![Dave Marshall has made the switch from women's coach to the men's at George Town. Picture by Rod Thompson Dave Marshall has made the switch from women's coach to the men's at George Town. Picture by Rod Thompson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/196462108/afa8bd93-085b-4a7d-86d7-d965d4bc1f74.jpg/r931_527_3927_2547_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
George Town's Dave Marshall appeared to have a hectic 2024 schedule ahead of him when the club announced he would be a co-coach for both the men's and women's team.
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But Marshall was quick to clear up that his time with the women - which culminated in two preliminary final appearances - would be coming to an end, leaving Jodie Clifford to take over the sole reins.
"Jodie is going to take over there because it would have been too much," he said.
"We wanted to give our best attention to both sides, so it was in the best interest of the club that I stepped away from the girls and took on this new role."
Marshall reflected on his time in the NTFAW and with his squad.
"We had a really good group, I was pretty fortunate with the group that I had for the last three or four years and watching them progress and develop and become the side they have was a pleasure," he said.
With the transition made, Marshall appears to have undertaken a role which requires a large rebuild.
The Saints' men finished second-bottom in the NTFA premier division this year, recording just two wins in 16 matches and finished on the wrong end of five 100-point margins.
To address their disappointing campaign, the East Tamar club have brought in recruits Arthur Schilling and Coby Chugg from North Launceston to go along with the re-signing of around a dozen of their current squad.
"We probably needed another five or six senior players that were bigger bodied and come with a bit of experience, because we definitely had the youth there, but we probably didn't have enough people around them to get them where we need to be," Marshall explained.
"We had some really good players in our senior side but they can only carry so far and for us to develop as a club we need to bring the young ones on, probably a lot quicker than normal and give them a few years to develop."
Chugg's role is not limited to his ruck-work either, as he was announced as an assistant-coach with his father Dale.
"Dale's played for North (Launceston), he coached us for five premierships when we had that really good period and he's played in like six of our grand final wins, so he's got a really good understanding of what we require and what we need to get back to where we need to be," Marshall said.
"We've got a pretty good mix of characters between the whole club."
Marshall identified the importance of the Saints' 2024 campaign with the dawn of a new NTFA era on the horizon.
"Everybody is trying to get their chess pieces in position so they can actually set themselves up to when [State League clubs joining NTFA] happens," he said.
"It's hard to see at the moment, but off the field we've got a really good culture and the club's going well, it's just on-field, we can probably improve a little bit different by drawing people to the club and that's what we'd like to do.
"We don't want people to come and think it's a chore and that it'll be too hard, because people like to go to clubs that have got success."