![Matt Brady schemes for Gunnedah in a 34-28 loss to North Tamworth in the 2018 grand final at Jack Woolaston Oval. File picture by Gareth Gardner Matt Brady schemes for Gunnedah in a 34-28 loss to North Tamworth in the 2018 grand final at Jack Woolaston Oval. File picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/b174a987-d6fb-4ac9-997b-5e5e0b34305c.jpg/r0_0_3000_1890_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
He was a key cog in Sean Hayne's potent Gunnedah Bulldogs machine of yesteryear.
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And with Hayne's reappointment as Bulldogs coach for the 2024 season, following a five-year absence, Matt Brady said the club had hired the right man to resurrect their flagging fortunes.
"He's a great coach. He's unreal," said Brady, Gunnedah's No.7 in the 2018 Hayne-coached side that went on to lose a close-fought grand final to North Tamworth that year.
"He'll do a great job. I'm sure of it," added Group 4's 2017 player of the year.
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The 2019 season was Brady's last. But the 29-year-old remembers well what he described as his former mentor's "very regimented" approach to training.
Hayne would "get the boys into shape", he said of next year's side, adding that the focus on fitness would play dividends approaching half-time and full-time in matches.
"That's probably where they'll start scoring points - probably win games, I would imagine," he said.
But for that to happen, Brady continued, the players had to buy into Hayne's coaching style - which was not "over-complicated".
"Hopefully the guys can buy in and get behind him and do a good job for him, because the coach can only do so much sometimes: it all comes back to the players in the end," said the Essential Energy crew coordinator and married father of three boys.
In a nutshell, Gunnedah's 2017 and 2019 player of the year said Hayne had "great qualities as a coach", adding that he was also "very respected".
Hayne said this week that "everyone has to take accountability for their role in the team or the club".
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