VFL club Southport Sharks have announced that former Port Adelaide captain and coach Matthew Primus will take on the role of senior coach for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, succeeding the outgoing Steve Daniel at the conclusion of 2024.
Daniel, a premiership coach for Southport in 2018 during their time in the NEAFL, and VFL Grand Final coach from 2022, will step down after a successful stint of seven years with the club.
The outgoing coach cited burnout as part of his decision-making but is still hoping to remain a contributor at the club in some capacity.
"As much as I have loved this role, I have been doing it for the last seven years, and I feel the time is right to have a break from it," Daniel said.
"The club is in good hands though, with Matt Primusย taking the reins, and I'm hopeful to remain at the Sharks in another role."
Primus, who joined Southport as an assistant coach in 2019, will bring a wealth of football experience for the next two seasons. His AFL career began with Fitzroy, where he played 20 games in the club's final ever season in 1996 before making the move to Port Adelaide.
At the Power, he played 137 games, captained the club from 2001-2005, and was one of the league's premier ruckman during this time, unfortunately missing out on premiership success in 2004 due to injury.
He retired from playing as a two-time All-Australian and Port Adelaide best & fairest in 2002.
His coaching career began at Port Adelaide in 2006, where he would eventually take the care-taker coaching role in 2010. While this challenging tenure only lasted until 2012, Primus kept building his coaching credentials with the Gold Coast Suns as an assistant from 2013-2018 before joining Southport.
He shared his optimism about taking on the new role, saying, "Although we would all love Steve to remain as the Head Coach as he has done such a good job, I am looking forward to the opportunity of leading this proud football club."
"At the moment, though, my focus is on being the best Assistant Coach I can be for the remainder of the 2024 season, and then, once the season is finished, we can focus on what next year looks like."
