Jerim Hayes and Alex Popko to coach Albury again, Ross Dixon continues as captain

Ross Dixon will also continue as captain as the club looks to go one better after their agonising grand final defeat at the hands of North Albury back in March.

Hayes and Popko both needed time out after a draining 2021/22 campaign but the fire within still burns as bright as ever with the elusive provincial premiership driving them on.

"I feel we're close," Hayes said.

"The reality is we were 20 minutes away from being the premiers and we fell to a bloody almighty team.

"Alex and I were pretty cooked by the end of it, we'd had a bit going on, so (club president) Cam Walker made us take a month off.

"One thing led to another and we started talking again.

"Call it unfinished business or whatever you like but we just want to keep being successful and moving forward so that was the appeal."

Popko combined his coaching duties with the responsibility of facing the new ball each week and scored 529 runs to finish second in the league batting charts.

"I had pulled the pin towards the end of the year," Popko revealed.

"I just needed a break from it all.

"I hadn't switched off for a long time, especially with our pre-season the year before, it was a long time to be focused on cricket and when you play finals every year, your season is four weeks longer than everyone else.

"Your off-season gets shorter and shorter, that's the trade-off, so I needed that time away to switch off and fully de-stress.

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"I got about a month in and it started to burn, going 'what went wrong, what can we do better, how do we get over that line?'

"As disappointing as it was, it was a good year and I'd love to be at the helm if we go one better.

"What if we go outside and get someone and they don't work out or the group doesn't like it?

"I've got it in me to give it another go, I'll have to shuffle a few other commitments around so I don't burn out but I don't think I could have lived with myself if we had got through and done the job (and I wasn't coaching)."

Albury's points tally last season was the highest in their history and Dixon was always keen to build on that foundation by continuing his on-field leadership.

"The biggest privilege about living here is that I get to captain a club like Albury," Dixon said.

"I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Saturdays and we're building towards something.

"We're two-and-a-half years into this leadership group taking over and now it's the other way around because expectation is with us.

"No longer are we the underdogs, we're expected to perform and with that comes a different pressure.

"Different players come in each year but to do it with 'Poppers' and 'Hazy', and I'd like to add 'Snags' (Nat Sariman) and Kade Brown in there, our senior cricketers, they are great to play with but they're also some of the most important people in my life.

"Hazy's got the highest emotional intelligence of any man I've ever met and he's the reason I gave up my life in the UK and moved back to Albury with my family.

"I use him and Cam Walker as counsel for a lot of my life decisions.

"Hazy is a phenomenal coach, a great man-manager, a great organiser, a great motivator and he's probably our best-kept secret.

"We know how good 'Poppers' is as a player and a technical coach but having someone like Hazy on board galvanised the group and took us that next step further.

"If he had a different name, everyone would be raving about him but Hazy is a great coach and he's our secret weapon."

Hayes, who played first, second and third-grade cricket last season, can't wait for the trio to reunite.

"It's a great dynamic," he said.

"We're really open about our strengths and where we lack a little bit.

"We complement each other really well, we get on and we're similar-minded in how we approach it.

"We're a big club now, with five senior teams, so it's good to be able to spread the load and not have one person doing all the heavy lifting.

"Winning is what we're there for but it's also great to keep building relationships and connecting."

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