By LIAM TWOMEY
TWENTY years after helping the Werribee Football Club win its first and only premiership, John Lamont is back at the Tigers as head coach for next season. He has signed a two-year deal and replaces the departing Scott West.
For the past seven years Lamont has been a development coach at Werribee’s AFL affiliate, the North Melbourne Football Club.
His role has had a particular Werribee focus the last three years, with Lamont working directly with the Tigers’ coaching staff on match days.
“I am really looking forward to coaching Werribee. I have a strong connection with the club having played there and was lucky enough to play in that premiership side,” Lamont said.
“I have been watching them play through my time at North Melbourne and then the last three years in particular, I’ve been in the box and seen every game and the three preliminary finals in a row.
“I feel like I’ve got a good handle on where the club is at the minute and where we want to get to and I am looking forward to working with others in a really collaborative approach to drive some positive outcomes for the club.”
As well as his work with the Kangaroos, Lamont brings a wealth of other coaching experience to Werribee after previously coaching TAC Cup sides the Oakleigh Chargers (1998-2002) and the Eastern Ranges (2003-2006).
With development a key in his three previous roles, he says he is looking forward to being able to continue that aspect of his coaching at Werribee.
“One of the things that used to frustrate me at the TAC Cup was that in terms of working with players, three years was the maximum you ever got and most of the time it was only two years.
“I’ve been at the Kangaroos for seven years and being able to work with players longer has been really good. I enjoy working with players on an individual level and getting them to set their goals and objectives.
“My role as coach is to assist them and then tie in those individual objectives with what we want to achieve as a team and then bring all that together. That is what I am looking forward to doing with the Werribee boys.”
While the VFL landscape continues to change with more clubs opting to become stand-alone entities, the Werribee and North Melbourne alignment remains one of the strongest in the competition.
A number of Kangaroos players have continued to play for the Tigers even after being delisted and Lamont is eager to keep the partnership going.
“There have been some great contributors for Werribee the last couple of years – Ben Ross, Ben Warren and Ben McKinley and before that Leigh Harding.
“North Melbourne’s delistings are yet to be finalised but depending on how all that plays out with the trade week, we will sit down and have a talk with those boys and hopefully they look at making Werribee their football home.”
Werribee’s pre-season will begin on 11 November.
