FORMER Essendon and Richmond player Matt Dea will return to his football roots in 2023, after this week signing on as Imperials senior coach in the SFNL.
However, the 31-year-old, who played 70 AFL games between 2010-18, said he was unlikely to pull on the boots for his junior club.
“At this stage, no I’m not. It’ll be just as a coach. I think my playing days are behind me,” Dea said on Wednesday.
“The body’s OK, but I’ve done some coaching recently with the Essendon VFLW program, when they were transitioning up (to the AFLW this season) and really enjoyed that.
“I’ve probably taken more of a liking to coaching than playing, especially as the body starts to wear out a bit,” he added with a laugh.
Dea announced his retirement from AFL football in 2019 before linking up with Melbourne University Blacks in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA).
He is the latest ex-AFL footballer to join the SFNL next season after Jarrod Brander signed with Wentworth last week, a month after he was delisted by the GWS Giants, and former Carlton and Adelaide player Sam Kerridge recently agreed to take charge of Mildura in 2023.
Ex-Sydney Swan Ben McGlynn has also signed this week as Wentworth’s director of coaching and junior development manager.
Full story in Saturday’s Sunraysia Daily
