NEW DEVELOPMENT coach Brad Ebert has landed at IKON Park, with the former Port Adelaide midfielder excited to be back in the football landscape.
Spending his retirement away from the world of football, Ebert decided that now was the right time to come back and share all he has learned – on and off the track.
Noting the promising trajectory he has seen from the Blues, Ebert was thrilled by the prospect of being able to join in the fun.
“I’ve had a couple of years out of the game, I’ve been weighing up options, weighing up when to get back into footy and I just felt like this was the perfect opportunity,” Ebert said.
“When ‘Vossy’ reached out, I just felt like the Club was in that perfect position to really leap on what they did last year with a young and exciting group so when the opportunity came up, I jumped at it.”
Ebert is very familiar with Voss, noting that he has known him since he was 17, meeting at the Australian Institute of Sport. The pair also spent plenty of time together at Port Adelaide, where Voss was the Power's midfield coach.
Ebert loved the way that Voss coached, referencing his people-first attitude and constant want to make his players better people.
“I think as a coach, he’s a big people-first person: he’s certainly that guy who is strong on his values and strong on what he believes. He really tries to make sure the group is going the right way and strong on building that team and culture,” he said.
“We got on quite well at those times and when he reached out this time, it was the right time to get involved.”
Stepping into the development coach role, Ebert is keen to work with the Blues' younger cohort, developing not only their football skills, but helping them to be the best versions of themselves.
“I’ve had that opportunity now to step out of footy and realise that I’ve still got a passion for helping people,” he said.
“Being able to help them achieve what they’re setting out to achieve and really trying to round them out as people too [is my goal].”
Spending the last few years working in the wine industry, Ebert has had a completely new look at the world outside of football – though he always had hobbies and goals away from his AFL career.
Noting the importance of keeping the mind busy as well as the body, Ebert has a range of things he does to better himself from the inside out.
“I’ve always tried to do other things outside as well: I did a sport science degree, now I’m after a Masters of Business Admin,” he said.
“I’d like to think coming into a development role I can provide that perspective to players and hopefully help them build out as footballers.”
With the first to fourth-year players returning to pre-season training on Monday, Ebert is raring to go and can’t wait to meet the players and get stuck back into footy again.
Acknowledging the tough end to the season that the Blues endured – having been through similar situations himself – Ebert knows where the players’ heads will be at and believes that pre-season will start off with a bang come Monday morning.
“There’s always a buzz around the start of pre-season, the season that was is still quite raw and I’m sure that they’re still feeling aspects of how that all played out, but I think there is going to be that excitement factor,” he said.
“The young guys come back buzzing, you can sense the urgency for them to want to get back into football and really improve on what they did last year.
“There’s good momentum around the place and you can sense that walking around here now and meeting a few of the players – they’re itching to get out there.”
