Saw this posted on Yellow & Black info about Alex Gilmour becoming a playing assistant coach
in the Mercury newspaper in Tassie:
http://www.yellowandblack.info/forums/showthread.php?p=45965#post45965Robins Want Alex To Roar Like A Tiger
By Brett Stubbs
The Mercury (pg. 43)
19/01/2006
It's a long way from AFL club Richmond to the Southern Premier League's perennial battler Brighton but that is the path Alex Gilmour has chosen.
The former Richmond draftee has signed for this season as the Robins playing assistant coach under Garry Splan.
At 17, Gilmour was the youngest player taken in the 2003 draft at No. 21 overall after playing with the Tasmanian Devils and the Mariners.
He was cut after failing to play a senior game with the Tigers in two seasons.
The 19-year-old has aspirations of getting back to at least VFL level but it won't be with the Devils this season.
"When I signed up for Brighton, I said to [president] Leigh Gray, 'I am going to sign for one year because next year I might try to get back in the system over in Melbourne and play VFL or play VFL down here'," Gilmour said.
"But this year I just wanted a year away from the spotlight and play a bit of club footy."
Gilmour was coached by Danny Frawley and Terry Wallace at Richmond before being cut late last year.
"I was pretty flat when I got the news," he said.
"It was fairly late. I was probably one of the last to be delisted but life goes on. I have to open new doors and go from there."
Gilmour said he had overcome persistent ankle injuries and will be 100 per cent fit by season's start.
Gray said the 184cm, 75kg midfielder would be a major boost for the Robins, who did not win a Premier League game last season.
"We explained to Alex what our club was doing, where we wanted to go, how we planned on doing it and he wanted to jump on board," Gray said.
"He is certainly not scared of a challenge as far as jumping on board with the side that has been the wooden-spooner for the past two years."
Gray said the club remained realistic about its chances and was aiming at taking small steps forward first.
"We are certainly not talking about premierships, that is for sure," he said.
"As a club, we just wanted to be competitive and win a handful of games next season.
"If we can achieve that, we have done a pretty good job."
He said the club has also recruited former DOSA brothers Matthew and Rick Honey and Smithton player Matthew Clark.
"The numbers at pre-season training are good and certainly up on last year," he said.
"There is a real buzz around the club with the guys we've picked up. Everyone is keen to get stuck in but unfortunately we have to wait for April."
