Rhind building Magpies from bottom up with reserves

Damien Rhind will again take the reins in his second year as senior coach and welcomes former Perth player James Miller back to the club as a player and assistant coach.

‘‘James has played the past two seasons at St Pats but it is great to see someone who played their junior footy here back at the club,’’ Rhind said.

‘‘Ethan Brown we have retained as a player and he has come onboard as an assistant coach along with James and is a very valuable asset to the team as our best and fairest winner this year.

‘‘Marty Walters, our reserves coach and best and fairest winner,  is back and it is fantastic to retain him after a tough year in 2015.’’

Rhind said the Magpies were keen to continue to build the club from the bottom up with a stronger reserves team as a base for the seniors.

‘‘It was one of our goals through the off-season to recruit that way,’’ he said.

‘‘I want to see the club move forward on and off the field and it is a great challenge for myself and I’ve had great support from the committee and the chairman.

‘‘To be able to get some extra coaching staff onboard for next season allows me to spread the workload and be more effective as a coach with the players one on one.’’

Perth had three wins in 2015 and some narrow losses, including to Evandale who finished second and Rhind said the club wanted to focus on stability and continue to improve.

‘‘It’s a massive jump I feel from three years without a win and we’re looking to strive forward and set our goals to play final’s football, and if you don’t aim high you do not achieve high,’’ he said.

‘‘We have retained 80 per cent of our senior list but we are still looking for another two or three players to bolster our senior stocks, more reserves players and just more people at the club to make a better atmosphere and a place people want to come.’’