Craig Ednie returns to Yarrawonga as an assistant coach under Steve Johnson

In another coup for the Pigeons, their little champion is set to join forces with high-profile coach Steve Johnson and provide a dream team in the coaches box at JC Lowe Oval this year.

Ednie is highly regarded at Pigeonland not only for his wizardry on the field but for his smart football brain and is also one of the most popular figures around the club.

Dubbed 'The Little Master' during his outstanding playing career, the 2006 Morris medallist already boasts an enviable coaching record.

He led the Pigeons to back to back grand finals in 2009-10 when playing coach but stumbled at the final hurdle against a rampaging Albury with Paul Spargo calling the shots.

The now 40-year-old headed bush in the twilight of his glittering career to coach Rennie in 2017.

He had instant success, leading the Picola league club to back to back flags in his first year and again in 2018.

Ednie felt it was a privilege to be back at his home club in an official capacity with the town still buzzing in anticipation of the season ahead after the huge coup of landing Johnson as coach.

"I'm looking forward to working alongside Stevie J and hopefully he wants me to help out more than being just a glorified cone mover at training," Ednie joked.

"All jokes aside though, it's exciting to be honest and opportunities to be in the same coaching box alongside somebody like Steve after all he has achieved in football, don't come around very often.

"Obviously it is a little bit different and a bigger challenge to what I have been involved with in the Picola league for the last five years or so.

"But if you are a young kid in the district and want to play a decent standard of footy and join the O&M, how excited would you be if you could play under someone the calibre of Stevie J?

"It's not just exciting for Yarrawonga but the competition as a whole."

Ednie called time on his coaching tenure at Rennie at the end of 2021 and played a handful of reserves matches for the Pigeons last year.

He felt having the past 18-months away from coaching had given him the chance to recharge the batteries.

"As much as I love the challenge of coaching, it's been good the past 12 to 18 months to take a step back for a while," he said.

"Especially with a young family and to take a bit of a time out to reassess what I wanted to do next footy-wise.

"Since Steve jumped on board, I wanted to get back to being involved with the footy club a little bit more.

"I realised since I have been back over the pre-season, how much I do miss spending time around footy clubs."

Ednie said he was proud of his coaching record despite the heartache of losing two consecutive deciders to fierce rival Albury.

"I would have loved to have Yarrawonga premiership coach on the CV but unfortunately it wasn't to be," he said.

"But I do take pride in that 'Kia' (Chris Kennedy) and 'Barnsey' (Drew) who replaced me as co-coaches were able to lead the club to the ultimate success and that I might have had a bit of influence on the pair."

Yarrawonga lost last year's decider by three points against Wangaratta.

Ednie felt the reigning premiers remained the side to beat this season with Albury once again a flag threat and Lavington the most likely side to be one of the biggest improvers.

"Wangaratta is the testing material and only fools write off Albury who to its credit have been a powerhouse for more than a decade," he said.

"Lavington has recruited well and by all reports are up and about under coach Adam Schneider.

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"Externally, there are probably a lot of people who expect Yarra to be in the grand final again.

"But internally we know there are no guarantees.

"As part of the coaching staff, it's our responsibility to ensure that the players have the same motivation and hunger as last year.

"So as coaches, we want to improve the group so we can take that next step.

"After making the grand final we are aware that instead of hunting opposition clubs, we will be one of the hunted clubs this year."

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