Saints playing coach Jarrad Waite will resign from his role at the helm at the end of the season.
While it has been a short-lived coaching era, the blocks towards an exit from Benalla’s rebuild have been put in place under the Goulburn Valley League coach, who will lead his home town club for the final time on Saturday.
Waite joined Benalla briefly in 2022 as a player, before committing to the club officially in 2023.
The 244-game AFL forward was then announced as coach in 2024, before re-signing to lead Benalla’s troops again in 2025.
Waite cited travel and family commitments as the leading factors behind the decision, a choice that was hard to make given Benalla’s signs of promise heading into next year.
“I live in Melbourne, so I travel up three times a week for training and games,” Waite said.
“Just with the travel and three young kids getting older and playing sport down here, it’s probably getting a bit harder.
“I would’ve loved to have coached the boys for longer because I think we’re starting to see some signs of improvement, but family comes first in this regard.”
While Benalla’s on-field record is yet to see drastic improvement under Waite’s reign, the club’s percentage has improved year-on-year, with last weekend’s 23-point loss against top-two side Rochester highlighting the Saints’ improving competitiveness.
Waite can sense the tide is turning for the red, white and black, as a “one club” culture has been growing steadily since the 42-year-old’s values have been instilled into the playing group.
“Trying to get the club in a position where we don’t want players leaving and we want everyone to hang around from our juniors all the way to our seniors (is a goal I set),” Waite said.
“In the last three years it’s been a really big focus for the footy club — junior and senior.
“We’re trying to get this one club mentality and I’m really liking how it’s progressing.
“That’s probably been the pleasing part, just the development of some young players that have played nearly 50 games under me, just to see where they’re at now.
“Especially this year, we probably had higher expectations on win loss ratio ... but compared to where it was two years ago, we’re in a much better position, so we should see some much more pleasing results going forward.”
Following Waite’s announced departure, the Saints revealed Nicholas Pearson as Benalla coach for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
Pearson has coached at VFL level and most recently in the QAFL, leading Morningside’s development team to a minor premiership and grand final appearance.
A coach with tactical nous, Waite believes the switch in coaching style could be the adjustment needed to turn Waite’s Paul Roos-esque work of building team culture and a competitive game plan into Simon Goodwin premiership success.
“I think he’s gonna be really good in the development part of game style for our players,” Waite said.
“I think I’ve come in and brought a really good work ethic, the fundamentals and standards I’ve brought up really well, but I think the next phase for our team is someone that is really good with the analytical side of things and the data and the game plan.
“Because he's moving into town he’ll be able to be in the players’ eyes a lot more.
“I think it’s a really good step for the footy club to take us to the next level.”
As for Waite, exiting Benalla doesn’t mean the door is shut on continuing coaching or playing at the local level.
While remaining focused on finishing the season, once curtains close on Benalla’s 2025 campaign, the former Carlton and North Melbourne star is open to football closer to home.
“I’m not shutting the door to coaching or playing, I really enjoy coaching, it’s just the distance for me,” he said.
“I’ll wait to the end of the season, sit down and have a few conversations and see where we go from there.”
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