Hamish MacInnes appointed North Melbourne’s NGA Head Coach
09 July 2024
The Werribee Football Club is pleased to announce that Development Manager Hamish MacInnes has been appointed as the new head coach of North Melbourne’s Next Generation Academy (NGA).
MacInnes will be able to continue his role with Werribee for the remainder of the 2024 season, where he heads up the development program for his third straight year.
MacInnes has been a pivotal figure at Werribee since starting as the Community Development Manager in 2019. After three seasons he transitioned to the football department in the role of Development Manager for the 2022 season, following a brief stint as interim Football Manager in 2020. As well as his commitments at Werribee, MacInnes also balanced a role as a PE teacher at Point Cook Secondary College until this recent appointment.
Hamish's contributions to Werribee's development program have been widely recognised over the past couple of seasons. Former Werribee senior coach, now North Melbourne's head of development, Michael Barlow was full of praise “Hamish MacInnes does a tremendous job in running the development area. It’s a holistic program where they come in, we develop their footy, but also we develop them as people.”
2023’s development group leader Jesse Clark endorsed Barlow’s thoughts “I was lucky enough to get voted in as the leader of the development group, and basically it’s built a bit of a platform for me in terms of taking my leadership to the next level. It just makes the transition from under-18s or local footy to VFL footy so much more efficient.”
Small forward Connor Thar who has been with Werribee since 2019 added, “What they do here at Werribee with the development group, myself and the under 22’s have taken a lot of benefits and advantages from that.”
“Hamish’s background in teaching and his work in game development at AFL Vic and the Werribee Football Club further strengthens our connection with one of our NGA zones. He will be a great asset to our club, supporting the delivery of academy programs in the region through participation and talent identification initiatives.”
North Melbourne officially restarted its NGA in October last year after the program was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Werribee Football Club has a pre-existing connection with the Kangaroos' NGA and is supporting the academy this season by running its own boys' and girls' groups for multicultural and Indigenous youth in Wyndham. These sessions take place on Mondays and Tuesdays at Avalon Airport Oval.
Werribee Football Manager Ash Collins spoke about his delight for Hamish; “We’re really excited for Hamish, and this appointment is not only testament to his hard work and dedication, but also is fantastic for the club who continue to foster talent on and off the field”
Collins added, “We look forward to him continuing his role as development manager at the club.”
