The Tigers had previously announced highly-credentialed coach Nemani Valucava as their new boss, but cited a difference of opinion in the future direction of the club as the reason for the late change.
‘‘(Valucava’s) ambitions were not aligned with the direction of our club and therefore it was in the best interest for the future of the club to part ways,’’ a statement on the club’s Facebook page read.
Rushworth president Peta Williams said family values and community vision were the main reasons for appointing Pateman, who took the club to the 1999 Kyabram District Football League grand final.
‘‘Brett’s been around the club since ’98 and ’99, he’s a premiership player with us,’’ she said.
‘‘He was just looking to get back into coaching and we thought someone local was definitely the way to go. He put his hand up and we were more than happy to go with Brett.’’
Williams said with the stumble in the past, the club was looking forward to a big campaign in which its senior side would try and ascend from 13th on the ladder.
‘‘It was a bit of a difference of opinion in which way the club should head and we decided to part ways,’’ she said.
‘‘It was lucky Brett was able to take on the role quickly and we don’t feel we’ve lost any ground in terms of recruiting and start pre-season (tonight).
‘‘We were able to sign a lot of our local players at the end of last year and we’d like to get more locals back now we’ve got Brett on board. We want to keep everything local and get back that family feel of a community football club.’’
The Tigers also announced their netball coaching line-up, with Nicky Chillingsworth to coach A-grade.
Beth Parker will coach B-grade, Caitlin Brown and Kayla Shepherd will oversee C-grade, while Amy Francis will take charge of under-17s and under-13s.
‘‘Nikki has coached our under-15s the last couple of years, she’s actually originally from South Australia and has played a lot of netball over there,’’ Williams said.
‘‘We’re looking to her to keep building on the young girls coming through the side, she’ll be working with Amy Foster our junior coach in developing them, and hopefully bringing them through to the senior grades.’’
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