NORTH Wangaratta has locked in star forward Corey Smith for the 2025 O&K season, who is sure to have an impact on and off the field as playing co-coach.

Smith, who played 53 games at Moyhu, has spent the last four seasons at CDHBU, lighting the Hume league up as a key forward.

His goal kicking prowess – and funky lightning bolt hairdo – saw the Power reach the preliminary finals in 2024, with Smith booting 11 goals through a stunning finals series.

Alongside Steve Manning, Smith will look to shape the Hawks into a side who can challenge any team in the league and reclaim their place in the finals.

Smith said with a young family, he couldn’t be driving an hour each way to train at CDHBU two nights a week.

“I live over the road, so it had always crossed my mind, driving past the ground all the time,” he said.

“I’ve been travelling for the last five or six years out to Coreen which is an hour each way – having three kids at home, it’s sort of hard when you’re knocking off at 5pm, driving to training then not getting back until around 9pm some nights.

“It’s a lot of lost time, I suppose.

“I’ve been talking to Steve, he reached out midway through the year, he never put any pressure on me about footy, he just wanted to get a bit of feedback, have a chat about all things footy.

“We were chatting pretty much every Thursday on the way to training, so it stemmed from there.”

Smith said the young group of Hawks had what it takes to play finals consistently, and was looking forward to getting stuck in.

“I’ve more or less been trying to concentrate on my footy over the last few years, but I think the time’s right to step into a coaching role,” he said.

“I’ve trained a couple of times with them last year just when I couldn’t get out to Coreen - they’re young, the facilities are unreal.

“Having the experience from previously playing in the league five or six years ago, they’re there abouts, and I certainly know that it doesn’t take much in the O&K, you add a few players to an already strong-ish team, you can push for that finals berth.”

Manning said he was looking forward to working with Smith.

“It’ll bring another voice, another set of ideas to the table, particularly as a playing coach,” he said.

“I think the one thing we need a bit more of is on-field leadership – our on-field leaders over the last couple of years in ‘Killa’ (David Killen) and ‘Damo’ (Damien Bradley), but someone with Corey’s experience over the journey and particularly as a key forward or power forward, how we’d like to have his forward line set up in and around him, is going to be crucial for us.

“One thing that’s really struck me about him more and more is his passion for the game, he’s so passionate about his footy - it’s really exciting to have that, and it’s kind of infectious.

“We’ve got young forwards like Tyler Nanson and Khye Devine, and young defenders like Kyle McQuade and Jay Barker who are going to eat up everything he has to say with their craft.”