Echuca Football Club has used its fourth premiership in five years as the launching pad for another seismic shift in the way it goes about business. Co-coach Simon Maddox, one of the architects of the club’s return from 20 years in the wilderness, has stood down and will be replaced by Ben Reid.
Ben Reid has earned his coaching stripes the hard way.
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And is, perhaps, a most unlikely Australian rules footballer in the first place.
Born in Queensland, living in NSW and yet, eventually, wanting to play Victoria’s game.
Which seemed like a good idea at the time, but three shoulder reconstructions and a broken neck later, it may eventually be a decision he looks back on and wonders what it might feel like, at 34, to not have a neck full of titanium bits and pieces and shoulders that are better weather forecasters than the Bureau of Meteorology.
Today his head sits on a scaffold of science that has allowed him to keep walking, working and now, coming back to the game he loves.
But that time for reflection is still a few years down the track because Reid is about to add another level to his career — as a senior coach.
And no pressure, but his first gig at the helm is with Echuca’s Murray Bombers, which have just collected their fourth flag in five years.
Signing on to a club where success is an expectation, Reid can sense there are going to be a lot of eyes on him from the get-go.
Although he will share coaching duties with premiership-winning playing coach Gus Byrne, the critics always find it easier to target the guy on the boundary than the bloke somewhere out in the middle.
The Echuca connection, however, is powerful —— Reid’s grandparents, born and bred on the Murray, spent all their 95 years here.
“When my older brother Sam got picked up by Footscray, we moved down here to be closer to Melbourne and I started playing juniors at Vic Park, in the Under 18s,” Reid recalled.
“In Queensland I played rugby league and a bit of footy but down here it was all football and because we lived in Moama, I played all my carnival footy for NSW.
“I missed the draft camp but got to the Giants while they were still playing in the North East Australian Football League where I had a fair bit to do with Choco Williams (who was the assistant coach under Kevin Sheedy) in the year before they went into the AFL.
“At the end of that season some players got traded, I got released but Sam got picked up — I was out and he was in.”
While Sam’s AFL career would continue, the 20-year-old future coach would head west and signed with Glenelg in the SANFL and had two interrupted years (and a shoulder reconstruction) before heading home to the twin towns and the Murray Bombers, but three games in and the shoulder went — again.
Back in 2016, Reid managed a full season, won the best and fairest, and played for the GV and Vic Country, before deciding to have another shot at the bigtime. He signed with Geelong’s VFL side, where he played the next three years.
He enjoyed a breakout season there in 2017, played all 18 games with the Cats that season, finished runner-up in the club’s best and fairest and was elevated to the leadership group.
But the AFL dream was not to be and once again Reid headed back to the Murray and Vic Park where a brilliant 10-0 start to the next season hit a brick wall when, like the rest of Australia and the world, Reid and football were swamped by COVID.
And like the rest of the world, we all came out the other side, and Reid would have a purple patch as Echuca swept through the 2022, ’23 and ’24 seasons, establishing a dynasty of success.
Until once again it all fell over with injury — this time, though it would be almost life threatening, not just career ending, when Reid broke his neck.
He’s a little bit philosophical about it today, but his C5 is now man made, and no matter what he might want to do, he has reached the end of the playing line.
“I was lucky, I can’t ever forget that I could be in a wheelchair now, or worse,” Reid conceded.
“It’s all screwed together and I’m still working as a builder, I’m still an active part of my family and now I believe I have got something to give back to the club.
“I have been working with the team as an assistant coach across the backline and I have a great relationship with the players, as I understand what they are going through.
“I have had a career with plenty of ups and downs and these boys are all so passionate and determined about what they are doing, you can’t help but want to be part of that.”
As an aside, in 2022 brother Sam said the reason he came to Echuca was to win a premiership alongside Ben.
And when the final siren sounded at Deakin Reserve, the brothers fell into each other’s arms, celebrating after the club broke its 20-year premiership drought with a 12-point win over Euroa.
“It is unbelievable,” Sam said at the time.
“This is why I came back. We hadn’t played together in senior footy, ever, so to come back, we didn’t think we were going to get here because we both had injuries. It is so good.”
There were four generations of the Reid family celebrating on the field after the game, further evidence Echuca really is the family club.
Ben and Sam shared a hug with their nan, Pat, an emotional embrace with their father, Jeff, who also played in green, and they got to celebrate with each of their young kids.
Both Reids were in tears, as were their families.
“Nan is here. She is 88 years old and out here celebrating with us. It is such a special family moment, and it just means so much,” Sam said.
“The whole club is one big family. We have a bunch of brothers playing and it is just such a family-oriented club. It is a place where you want to come and play footy. It is a bloody good place to be.”
Ben Reid said he had been earmarked for the coaching job for quite a while and was in no doubt the time he spent at Geelong in the VFL, playing with now co-coach Byrne, had given them a solid foundation on which to build an off-field partnership.
And he also believes he will bring a professional approach to the club with him.
“I think how I see the game, and how I talk about the game, will resonate with the players, and for me, well I’m just very excited about getting back out there,” Reid said.
“I have spent a few years working with some players individually, helping them out on a personal level and with certain aspects of their games.
“Now as a collective I want to help us get into an environment where we can work together, train together and get fit together — we have a dedicated and diverse group, and I think I’ll have a pretty seamless transition into the role.
“We will be looking at making a few changes to the game plan and the ways we go about a few things but just now, with everyone coming off the high of the seniors and reserves winning flags, and the 18s making the grand final, we’ll give everyone a bit of a break and look at late November to start the pre-season, have a bit of a reset and then start building towards 2027 — it’s not far away.”