ACCOMPLISHED Riverina footballer Jake Barrett will make his return to the coaching position at East Wagga-Kooringal on Saturday.
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Three weeks to the day since Barrett was hospitalised with a fractured skull and cheek in a freak on-field accident, he will resume coaching duties on the bench for the Hawks against his junior club Temora at Nixon Park on Saturday.
Barrett made an appearance at Gumly Oval last Saturday for the Hawks' loss to Marrar, then returned to training on Wednesday night.
Luke Gerhard, who has coached EWK during Barrett's absence, was pleased to report that he will be sharing the duties with him for the next couple of weeks.
"He pretty much took the majority of training (Wednesday) night so we're just going to ease him back into it," Gerhard said.
"Me and him, we'll probably co-coach for the next couple of weeks until he gets 100 per cent then he'll be back doing it.
"I expect him to be running the bench and everything this weekend."
Barrett's injury was a serious one and sent a shockwave through his family, friends, club and the football community when it occurred against Coleambally in round one, forcing the game to be called off early.
He remained bedridden for some time but has slowly come better to the point he has showed considerable improvement over the past week.
Gerhard said it's been a big boost for the entire club at EWK to see Barrett recovering so well.
"He's getting better every day, it's unreal how much you can improve, even his face is starting to come back now, just his energy and he's in a lot better mental state, I would say," he said.
"It's been pretty hard to see him like that but he's up and about at the minute, which is great, because we've seen him down in the dumps for the last few weeks.
"It's great to have his energy around the group because he's got a lot of respect out there."
Gerhard expects to share co-coaching duties with Barrett for a couple of weeks so he can be eased back into the top job.
The Hawks have Temora on Saturday and Charles Sturt University the following week before a bye.
"We don't want him coming flying back in and then be no good for a couple of weeks again," Gerhard said.
"He's the coach but we'll help him as much as I can.
"It's a massive step this week. It's great to see."
