McCarthy departs Hawks for coaching opportunity in neighbouring competition

McCarthy who last played in the competition for Border-Walwa in 2017 said he struck up a friendship with Demons star Evan Nicholas.

The pair share a common bond and are both league medallists with McCarthy winning the award in 2017 and Nicholas a dual league best and fairest.

McCarthy said a conversation with Nicholas back in 2017 had sown the seed for him to lead the club next year.

"I know Evan fairly well and when I was playing at Border-Walwa I always said maybe down the track that I would have a game with him because we got along pretty well," McCarthy said.

"So I recently received a phone call from Evan who was helping the club find a new coach and one thing led to another.

"Now I find myself as coach of Corryong which I have agreed to initially for one year and we will reassess after that."

McCarthy departs Gumly Oval after three seasons at East Wagga-Kooringal.

He replaces Daniel Gilcrist at the helm who steps down with ignominy of the worst coaching record in Upper Murray league history.

Gilcrist failed to lead the Demons to one win in his 13-matches in charge.

He also has the unique record of still making finals this season after the demise of Federal and the competition being reduced to a four team competition.

McCarthy departed Border-Walwa at the end of 2017 with the club folding in the lead-up to the 2020 Covid ruined season.

He has since had stints at Wodonga in 2018-19 including four senior matches at the kennel as well as helping coach the club's thirds alongside Robbie Jackson.

McCarthy, 28, has been restricted to 25 games over the past three seasons at the Hawks, where he has been plagued by knee issues.

"I haven't been able to play as much as I hoped after a couple of knee reconstructions," he said.

"So the body is not as good as it probably should be.

"I didn't play seniors after round four this year but came back late in the season and played a couple of reserves matches.

"I still need to have another operation on my knee and that will determine how much I play next year."

McCarthy revealed he has always had coaching ambitions.

"I always probably envisaged coaching as something that I might pursue once I had retired from playing," McCarthy said.

"But when I was helping out coaching the thirds at Wodonga with Robbie Jackson I really enjoyed the challenge.

"So when the Corryong opportunity came along, I didn't take much convincing to take the job to be honest.

"I've previously spent a bit of time in the Upper Murray league when I was playing at Border-Walwa with Craig Bosley, my most recent coach at the Magpies.

"So I feel like I have a fairly good understanding of the competition.

"Corryong obviously didn't win a match this season but I think with the list, it has the potential to start winning matches sooner rather than later.

"It's no secret that we will need to target a few key players but I still see plenty of potential with a young, hungry group.

"Recruiting is a tough gig but I'm confident we can get a couple of signings over the line and once you sign one or two you can quickly start building some momentum which attracts further signings."

In an unusual twist all four remaining Upper Murray league clubs will have new coaches next year.

Dayne Carey and Josh Bartel (Cudgewa), Clint Brunnenmeyer (Bullioh) and Jim Waters and Wade McPherson (Tumbarumba) have all joined the coaching ranks over the off-season.