‘Hoota’ to lead younger-skewing Demons

New Milawa senior coach Brenton ‘Hoota’ Gray is looking forward to the challenge and experience of leading the Demons. The club announced Gray’s appointment to the role in mid-October, taking over from previous coach Matt Graham. Gray has a rich and successful history as both a player and coach at Rochester in the Goulburn Valley League and Stanhope in the Kyabram and District league, with over 370 senior games, multiple best and fairest awards, and five premierships to his name. After joining the club in 2021, Gray joined the reserves coaching panel the next year, before becoming a full playing co-coach in 2023, and helping to lead the Demons to the reserves flag in 2024. While there have been a number of players who have left the club in the offseason, Gray said he was eager to get stuck into preseason, flagging a likely influx of youth to the Demons’ ranks. “They needed some stability and I’d brought a few players in over the last few years, I had a few connections, they asked if I would help, and I said I would, and it just snowballed from there to coaching,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of youth come in, they’re going to be unpredictable, they’re going to be up and down, but I’m going to come up with a really good game plan that I think will suit the kids. “We’ll get them super fit, have a heap of fun, and make sure everyone enjoys their time at the club. “I’ve been in this situation before when I coached Stanhope just after a grand final when we lost 19 players from the grand final side. “If you can get the kids on board, they can be pretty bloody exciting, so we might go further than some people think. “Hopefully we can get a couple of these good recruits over the line in the next couple of weeks, and then we will just get stuck into the hard work. “Hard work and effort, that’s all I ask for – get there, do the hard work, give me effort, and I’m the first bloke to shout them a drink afterwards.” Gray’s appointment to the senior coaching role means a husband and wife will coach the top squads at a club, with Kerrie Gray signing on to coach the Demon’s A grades for a fourth season. “We’ve done it before back at Stanhope, we did for a few years over there and it worked well,” he said. “It just gets everyone involved, bringing together the footballers and netballers as much as you can, everyone’s on the same page and having a heap of fun.” Gray said the Demons would have six preseason runs before the Christmas break, recommencing in mid to late January. Milawa finished third on the ladder in 2025 but crashed out in the semi-final.

‘Hoota’ to lead younger-skewing Demons

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