Tallon Smith
The Border Bears have unveiled an experienced four-man coaching group ahead of the upcoming Goulburn Murray Storm Premiership season.
The duo of accomplished former Group 9 lower grade coach Scott Smith and reigning competition player of the year Brody McCann-Dillon will lead the club’s men’s team, while Leigh Drage and Andrew Casboult will take charge of the Bears’ ladies’ league tag side.
A former coach of his co-coach a decade ago, Smith said that it is a privilege to again link up with McCann-Dillon for the 2026 season.
“I see it as an honour, I’ve had a fair bit to do with Brody over the years, I used to coach him back in the day at South City,” he said.
“We’ve decided to link up this year and do a co-coaching role.
“I’m very much looking forward to it, we’ll get in there and get amongst it, we’ll bounce off each other a fair bit.
“I’ll rely on Brody to do a lot of the on-field stuff, and we’ll work on a little bit of structures and all that sort of stuff.
“Basically this year is going to be about me taking a little bit of pressure off him.”
Throughout a more than two-decade association with the game in Wagga, Smith held a variety of coaching roles across the South City and Wagga Brothers clubs.
Now, after a break away from the game, he is ready to put that experience to good use at the senior level in Albury-Wodonga.
“I’ve coached a fair bit of junior football at both Wagga Brothers and South City, Under 18s are generally the blokes I’ve coached, Under 16s as well at Brothers,” he said.
“I had one year where I coached Brothers’ reserve grade side as a non-playing coach, but I’ve coached for 20-odd years, I’m getting a bit long in the tooth.
“In saying that, last year was the first year I got back involved in footy for a good five or six years, since I moved down to Albury.”
On the other hand, McCann-Dillon is preparing for his second season in the role on the back of a stellar personal season in 2025 that saw him crowned the Goulburn Murray men’s competition’s Player of the Year.
After a season focused on continuing the club’s build from a startup two years ago into a competitive outfit, McCann-Dillon is looking to take the side to another level in 2026.
“This year I’m going to start pushing the boys a bit harder, last year was [about] just trying to get us up and running properly,” he said.
“We’ve got a few people here [this year], so I’m going to push harder this year, [try and] make the top two hopefully and give the other teams a run for their money.”
A Turvey Park junior, McCann-Dillon played with the club right through to senior level with their affiliate South City, before embarking on a journey that saw him eventually end up on the Border.
“I ended up going out to Group 20 for a little bit, played at Lake Cargelligo for a year, and then ended up coming over here,” he said.
“I was at Wombats for a bit, I’ve [played at] a couple of teams since I’ve been over Albury-Wodonga way.”
Meanwhile, on the women’s side of things, Casboult and Drage have similar plans to the men’s coaches for the league tag squad.
Heading into the club’s third season, Casboult said that the upcoming season is all about trying to go that one step further and improve after a tough season in 2025.
“I’m excited to see the group grow,” he said.
“You could definitely see the growth after they got their first win, and now they’re only on the up.
“We’ve had interest from multiple different areas, it’s exciting to see the growth [after] the foundation was laid out the past two difficult years getting the team up and running.
“With all the talent coming to the club now, I’m excited to help them grow as a team and hopefully look for success in 2026.”
On the other hand, for experienced fellow coach Drage, the new challenge of taking on the role of leading a women’s league tag team for the first time is an exciting prospect.
“It’s something new for me, I’ve coached juniors and men before, haven’t coached the ladies before, so I’m looking forward to the experience,” he said.
“At this early stage, we’re just focusing on working as a team, we’ve got seven or eight new players this season, which is going to boost our side from last year.
“We’ve just got to get everyone working together.
“Everything is going in the right direction, and hopefully it keeps building the way that it is.”
The new Goulburn Murray season is set to kick off in April, with seven teams to take part in the men’s competition after the inclusion of the CSU Mud Dogs.
The Shepparton Eagles are defending premiers in both the men’s and women’s competitions.
