Why Chris Willis shelved retirement plans to join Wahgunyah

With the Lions being on the receiving end of 200 plus point pumpings most weekends, it can hardly be described as a destination club at the minute.

The easy thing for Willis to do would be to do nothing.

But that's not the way he was brought up.

Willis learnt last year that he had a family connection at the Lions den - even though it may have been for a brief stint more than seven decades ago.

It was enough for him to put his hand up to help out the struggling Lions who are at their lowest ebb in their 146-year history.

"I learnt mum's father and obviously my grandfather played for Wahgunyah for one season back in the late 1940s," Willis said.

"My grandfather is Ken King and played in a flag with the club.

"So that sparked my interest and I kept a bit of an eye on the scores last year.

"My uncle told me Ken was playing at Corowa and was told he wasn't in the best side.

"So he went to Wahgunyah, won a flag and then Corowa asked him to come back, so he only spent one season there."

Willis didn't sugarcoat Wahgunyah's predicament as it battles for survival on a weekly basis.

"It's a challenge and I'm obviously not preparing to play in a grand final but I regard myself as a resilient bloke who won't hide from a challenge," he said.

"My motive to join the club was to help out.

"So when the coaching job suddenly became available, I said I was more than happy to help.

"I quickly realised that there is a great bunch of people associated with the club.

"There are some young players amongst the group that are keen and want to learn and that's exciting.

"So I've put my hand up to steer them in the right direction."

Willis has more than put his 'hand up'.

He now finds himself co-coach of the Lions after the previous coach, Brett Chapman, and the club parted company last week.

This time last year, the 40-year-old was running around for Henty reserves contemplating retirement.

But fast-forward 12-months and Willis has taken on arguably the toughest gig in country Victoria football at the minute.

"I was surprised when I first heard that 'Chappy' (Chapman) had decided to move on," he said.

"There was obviously stuff that I didn't know about going on behind the scenes because I wasn't really involved over the pre-season and only arrived at the start of the season.

"It might have been because of something that happened that I didn't see.

"Personally I thought he wasn't doing a bad job under the circumstances.

"It's a tough gig when you are losing by 200 points or even 300 some weeks.

"We lost 319 points to two against Yackandandah recently in round four.

"There's not too many moves you can make on the whiteboard when the scoreline is like that.

"I've never been involved in a match like that before."

Willis has only played six matches at Wahgunyah.

But there is already one thing that he doesn't do.

"I'll be honest, I don't even look at the scoreboard now and don't even worry about it," Willis said.

"Now, taking on the coaching role, I concentrate more on the individual efforts of the players than the scoreboard.

"You have to break the game down into smaller portions when you come up against one of those good sides like Chiltern or Kiewa.

"Not that you ever go into a game defeated but you know it's going to be a long day.

"Those top sides are experienced, well drilled and played together for a long time.

"You just try to find the positives of each match and have a bit of fun along the way.

"There is more about footy than just the scoreboard.

"You make mates and friendships and with a lot of young blokes at the club who are at that stage where they are making life decisions about careers and their futures.

"So it's good to be able to chat to blokes and provide some advice."

Despite having the worst playing list in the competition, Willis has already set the team goal of winning at least one match before the end of the season.

It's a goal that he believes is achievable as soon as today (Saturday) when they meet neighbouring club Rutherglen who have also started the season 0-6.

"To win a game would be amazing," he said.

"We play Rutherglen on Saturday (today) and you can already feel a bit of a buzz around the club and training with the anticipation of heading into a match that we feel is winnable.

"In my opinion, it's a winnable match - 100 percent it is."

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Willis boasts more than two decades of experience at senior level and hasn't given up hope of using his contacts to land a few more recruits at the den.

"It's a tough gig recruiting at this time of year because most blokes have signed contracts," he said.

"But I've got a lot of contacts and former team-mates and have been putting in plenty of calls to see who might be keen to play.

"My goal is to get our best side on the ground and there are a few boys that should be in the seniors that only want to play reserves for whatever reason.

"It's my job to make sure that it is enticing for the playing group to want to play seniors and to get the best out of themselves."

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