Coaching Team
Coach - Michael Hartley
CFNC is pleased to welcome Michael Hartley as Senior Men’s Football Coach for season 2024.
Michael grew up in NSW before being selected by the Collingwood Football Club. Michael spent 2 years with Collingwood and showed great resilience to overcome some serious injuries. Determined to get back on an AFL list he then went to Coburg for a further 2 seasons which included selection into the VFL team of the Year.
Michael was selected 68th pick in the 2015 National Draft by the Essendon Football Club playing 44 AFL games with his ability to defend strongly & intercept a feature as well as a booming right foot. In 2019 Michael crossed to Hawthorn and played a further 5 AFL Matches. All up Michael spent 8 years in the AFL system.
In 2022 Michael played VFL with Collingwood Football Club & also developed his coaching by spending time with the AFLW program as a Development Coach. In 2023 he played in the GVFNL with Seymour where he was acting as a playing Co-Coach.
“Upon meeting with the football club, I was really impressed with progress that the club had made & clubs vision / strategy going forward. I hope my experiences at the elite level can help accelerate the development of our playing list on & off the field.”
Michael’s role at the club will extend beyond the Senior Men’s; with commitment to our Women's Program & Junior Programs ensuring a pipeline of talent will be coming through over the next few years..
Michael’s signing is a huge endorsement of faith in our broader football program & the vision we have.
We would like to officially welcome Michael, his lovely partner Tegan and their three kids Adeline, Fred and Tommy to the Castlemaine Football Netball Club!
senior development coach - harmit singh
Harmit has returned to Castlemaine as Senior Development Coach alongside Michael Hartley, more than ten years since he departed as a player.
For those who don’t know Harmit, he played with Castlemaine (In 2011-12) and coached our Under 18s side in 2012 before heading to Morwell Tigers where he coached back-to-back Senior premierships. His journey then led him to Northcote Park FNC where he coached for a further 2 years before making the move to Vermont Football Club in the highly regarded Eastern Football League and winning two Senior premierships between 2017 and 2019. Following on from winning the top honors with Vermont, Harmit took to Warragul Industrials where he was instrumental in rebuilding a club with only two senior wins to one with a consecutive finals series between 2021 and 2023.
Harmit’s playing career has strong highlights as much as his coaching career having played for the Bendigo Bombers in the VFL, playing in both Morwell Premierships, Interleague representation and being VCFL Medalist for Gippsland.
Harmit has not only been involved at the AFL with both Collingwood and Essendon for the past 16 years but also holds AFL Level 3 High Performance Coaching accreditation; Harmit has accrued invaluable amounts of knowledge and experience while working with new Senior Coach Michael Hartley for over 10 years and now at CastlemaineFNC.
Welcome Harmit, wife Samantha, and sons Jayden & Harrison!
Management team
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Operations Manager - LACHLAN MALTBY
A former player and passionate Magpie, Lachy has been busy behind the scenes throughout Season 2023 to drive our coaching and recruitment for the coming season. He is methodical and organised and an asset to our football operations.
Hall of fame
The following names represent a small selection of past-players who have gone on to have impact on the Australian and Victorian Football Leagues:
Jack ‘Skinny’ Titus, Richmond (AFL), 1926-1943 (294 games).
Ronald ‘Ron’ James Barassi Snr (VFL), 1936–1940 (58 games).
Warren "Wow" Jones, Carlton and St Kilda (VFL), 1978–85 (123 games).
Rod Keogh, Melbourne and St Kilda (AFL), 1989-1998 (82 games).
Dustin Martin, Richmond (AFL), 2010-present (289 games).
Kane Farrell, Port Adelaide (AFL), 2018-present (33 games).