Wally Armstrong is back in black.

Benalla All Blacks announced Armstrong will take the reins as senior coach for the 2026 Ovens and King season, with plans to make the Panthers competitive again on the football field.

Armstrong is a club legend, with more than 300 games to his name, as well as stints serving on the committee and as president in his over 20 years with the club.

He’s also a proven winner and coach, with premierships during his many years with Benalla Saints' seniors and thirds programs, and has spent two seasons in charge of the Violet Town seniors.

Armstrong said conversations had been happening on and off for years about a potential return to Friendlies Oval.

“They’ve spoken to me at different stages, we just got talking again about it,” he said.

“I went and watched a few games and was disappointed at where we’re sitting on the field at the moment as a former player.

“I know the history of the club, I was involved for 20-odd years - I just think it’s important to go back and try to help out.”

Since flag wins in both senior and reserve grades in 2022, the club has managed three senior wins and 18 reserves wins.

The Panthers made the 2023 reserves grand final but lost to Bright, and just a year later the club didn’t field a reserves team.

They’ve struggled with player numbers, and had multiple players double up in both grades week on week this year.

Armstrong praised the work done by former senior coach Chelton Orchard in keeping the program afloat, through some extremely challenging times.

“We’re well aware that we’re way off the pace at the moment, and I’ll take my hat off to the previous coach, Chelton,” he said.

“He’s a young bloke, inexperienced bloke, and I’m pretty sure at times he probably felt like they were going to struggle to get two sides, but they got two sides up every week which is a credit to him.

“Yes, they weren’t good football results, but there are plenty of clubs that will sit out there and forfeit their twos, don’t work hard enough just to field sides, so a lot of credit goes to a young guy who puts the time and effort in to make sure the club stays afloat on the field with that.

“He’s got the club at heart, we need a few more people like that.”

Now the work begins, with Armstrong looking to build a list around the players who have stuck it out at All Blacks, as well as inject some youth to sure up the club’s future.

“The first goal is to get 50 players there, the second one is to try and make it sustainable,” he said.

“The current list appears to be there, now it’s about building some blocks around them and adding some more youth to take the next step.

“I’m sure people will pop up, I’ve had contact with previous players and I’ve had contact with previous players I’ve played with who have children that are footballers - they might not be in town at the moment but we might be able to get them to come and play a season for All Blacks.

“There are plenty of phone calls to go.

“I can’t really say what I’ve got and what I haven’t got at the moment – all I’ve got is enthusiasm to make the club better on the field.”