'Easy decision in the end': Hampden footy coach locked in for second season

The Tigers playing-coach, not deterred by a challenging campaign so far, will lead the club for a second Hampden league season in 2025.

"I think seeing that the group's still super invested even when results probably haven't gone our way necessarily in terms of what we would have wanted to get out of this season (helped my decision)," the 26-year-old told The Standard.

"Just seeing the commitment from the group and the leaders back in next year as well, who want to stick around and see the club have success again in the short term was really exciting.

"So what won me over was probably the buy-in from the group and the buy-in from the club in general from up above as well to be starting to be proactive in getting next year sorted.

"So when they came to me it was a really easy decision in the end."

The Tigers, who had a host of key players relocate to Geelong and Queensland after their maiden finals appearance in 2022, are yet to notch a win after 10 rounds this year.

However the rebuilding side has been competitive in a number of matches and shown that success may not be too far away.

"The on-field stuff's slowly building and I think the exciting thing this year is we've got to see a lot of our juniors early as well," Huppatz said.

"So they're all going to have a year's experience under their belt and they're going to be that one step ahead in their development. And all of them have come in and played a role and haven't looked out of place and there's other ones that are waiting in line...

"Our senior bunch all wanting to band together and stick together to make it through the tough on-field times is really commendable and probably just shows the pride that the club has and the people within the club have."

Huppatz said there were plenty of other aspects for the club to be positive about, including its culture, committed volunteers and the way it had embraced change in recent times.

The Tigers mentor, who returned to the club this year after a season playing for Broadbeach in QLD, is enjoying his first stint as a senior coach.

He said discovering the extent of the workload that comes with being a playing-coach was a "shock to the system" but was something he was embracing.

'From the start one of my key things was just embracing the challenge and embracing the mistakes that you make along the way," he said.

"I've definitely made lots of mistakes or things that I go 'in hindsight I wouldn't have done this' or 'in hindsight I should have done this'.

"That's all part of the journey."

On the field, Huppatz didn't take long to find his feet back at Hampden league level and has been a star in the midfield for the Tigers.

The tough ball-winner, who missed rounds two and three with a knee injury, is averaging just under 34 disposals from eight games, to go with 9.5 tackles and 9.8 clearances.