DEPARTING Russells Creek coach Peter Timms says his successor will inherit a football program capable of snapping the club's decade-long Warrnambool and District league finals absence.
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Timms has relinquished his role as mentor at the Mack Oval-based club, paving way for fresh blood after a three-year stint at the helm.
The club is yet to officially announce his replacement but it's understood it could look internally.
Timms, who crossed to Creek in 2018 after a long stint as a junior coach and senior assistant at South Rovers, said he left the role content.
I think we've left the club with good foundations now to go on and become a real force in the district league.
- Peter Timms
The 49-year-old guided the club to a 10th-placed finish in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 campaign. A strong recruiting drive, which netted former AFL player and Hampden league star Dan Nicholson, meant the Creekers just missed a finals berth in 2021.
"A good friend of mine told me what you've done, it's what you leave behind that matters," he said.
"I think we've left the club with good foundations now to go on and become a real force in the district league.
"They just need to make sure they pick up the ball and roll with it and keep doing the hard work."
He said the club was poised for success in coming seasons.
"The upside is now they've got this year under the belt, they're only going to get better," Timms said.
"They're playing a brand of footy I know the new coach is going to be able to carry on with and have their own ideas as well.
"Anyone going to Creek is in for a good ride, I can tell you that."
Timms said Creek's strong social contingent had welcomed his family with open arms and thanked the club for the opportunity to coach.
He said he was looking forward to a spell after a combined 40 years of playing and coaching football and would divide time between watching youngster son Fletcher ply his trade at North Warrnambool Eagles and eldest son Zac at Creek.
"If I find the love for it again in my time off, I'm definitely not ruling it out (a return to coaching)," Timms told The Standard.
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Nick Ansell
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
