Stevenson steps up to lead Lions in premiership defence

There’s been a changing of the guard at Whorouly, with Tim Stevenson set to lead the club as senior football coach for the 2027 Ovens and King season. A familiar face and well-loved figure around the Den, Stevenson steps into the senior role after three years as an assistant under former coaches Lachy Moore and Michael Newton, the latter of whom led the club to their first senior flag in 19 years back in September. After breaking the drought, Newton stepped down from the senior role to focus on family and work, but will still don the maroon on Saturdays and play. The move opened the door for Stevenson to coach in his own right, after over 15 years of experience in various coaching roles across the Essendon District Football League with Taylors Lakes and the Southern Football League with Caulfield Bears. “I’ve always had a burning desire to coach in my own right at senior level, but timing hasn’t been on my side from a career perspective,” Stevenson said. “A few things have changed with work which have freed up a bit of time, and after a few health issues with myself this year, I said to myself there are no certainties or guarantees in life, so if you want to do it, do it. “I threw my hat into the ring after the coaching staff and a couple of leaders caught up at Whorouly a few weeks ago, and the penny dropped with me. “I’ve done a 10–15-year apprenticeship across three different leagues, and if you’re not going to be ready to go now you’re never going to be, so I ripped the band-aid off and threw my hat into the ring. “That was all ratified by everyone, and I was really honoured when I got the nod.” Stevenson said he wasn’t out to reinvent the wheel when it came to coaching the Lions, looking to build on the groundwork laid at Whorouly over the years, and drawing from the experienced heads at the club. “I am really looking forward to working with the coaching group we’ve appointing again, it’s largely going to be similar heads with a few new ones to keep everything fresh and make sure our players are still motivated,” he said. “I’m not a dictator-style coach, I’m probably going to have more of a corporate philosophy to it where I want to extract the best out of the players and also the coaches. “When there’s someone better or more accredited or more accomplished than I am, I’ll be looking to delegate things out.” The vast majority of the senior premiership winning team and reserves runners up are set to go again at Whorouly, chasing the elusive back-to-back senior title. “We’re trying to chase down sustained success over time, which can be difficult,” Stevenson said. “Between the O&M and O&K, we’re all sort of fishing from the same pond. “Naturally, we’ll have a few blokes who move away for work or whatever reason, we’ll have a couple of retirements, but I daresay circa 90 per cent of our premiership team from last year and the reserves runners up are sticking fat - we’ve got the bones of a successful list there, now the challenge for us is to just top up with what we really need to go again.”

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