Describing himself as a "passionate Tasmanian", former Richmond Tiger and Clarence coach Jeromey Webberley has been named Tasmania Devils' new coach.
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After playing 16 games across three years at Richmond, Webberley has spent the last six seasons coaching the Roos, building strong relationships within the TSL.
"My biggest strength as a person is building strong relationships and I think that's the fundamental skill of any coach," he said.
"I think that's the first and foremost thing I'm going to get to is understanding the people involved and obviously I've got an extremely experienced group underneath me, Mathew Armstrong has been in this program for as long as I can remember, so I've got some good sounding boards there."
Coaching both the NAB League boys and girls sides in 2022, Webberley will work closely with regional managers Armstrong (South), Jamie Hayward (North-West) and Nathan Warren (North) to conduct the perfect program.
Labelling the Devils as "the pinnacle of Tasmanian football", the 33-year-old understands how pivotal the system is in building the state's future.
"It's really important that this group represents what we have within Tasmania and we build a really strong program around here.
"The importance of this program is that the children we get in, both male and female, want to be in our program, they want to enjoy it.
"Obviously we are ultimately trying to get players drafted but that's not the be all and end all.
"If they're lucky enough to get drafted like Perri King or potentially Sam Banks this year, that's fantastic.
"But if they don't, we want them to step away after their two or three years in this program saying 'that's one of the best things I've done' and we want them to go back and play state-level football or community football and become key figures and leaders within those programs."
Since rejoining the under-18 national league in 2019, Adrian Fletcher and Cameron Joyce have coached the Devils full time, while Armstrong took on the role in 2021's back half.
Locked in officially for two seasons, Webberley - who takes his coaching inspiration from Brett Geappen, Matthew Drury and Damien Hardwick - is hoping to be at the helm for the long term.
"I think over the last few years through the Devils program, through one phase or another, we've had change at the top.
"I'm hoping that I can get the job done over the first few years and be a sustainable figure at the top of this program because I think this program needs some stability and I hope to provide that."
Head of AFL Tasmania Damian Gill described the process to appoint Webberley as "competitive".
"We had strong interest from inside Tasmania and elsewhere and I think that speaks volumes of where the Tasmania Devils program is at," he said.
"We are really excited to welcome Jeromey on board, he's a ripping Tasmanian lad that understands the footy landscape and he's going to do good work."
Josh Partridge
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
As a sports-mad fan who loves to remain challenged, sports journalism always seemed the path for me and it's allowed me to do things I never thought possible. A keen racquet sports player, I'm experienced in that field, allowing me to do my job at a strong standard.
