A four-time premiership player with the Lakers, the star midfielder is as accomplished as they come in local football circles and comes into his first official coaching role with ambitions of continuing Nagambie’s dominance in Kyabram District Football League.
Muir said it was a thrill to be taking the reins at a club he had given so much to over the journey.
“I am very excited (to be taking over as senior coach). It has always been something I have been keen to get involved with, so when the opportunity came up to do it, I jumped at the chance,” he said.
“Having played all my footy at Nagambie, I am very excited to be able to give back and help the group in this way and I feel with the list we have at the moment we will be very competitive.”
Seen as a measuring stick in KDFL football during the past five years, Nagambie has competed in the past four grand finals and looked set to feature at the pointy end once again in 2021. The club was sitting in fourth position when the season was cut short and Muir said it was frustrating to see the chance to compete for another flag taken away.
“Overall, I thought we had a pretty good year," he said.
“With the list we had we maybe could have finished a little bit higher, but I feel that by the second half of the year we were playing our best footy and were in a position to make a run at the finals.
“It was a bit frustrating the year ended the way it did, but with COVID the situation was obviously out of our control and missing out on that opportunity will only fuel us moving forward into next season.”
As the playing group prepares for a return to the training track, Muir outlined a few of the areas the coaching staff was keen to improve on during the pre-season.
“The main area for us is player retention and looking to continue to develop the guys we have at the club, whether it be the young boys coming through or the experienced guys,” he said.
“From last year it seemed teams would get a bit of a run on us at stages and kick five or six unanswered goals, so continuing to work on our fitness and consistency will be a big area of focus for us as well.”
Muir knows exactly what type of coach he wants to be, and what his expectations are for the team.
“Hopefully I am a good (coach) that is driven by the players,” he said.
“I am not going to be the type of coach that is up the front yelling and screaming. Rather, I want to put some ownership back on the group and be driven by some of the experienced guys we have while also teaching a thing or two to the young guys.
“Our main goal is to definitely play finals. With our current list I would expect us to finish in the top three or four, which would give us the best chance coming into the post-season.”
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