‘We’re going to build a system here’ | Eagles’ bosses seeking culture of success

Tenace coached Echuca’s under-18s to three premierships in a COVID-19-interrupted tenure from 2018 to 2022, also serving as a chairman of selectors in 2024, and as a co-coach of the seniors, alongside Valentine and Simon Maddox in 2025.

He also has history in basketball, previously coaching the Echuca Pirates men’s side.

Valentine began as an Echuca junior and went on to play VFL with North Ballarat before returning to the Murray Bombers in 2016, where he has been a multiple premiership player and assistant coach.

After working together at Echuca, the duo decided to renew the partnership when the Eagles came calling.

“Leo had a pretty good history here and I was probably getting to a bit of an end at Echuca and this worked out,” Valentine said.

“We've got the same mentality of what we want to do and the same game plan and I think our morals are pretty close and similar, so it was a good fit.”

Tenace reached 100 games for United in his own playing days and jumped at the opportunity to return to his old club.

“We came here (to Echuca South) and played a game in 2025 when Vic Park got shut down,” he said.

“It just felt good coming back here and being involved in coaching.

“I always thought I’d come back.

“I didn’t know when and I didn’t know in what capacity, but when Cameron called me because he was offered the job — I think (Echuca United) were chasing him for a thousand years — obviously with time commitments we thought it would be better to take the role of co-coaches as opposed to individually.”

Tenace said he felt a combination of a playing coach in Valentine and sideline voice in himself was the “best dynamic” to deliver the role.

Valentine plans to lead from the front on the field and training ground, setting an example for his squad.

“Our standards are going to be pretty high and we’re both going to drive that,” Valentine said.

“I’m going to be training and playing, so I’m going to have to try to push that as much as I can and provide a bit of an example.

“(On field) it’s going to be barking a lot of orders and directing a lot of stuff, which Leo on the bench can’t do from so far away.

“Having Leo there to make the tactical changes and that kind of stuff, I think it’s a good plan.”

Tenace and Valentine came aboard on a three-year contract and are looking beyond just 2027 as they seek to create a sustainable, successful program.

“We’re not here to be a quick fix in one year and bring in players on big dollars to try and get far as we can,” Tenace said.

“We’re going to build a system here.

“We’re going to start with building depth this year, which I think we’ve started already.

“With that depth, we’ll introduce a system and, with that system, a bit more depth will create consistency.

“We should be competing for finals and not finished halfway through the year.”

The new coaches have already put in plenty of work in their few weeks in the job, bringing in a host of recruits.

Tyler Lethlean, Liam Scopelliti, Rueben Stranger, Max Hagan, Bryce Barnstable and Kyle Green have already put pen to paper.

“A lot of local players,” Valentine said.

“We’ve got to implement a game plan and we’ve got to train for it, so trying to get as many people at training is key.

“We’ve been targeting good people and locals so we can get that bond up and our game plan into play pretty quickly.”

“We think we’ve built a good list,” Tenace said.

“But we’re always on the lookout for maybe a couple of holes we need to fill and we’re working through that now.”

Tenace and Valentine won’t be waiting long to implement their game plan, preparing to hold the first pre-season training on November 16, part of a 10-session block before the new year.