DEVELOPMENT coach Brad Miller has departed the club due to family reasons.
Miller will move to New South Wales to be with his wife Pia Miller, who is an actress on the popular, long-running television program Home and Away.
Manager of football operations Josh Mahoney praised Miller’s efforts as part of Melbourne’s coaching staff.
“Brad advised the club last week that he’ll be leaving due to family commitments, where he’ll be moving to Sydney,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“We’ve been very pleased with Brad’s development in his coaching over the last two years.
“The improvement that we’ve seen in him technically as a coach and the energy he puts into the job day-to-day has allowed him to be a big factor in the improvement of our Casey relationship, as well as some of the development of our younger players.
“We wish Brad all the best in his move and we would certainly welcome him back, if an opportunity arises in the future.”
Miller has spent the past two seasons working in player development, along with Brendan McCartney, Brett Allison, Justin Plapp and Shannon Byrnes.
Although he relished his role with the Demons, Miller said family came first.
“Pia has been commuting [back to Melbourne] now for 15 months with her job up in Sydney, where she works full-time,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“After doing that for so long, it started to wear a bit thin, so we made a decision a little while back that it was best for the kids and the family to all be together, so there wasn’t as much travel and time apart.
“We just felt it was the best decision for all of us.”
The 32-year-old played 157 AFL matches and kicked 120 goals from 2002-12.
This included 133 games with Melbourne from 2002-10 and 24 with Richmond from 2011-12. He booted 89 goals with the Demons and 31 with the Tigers.
He was widely regarded as Melbourne’s best player in the club’s most recent finals match against Fremantle in 2006.
Miller said it was “outstanding” returning to Melbourne after finishing his playing career with Richmond.
“Coming back to the club, which means a lot to me, has been really great for the start of my coaching career,” he said.
“I’ve found that a lot of the guys that I’ve been working with were younger guys who I didn’t play with, but I still had a great relationship with the guys that I did play a few games with.
“It was really great to come back and get stuck into it, in familiar surroundings, but at the same time, it was a fresh, new challenge working with a lot of guys I hadn’t met before.
“I just thank the Melbourne footy club for the opportunity to start my coaching career. Who knows what will happen in the future?”
Miller said he’d love to remain in football, when he shifts to New South Wales.
“I feel over the last 12 months I’ve really improved, particularly with some great coaches coming on board and taking me under their wing,” he said.
“They’ve started to teach me the technical side of coaching, which I feel has helped me a lot.
“Ideally, I’d love to stay in a coaching role, whether it’s in the development department at one of the Sydney clubs, or possibly coach one of my own teams at NEAFL level or at a lower level, which I’d be really interested.
“I’d like to keep progressing at a coaching level and take what I’ve learned in the past two years into a new role.”
