Geelong Amateur co-coach Riley Kershaw has stepped down as co-coach of the Bellarine club.
Kershaw, who has been in the role since early 2023, first with Dan Holroyd and then Sam Lloyd, made his decision public in the moments following the Pegs’ 40-point preliminary final loss to Queenscliff at Grinter Reserve.
“That’s me done,” Kershaw confirmed on K rock Football.
“I probably made the decision about six to eight weeks ago with the footy club, and we probably told the boys maybe four or five weeks ago now.
“Sammy (Lloyd) will be looking for someone else going into this next year.”
A three-time premiership player at GFNL club St Joseph’s, he retired at 28 after suffering a second ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
After Sam Darley stepped down as co-coach during the 2023 pre-season, Kershaw was approached to join Holroyd.
Ammos had a rare finals miss in 2023, were knocked out in an elimination final the following season, before reaching last year’s grand final.
However, they were overrun by Anglesea in the final term, losing by 13 points.
Kershaw had hoped for redemption this year.
“It does hurt,” he said. “I was saying within the rooms afterwards, I’ve become accustomed to love this footy club so much and today really did hurt in the sense that I won’t get to do that chance again.
“But it did hurt because you know that we put in so much hard work over the last 24 months.
“When I was playing, I was on the other side of it, and I was fortunate that I was with those sides that were right place, right time
“Whereas now I’ve seen the flip side of the heartbreak of it and, yeah, it’s shit.”
Click below to listen to the full interview with Riley Kershaw.
X: @krockfootball
