Dan Cleary announces he is stepping down as coach of Thurgoona at the end of the season

Cleary and Kade Brown initially replaced premiership coach Brett Doswell at the helm as co-coaches in 2021.

He then coached outright last year and again this season.

The Bulldogs finished seventh last year with a 9-9 record.

They remain in the finals mix this season and sit in sixth spot with a 6-6 record with six rounds remaining.

Cleary said his decision to step down was two-fold.

The young father was expecting his second child at the end of the year.

In a startling admission, Cleary also said that he didn't believe he had a high enough profile as a coach to attract the necessary recruits for the Bulldogs to return as a finals force.

"There are two main reasons why I'm stepping down," Cleary said.

"My wife and I are expecting our second child at the end of the year.

"So I guess the timing of that and trying to recruit and trying to oversee a decent pre-season is realistically something that I can't give 100 per cent to.

"But the main reason I'm stepping down is personally I don't believe that as a coach that I have the recruiting power that somebody else potentially does to take this group to the next level.

"I want to see Thurgoona return as a powerhouse as quickly as possible.

"That was part of the reason why I took the job initially.

"To rebuild the list so it was healthy and strong and I'm comfortable that as a club we have been able to achieve that.

"But I just feel for the club to take that next step and return as a genuine flag contender, it needs a high-profile coach that can attract some A-grade talent to complement the existing list."

Cleary found recruiting one of the toughest challenges of coaching.

"Recruiting is a tough gig," he said.

"I'm a self-confessed footy nut and could talk footy all day long if somebody wanted to listen to me.

"But you have more than a dozen clubs throughout the district targeting the same recruits and the amount of time you need to spend to potentially sign one or two players was an eye-opener.

"I'll be brutally honest here on how I think I'm perceived in football circles.

"I fully understand in the local footy landscape that most people consider me a nobody, so I'm not going to be able to land many recruits without some other type of incentive.

"At the moment the incentive of potentially guaranteed success isn't quite there.

"I know being in close proximity to town is one advantage but potential recruits think I'm not going to Thurgoona if we are not playing finals.

"There is no guarantee of playing finals, so it makes it really difficult to attract recruits.

"So for the club to take that next step they really need a coach who has got that recruiting power."

Since joining Thurgoona in 2009, Cleary has also coached the club's thirds and won a premiership with the reserves.

He then spent two years coaching Brock-Burrum's reserves, winning a flag with the Saints in 2019.

While Cleary was quick to downplay his profile as a coach, Bulldog insiders couldn't fault his match-day preparation and tactics.

"The thing I probably pride myself on most as a coach was the connection I was able to build with individuals within the playing group," he said.

"But the recruiting side of things was always a challenge.

"I didn't play any O&M football with most district coaches having had experience as a player at the higher standard.

"I had a bit of a success as a reserves coach but the step up to being a senior coach and the time you need to invest is a big jump.

"It's not something that I wasn't expecting and I spent as much time as I could when I was coaching reserves with the senior coach to learn as much as I could."

ALSO IN SPORT

Cleary still remained hopeful the Bulldogs, who trail fifth-placed Barnawartha by four points and percentage, could play finals this season.

"If we play to our potential and can sneak an upset in the run home, finals are not out of the equation," he said.

"If things do go our way, finals are a realistic goal and at least the playing group has still got some motivation for the remainder of the season."

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