Brenden Maclean and Brayden Skeers appointed co-coaches of Henty

The pair have initially signed a one-year deal to replace Daniel Hore-Smith who steps down after leading the Swampies to eighth and second last in his two years at the helm.

Maclean first arrived at Henty from North Albury in 1996 and played in the club's flag under coach Mark Eyers.

He had a huge impact in his first season in the Hume league, winning the Swampies best and fairest before going on to play more than 100-matches in the red and white.

Skeers has spent the past three seasons playing for the Swampies after crossing from Farrer League club North Wagga.

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Maclean revealed he has been passionate about coaching for a long time and was excited to be returning to the Swampies as senior coach and where he has so many fond memories from his playing days.

"Coaching is something that I've been passionate about ever since my three boys in Mackenzie, Will and Angus started playing Auskick," Maclean said.

"They then progressed to St Patrick's in the under-12s in the AWJFL and I coached there for a while.

"Looking back at that side now I had a fair bit of talent there with Paddy Parnell and Dan Turner who are now on AFL lists.

"When I was younger, coaching always interested me and I used to watch Hawthorn train as often as I could during that era when they won three in a row.

"So coaching has always interested me but if I commit to something, I am the sort of person who is either all in or not at all.

"So work and family life has taken precedence over coaching but I now find myself in a position to dedicate the time necessary to coach.

"The only thing about committing a bit later than most coaches is that most players have found a home and trying to recruit at this time of the off-season is a tough gig.

"I've been studying flat out for most of this year but I finished my last exam over the weekend and am now in a position to roll up my sleeves and get stuck into coaching again."

Maclean felt he had done an extensive apprenticeship before committing to his first Hume league coaching gig after performing numerous off-fields roles predominantly at North Albury where he also played.

"I have had a lot of different roles at Bunton Park over the years including recruiting, operations manager, coaching the thirds, reserves and most recently helping Luke Norman as an assistant coach of the seniors," he said.

"I used to be at North Albury on a Saturday and then junior football coach with St Patrick's on the Sunday.

"I've been privileged to work closely with some outstanding coaches and always used to try to get an insight into what they are thinking and why.

"I felt I especially learnt a lot from Aker during his stint as coach of North Albury."

Since arriving at Henty, Skeers has quickly established himself as one of the Swampies best players and finished runner-up in the club's best and fairest this year.

Maclean was looking forward to working closely with Skeers as they look to start climbing the ladder and return as a finals force.

"Brayden has remained loyal since arriving at the club and his commitment both on and off the field has been first-rate," Maclean said.

"Talking to a few of the club officials, they wanted to reward Brayden and he thoroughly deserves the chance to co-coach.

"So the club holds Brayden in high regard and it's pleasing to see him reap the rewards and get his opportunity."

The Swampies won the thirds flag this season and have been quick to re-sign their talented teenagers with 11 of the top age kids committed for next year.

Tyreece Brailey, Jack Knobel, Jordan Klemke, Kobie Skeers, Jordan Tunks, Harry Doig, Mackenzie Maclean, Angus White, Joshua Frohling, William Boyle and Micah Lieschke are all expected to be given plenty of senior opportunities next year.

"That's the super exciting part of getting to coach this side," Maclean said.

"The top age players in that premiership winning side... there is some real talent amongst them.

"I was the runner this year for the side and the thing that stood out to me most is just how eager all these kids are to learn.

"Another bonus is we will have minimal departures with Josh Klemke the only confirmed loss.

"So I feel we don't need to go and recruit a stack of players.

"When you have got so much talent internally, Brayden and I will be just trying to nurture the local talent and just show them how they can develop as players."

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