Simon Curtis relishing his new challenge with Myrtleford after four years as Lavington coach

Having stepped down after four years as the coach of Lavington, the midfielder joined the Saints in one of the biggest moves the Ovens and Murray has seen this summer.

Curtis was full of praise for the pre-season being run by Myrtleford co-coaches Jake Sharp and Dawson Simpson and is enjoying the luxury of being able to stand at the back of the group again.

"That was the one I wasn't sure exactly how I'd go," Curtis admitted.

"I haven't coached forever and I'd only been an assistant before having the senior role with Lavington but I did really enjoy being out the front, particularly organising the trainings and the game style and where we were going to go.

"That's different when it's not your style but it's been really well-communicated what the style is, offensively and defensively.

"They're all different terms that I've had to learn and I actually think I've been able to do that pretty well.

"There wasn't a lot of expectation on me coming here, it was just 'enjoy your footy and refresh a little bit, take some time to get to know the guys and then when you want to say something, the opportunity's there.'

"There's a lot of good senior players here that aren't in that formal coaching and I think we've got a lot of leadership here.

"I think you have to have that to be successful and a smart club will try to engage people and develop their leadership.

"When people feel like they're a leader, they're more invested so they're going to come to everything, they're going to bring others along and they're going to do all the work.

"I've seen that first-hand here with Myrtleford. It's a different feel, it's a small town so I think a lot of people have that leadership anyway because they have ownership.

"That might not be the same for all clubs but it's a different feel in some of the smaller towns."

Many have been impressed by Myrtleford's recruitment and Sharp certainly didn't downplay the significance of Curtis' arrival.

"Simon's a proven jet at this level," Sharp said.

"It all just fell into place; when he mentioned that he was moving here, one thing led to another.

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"To have him running around with our group, our boys have struggled playing against him so it's going to be fantastic for them to be running around with him.

"I wouldn't mind eventually having to just focus on playing and not coaching (laughing) so I'm sure he'll be enjoying that.

"No doubt that'll be good for his footy, not having those added pressures and stresses and for him to be in a different environment, to be freshened up in that sense, I think that will be good for his footy as well.

"We wanted to add some more midfield strength and particularly with Simon, Sam (Martyn) and Murray (Waite), we get a lot of that.

"They're quite dynamic midfielders; Simon can play multiple positions, the same as Murray, and Sam's one of the best on-ballers I've seen floating around so that will release a bit of pressure off our midfielders that have been in there.

"Our midfield shapes up to be quite dangerous."

Myrtleford have certainly gone out of their way to make Curtis feel welcome since his signing was announced in October.

"The boys came out to the farm and moved all my stuff so the club's really embraced me," Curtis said.

"It's been great training with them and understanding a different bunch of people, the majority of them locals who are really passionate about having some success.

"It's just nice to experience another set of ideas.

"It's a different model here, we've got two coaches and I think it works really well.

"At times it's a lot for one person and the two coaches really bounce off each other.

"One's had AFL experience, the other has a lot of VFL experience and they've got the same ideas so it's been really enjoyable.

"This year feels like a clean slate and I hope we can enjoy the simplicity of playing community football.

"The Ovens and Murray is more exciting and more desirable now and I think we're going to be really competitive this season."

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