Zane Littlejohn may be still looking for a house but has certainly found his feet in Brisbane.
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The North Launceston premiership coach and life member was back at UTas Stadium for a pre-season training camp with his new AFL employers and admitted he was “loving every minute of it”.
The 30-year-old father-of-two heaped praise on his new club and head coach and said the job was everything he’d hoped it would be and repeatedly described his move as “a dream come true”.
“It’s been great. There are some great people at Brisbane and when you work with good people whether in sport or business it makes life really easy,” he said.
“It’s exactly what I expected but as always when you go to a new job there’s always things you didn’t know about but I’ve loved every minute of it and it’s always very welcoming footy club and a dream come true.”
Littlejohn’s role is a skill development coach focusing on the forwards for the Lions’ NEAFL side and assisting Benny Hudson coaching the AFL forwards.
He joins a strong band of Tasmanians running through the Gabba including Mitch Robinson and Ryan Harwood on the playing staff and Chris Fagan, who became head coach after Littlejohn’s appointment.
“Fages is phenomenal. He’s a great leader of men and handed over a lot of responsibility to the players and also to the coaches which has been great.
“He lets you learn by doing and he’ll support and guide you through. If you make a mistake he’s OK but he wants you to make sure you learn from it. He’s been really valuable in that and I couldn’t ask for a better person and mentor to learn from.
“I actually met him once before at a coaching course down here which he presented at. I don’t know if he remembered me, I haven’t asked him yet.”
Littlejohn said it was a natural fit for the club to head to Tasmania and train at a ground where they will meet Hawthorn on Saturday, May 13, next year.
“A lot of clubs come to Queensland to train in the heat, we’re up there all year so Fages saw a great opportunity to get us down here.
“Obviously he’s been here before and saw it as an opportunity to get out of the consistent heat and humidity and a chance to train on a really good surface like UTas Stadium. We also play here this year so it’s just a really good opportunity.”
Launceston-born Littlejohn, who lived at Frankford and went to Exeter Primary School before moving to Devonport and playing for Latrobe, is still looking for a house in Brisbane.
He said his wife Katarina and children Boyd and Alba have been staying with his mum Lisa on the Sunshine Coast.
Rob Shaw
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
