Seymour has pulled off an incredible coup, snaring the services of premiership player Ben Davey for its senior team and its newly-formed under-16 squad.
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With co-coach Jason Cole announcing he would step down ahead of next season to focus his full attention on playing, Davey will join coach Ben Clifton at the helm of Seymour.
Davey has spent five years as an Auskick co-ordinator and has had a stint at St Mary’s Junior Football Club, before spending five years with the under-18 Murray Bushrangers in the NAB League.
But it’s his last two years working with North Melbourne’s AFL/VFL program that will have Lions fans salivating.
And the sky is now the limit for Seymour after finishing fifth this year, with Davey not shy about the fact he would bring to the club a winning attitude.
“Some people don’t want to put it out there that they want to win, in case they fail,” Davey said.
“But Seymour Football Club is an incredible group.
“It’s a rare commodity to have all your teams in finals, so straight away that’s a great base to start.
“We’ll be aiming as high as possible.
“We want to play finals and we’ll be playing to win and grow and get better. That’s our pass mark.
“Once you’re in finals, anything can happen.”
A Seymour premiership player himself, Davey starred in the Lions’ 1991 and 2005 senior flags, as well as coaching the reserves team to its 2006 premiership victory.
While Davey has been seen in and around Kings Park during the past decade, it was a pull to spend more time with his family that has Davey back in the mix ahead of next season.
“My twin boys have played under-18s for the last few years,” Davey said.
“I’ve always been around and helped out in the background.
“But because the club knew my youngest son was playing next year (in the under-16s), we’ve had some discussions over the past few months — just about the possibility of helping, or if I would coach?
“It was something that appealed to me.
“Once I made the choice to do it and once I’m involved, I get heavily involved.”
It was this all-or-nothing attitude that meant Davey would soon take charge of two teams next year.
“I approached the club about coaching the seniors team as well,” Davey said.
“But Ben and Jase had just signed on again, so I said I would just help out.”
But what followed was a reshuffling of the magnets, after a private conversation with Cole revealed the gun midfielder had too much on his plate.
“Jase is starting a business and a family and wanted to really concentrate on playing and getting the best out of himself,” Davey said.
“It’s quite hard to do all of it.
“Once we decided on that, all three of us sat down together and Ben was quite happy to make that change as well.”
After seeing the way Seymour went about its business this year, Davey was full of praise for what Clifton and Cole had achieved in their two seasons in charge.
“They’ve done a really good job to coach and play at the same time,” Davey said.
“To finish where they did this year, they should be really proud of their efforts.
“You don’t just play finals, there is a lot of work to do.
“Jason and Ben have set up a really good foundation moving forward.”
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