After a year on the Cats list in 2018 spent trying – unsuccessfully – to break into the senior team, Gryan Miers felt like he was wasting time and craved respite from the pressure-cooker environment of AFL football.
Miers approached his junior club Grovedale during the pre-season and was offered an assistant coaching role with the under-17s and on Sunday, he watched on proudly as the eponymous Grovedale Miers team came from behind to win their division one Grand Final against Bell Park.
Miers accepted the role at Grovedale not really expecting to play at AFL level this year. As it's turned out, the 20-year-old has played every game and will line up in Friday night's sudden-death semi-final against West Coast.
That hasn't stopped him from fulfilling his coaching commitments, although competing schedules meant he could only make it to about half of their games. Every Monday and Thursday between 4.30pm and 6pm, Miers made time to attend Grovedale's training sessions. The way he tells it, coaching at his junior club has been both enlightening and therapeutic.
"It brings you back a bit - they're only two years younger than me, some of them – but just to being back with my mates. They're coming straight from school and they're just so excited to be able to get to footy training and hang out and play some footy," Miers said.
"I have so much fun with them. I thought once I started playing AFL games that it would be such a burden to go down on a Monday or Thursday night. But I really look forward to it to get away."