Earlier this week, the club committee ratified the appointment of Hayden McMahon and Locky Inglis as joint head coaches of the Senior Men’s section for the upcoming 2024/25 season.

To anyone even tangentially affiliated with East Belmont, these two young men should require no introduction, with both having firmly established themselves as among our club’s most highly accomplished players and finest leaders.

In purely on-field terms, the pair have played 220 Men’s 1st XI games between them, while scoring in excess of 4,000 1st XI runs, to go along with just shy of 200 wicket-keeping dismissals for Locky (and a pair of highly coveted 1st XI wickets for Hayden!) The boys are also each two-time 1st XI premiership players, while also having won a combined seven T20 premierships.

Both Hayden and Locky have been outstanding leaders of the club, with Hayden having served as Men’s T20 skipper and Locky as vice-captain of the 1st XI. Both set an impeccable example for others, whether it be in terms of the standards they drive at training, their constant willingness to help their teammates improve, or the positivity and warmth which they bring to their interactions with clubmates of all levels of ability across every section of the club. These attributes have seen both Hayden and Locky as past winners of the Wakefield Family Trophy for Most Exemplary Player.

Hayden and Locky’s appointment comes following an 8-year stint by Chris Williams in the top job. Chris has given outstanding service to the club over this time, having presided over a period of terrific on-field success, which consisted of six 1st XI grand final appearances, as well as two 1st XI premierships. Chris is the second longest serving head coach in the club’s history, and we would like to take this opportunity to formally thank him for his outstanding contribution to East Belmont, while also wishing him all the best on his recent appointment as coach of Newtown & Chilwell.

Hayden and Locky will partner with Shane McNamara, who will be returning to the role of Men’s 1st XI captain for a third season. They will also play an actively collaborative role with the leaders of the club’s other senior grades, with further captaincy appointments to be announced closer to the commencement of the season.

We have every confidence that this will prove to be an outstanding appointment for the club, and one which will unify our men’s playing group in driving towards our ambition to re-establish ourselves as the best performed club in the GCA.

Please join us in congratulating Hayden and Locky on their appointment as co-coaches for the season ahead! We can’t wait to see what the future holds with two such incredible East Belmont people at the helm of our Men’s section!