Adelaide has appointed its new Head of Development, with experienced AFL development coach Marco Bello returning to South Australia.
Bello has spent the past seven years at Hawthorn, serving as Box Hill VFL coach, a development coach and more recently Head of Football Academy.
During his three seasons at Box Hill, he led the team to back-to-back VFL grand finals in 2014 and 2015.
Prior to joining the Hawks fulltime, Bello coached the Northern Knights in the TAC Cup and the Box Hill development side to a premiership in 2011.
Bello is very familiar to South Australian football, having been a member of five SANFL premiership teams with Central District between 1999 and 2005.
Crows Head of Football Adam Kelly said Bello would not only bring extensive coaching experience, but character traits which make him a great cultural fit.
“The Head of Development role is a critically important one and it was crucial we got the right person to take our program forward,” Kelly said.
“Everyone we spoke to could not speak more highly of Marco and what he would bring.
“Marco has considerable coaching experience at underage and senior levels and importantly, he knows what it takes to deliver a successful development program that maximises the strengths of our playing list.
“We look forward to welcoming Marco and his family to the Club.”
Bello said he is looking forward to the challenge and working with the entire group.
“I’m excited to be part of the team and really looking forward to getting to work with the coaching staff and furthering the development of the playing list,” Bello said.
“Strong relationships are critically important and that will certainly be a focus for me and something I look forward to building with both players and staff.”
