His surname is St Mary’s royalty, so it’s no surprise Damian McMahon has described his decision to join Bellarine club Barwon Heads as “one of the toughest things I’ve ever done.”
The star wingman was unveiled as a playing assistant coach of the Seagulls last (Sunday) night after two premierships and 138 games with the Saints, where his grandfather Jock and father Kevin are both club greats.
“I love the club, and they will always be my club, and I’ll be back there playing at some point, no doubt,” McMahon said.
“The opportunity’s popped up, and I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.
“The opportunity to dip the toe into coaching was too big to ignore at this point.
“It was bloody hard; there were a lot of hard phone calls and a lot of chats, but (I’m) confident with the decision, and (there’s) no regret in that element.”
McMahon says the prospect of joining Barwon Heads was first floated during a stint with the town’s cricket club by current senior coach Sam Schaller.
“I reckon it’s been a phone call or a message every year for the last eight years,” McMahon laughed.
“I’ve got a lot of good mates down there like Sammy and the skipper Kyle Polley; they’re two of my best mates.
“There’s a lot of other boys there who I’m really close with, so there was a bit extra to play with them.
“They’ve always said, ‘You’ve got to come down’. They probably thought it was never going to happen.
“The opportunity that cropped up with Schaller asking (me) to come on as an assistant coach as well was too good to refuse.”
Schaller says discussions with McMahon about joining Barwon Heads “got pretty serious” in August.
“We thought the timing might be right with where he was at with his footy,” Schaller said.
“We had a good go, and here we are with him landing with us, which is nice.
“I went and watched a few (St Mary’s) games at the backend of this year; he’s right at the peak of his powers.
“He’s super professional and brings a lot to the table that’s going to drive our standards to where we need to get back to for next year.
“And I’m really excited to see him evolve as a leader at our footy club.”
For Schaller, who will go it alone as senior coach in 2025 after sharing the role with Mitch Herbison for the past two seasons, it’s the icing on a tasty recruiting cake.
Barwon Heads have confirmed that VFL-listed pair Zach Walter (Port Melbourne) and Flynn Young (Werribee) will have the Seagulls as their interchange club next year.
Premiership brothers Ryan and Brad Harvey are also back, while Sam Witherden will be a virtual recruit, having not played a senior game this year following back surgery.
X: @krockfootball
