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From The Age
Reported by Brent Diamond
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CARLTON'S VFL affiliate has admitted it made a blunder in appointing a part-time coach at the Northern Blues after Robert Hyde stepped down this week citing time constraints due to his job as a school principal.

The Blues had made a surprise decision at the end of last season to hire a part-time coach to relieve 2011 coach Darren Harris of the role and allow him to focus on development.

But the move partially backfired given the club's change of direction at the end of last season - from the Bullants to the Blues - as it adjusted to becoming largely a development squad for the senior group. With the competition poised for a name change and new identity in coming years, Carlton's VFL model is one that has been shrewdly managed in that it remains aligned to the Preston community with a number of home games being shared at Visy Park and Preston City Oval, yet is not classified as a stand-alone club. It saves up to $135,000 annually because of the arrangement.

Clubs such as Hawthorn, which has a strong relationship with Box Hill, and St Kilda with Sandringham, are heading in a similar direction.