Sport
15 August, 2024
Sullivan excited to take on senior coaching with Stawell Warriors
James Sullivan will lead the Warriors in 2025, his second season.
The Stawell Warriors will have a new senior football coach for the 2025 WFNL season.
The club announced that after five straight seasons in the role, Tom Eckel will step back with James Sullivan to lead the squad next year.
It will be Sullivan's first senior coaching appointment.
"I see it as a challenge and an exciting prospect... The club and the level of support that's there, I'm really excited to get stuck in," Sullivan said.
"We caught up six to eight weeks ago for the initial discussions, and everything just progressed from there... The level of support from everyone within the club has been amazing."
Sullivan, 31, has had several coaches that have impacted him across his 15 years playing senior football.
"I've picked up a lot of experience over the years with a few of the clubs I've been with and have been lucky enough to play under some pretty experienced coaches," he said.
Current Southport VFL coach Stephen Daniel was Sullivan's mentor at Tatura and then spent time with Box Hill in the VFL in the mid-2010s.
Most recently, he worked under former AFL Melbourne and Collingwood defender Lynden Dunn at Caulfield.
Sullivan credited Daniel for his early development, while Dunn's relationship-building stood out.
"It was great to have him down; we got along really well and learned a lot," he said of Dunn.
"He's really good with building relationships with his players and staff. So that was a big thing that I've picked up from him, which I'll carry over into my coaching."
Sullivan will continue to focus on playing for the remainder of the season with other club members to begin player retention for next season.
The playing group were extremely supportive [of the decision]... Really caring and want to get to know you as a person more than just the player," he said.
"I've loved my time, and it really shows the first club that I'll be looking to senior coach is the Stawell footy club."
Stawell Warriors president Shane Field is thrilled with what Sullivan has brought to the club in such a short time.
"His communication with the leaders amongst the club, the team and the younger players [have been great]. He's been fantastic for the club," Field said.
"We had an inkling that he wanted to coach once he finished playing football. Once the season went along and [we] got more of an understanding of his personality and how he communicates, we thought we'd see what he thinks."