THE opportunity of a head coaching role had proven too tempting a lure for Tigers assistant Adrian Pavese who will take over the reins at Ovens and Murray League side Corowa-Rutherglen next season.
Pavese served as an assistant coach to Kade Klemke at the Tigers last season and is a former triple-premiership winning mentor with the club’s reserve grade side.
But with Klemke having recently re-signed as player/coach for at least another 12 months, Pavese said he felt a need to look elsewhere in order to pursue his coaching opportunities in 2013 and beyond.
“I’ve got nothing but love for the Tigers and I’ll be forever indebted to the club for the opportunities they’ve given me,” he said. “But I just wanted a crack at being a head coach and to see where that might go.
“Growing up in Griffith, the Ovens and Murray League was always the pinnacle and it’s still rated as one of the best country leagues in Victoria. Leaving the Tigers was always going to be a hard decision for me to make but Corowa has come on board and I like where the club is heading.”
Pavese is not without head coaching experience at first grade level having taken over the role midway through Queanbeyan’s 2011 campaign following the resignation of Rod O’Riley.
And after helping guide the Tigers to the NEAFL Eastern Conference premiership this season, Pavese said the time was right to try his hand at a new challenge.
“The club’s success this year made it an easier decision for me,” he said. “In my time with the club we hadn’t had a lot of success up until this year but once we won the flag it was a bit like ‘job done, what’s next?’
“In saying that, if I hadn’t been approached by a couple of clubs I’d have been perfectly content to stay with the Tigers.”
As well as his reserve and first grade coaching roles, Pavese has been heavily involved in the club’s junior development programs in his five years at Queanbeyan.