By ADEM SARICAOGLU
ROBBIE Castello is excited about the next chapter of his footballing life.
The outgoing Werribee skipper and games record holder has chosen Essendon District Football League outfit Maribyrnong Park as his new home for 2014 after fielding substantial offers from Hoppers Crossing, Deer Park (WRFL) and Keilor (EDFL).
The former Keilor Park junior said his preference was to come back to the EDFL after deciding to move on from a handy career in the VFL.
“I wanted to stay in the EDFL,” Castello said.
“To be honest, I didn’t want to speak to too many clubs.
“I had an idea of a couple of clubs who I would’ve thought I’d like to have gone to.
“Hoppers Crossing seems like a very good football club and their facilities are probably the best facilities in local footy.
“I was very close to having a chat to those guys and seeing what we could do but I guess it was the ties I have with the EDFL that counted in the end.
“I played all my juniors at Keilor Park, I’ve still got a lot of good mates that play in the EDFL and it’s closer to home, so I just thought I’d go back to the EDFL and try my luck there.”
Castello signed on as a playing assistant coach to former Collingwood and Fremantle star Brodie Holland, who may hand over the coaching reigns to Castello as part of a potential succession plan in coming years.
The now former Tiger turned Lion said the opportunity to work with Holland was a factor in deciding to join Maribyrnong Park.
“Brodie seems really professional and really good at what he does, and I wanted to work with him and hopefully learn a lot and try and work on my coaching ability,” Castello said.
“It’s something I spoke with Brodie and the club about – to do an assistant role and look to take over when Brodie’s ready to go.
“So I’m just waiting to see when Brodie’s ready to finish up and we’ll see what happens then.
“I did a bit of assistant coaching at Werribee in my last year just helping out with the mids, so it’s now just about getting back into local footy and finding my feet at that level again and putting the experience I’ve had in the VFL into these younger boys.”
