Six-time Koroit premiership player Isaac Templeton joins Warrnambool and District club Nirranda

The six-time Hampden league premiership midfielder and two-time Maskell Medal winner has committed to the Warrnambool and District league club for the 2018 season.

Blues co-coach Shane Threlfall said Templeton, a renowned ball winner on the comeback from serious hamstring surgery, had signed on as an assistant coach.

“Isaac is a fantastic recruit for us,” he said.

“It’s given him an opportunity to put his foot in the water I suppose in coaching and it might be something that interests him down the track.

“I have known Isaac for a long and we both went to Koroit the same year. When I was assistant coach, he went there as a player.

“We have always kept in touch and always kept the communication channels open in terms of doing something together down the track.

“This is the ideal opportunity for him as he’s getting towards the end of his career and it gives him an opportunity to hop into one of those coaching roles.”

Threlfall said Templeton, 33, would impart his vast experience and dedication on Nirranda’s up and coming players.

“His training standards and match-day standards in terms of his commitment levels of professionalism means he’ll certainly be a great role model for our group, and particularly our young players who maybe have aspirations to play a higher level of football at some stage,” he said.

“Isaac will be able to assist them in their preparation and the way they go about things.”

Koroit coach Chris McLaren said the Saints were disappointed to lose their captain.

But the premiership mentor said the powerhouse club was grateful for Templeton’s contribution across his 10 seasons at Victoria Park.

“I’d love Tempy to play at Koroit for all of his life like all your good mates but that doesn’t always happen,” McLaren said.

“He hasn’t been able to play at the level he’d like over the last couple of years, given he’s had a pretty significant hamstring injury that he’s been trying to battle through and that’s probably wore him down a little bit.

“The work that he’s done and what he’s done at Koroit has held us in good stead and through the best part of his career he certainly set a really high standard in his training, preparation and recovery which has rubbed off on a big part of the group.

“I think they’ve taken it to a new level the past 12 to 18 months.”

Templeton joins former Warrnambool and Russells Creek goalkicker Aaron Searle as a new face at Nirranda.

Searle has returned to the south-west from Melbourne, where he played for Sunshine.

Blues premiership players Jesse Dalton and Mitch Couch – who played in their drought-breaking 2016 flag – have also returned to the club.

Veteran forward Gary Robinson has recommitted.