Ohlin.

"I've always admired the way Heath went about coaching and am keen to keep blazing the trail he has created," Hore-Smith said.

"I just don't want to let anybody down and I feel privileged to be appointed coach.

"As I said, I did a lot of soul searching before I took the job and spoke to Heath and Matt Klemke a lot before committing.

"I don't think I have spoke to two blokes more passionate about the club and football in general than Heath and Matt.

"After talking to Matt I felt invigorated and that's when I had the confidence to accept the job.

"I also really admire Heath and how he tackled the challenge of coaching.

"Similar to Heath, I will be putting a lot of faith in the kids and developing the local talent which is the future of the club for the next decade."

Brayden Skeers has been appointed assistant coach.

Hore-Smith is confident of announcing some recruits in the countdown to Christmas.

ALSO IN SPORT

"We are a bit behind the eight-ball because it is hard to get blokes to commit before a coach has been announced which is fair enough," he said.

"But I have touched base with quite a few locals who have played at a higher level or gone elsewhere.

"There has been some positive feedback and if we can sign two or three it will make a huge difference and add a bit of polish."

The Swampies recently held their annual general meeting where it was decided the football club and netball club would merge.

Premiership players Neil Terlich and Dale Macreadie were also honoured with life memberships of the club alongside Lorraine Kilo.

The appointment of Hore-Smith almost completes the Hume league coaching jigsaw puzzle for next year.

Lockhart remain the only club in the competition yet to make its coaching announcement.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: