When Nathan "Darvs" Darvill posts into HMAS Albatross in 2015, he will not only be preparing for his role as 2015 assistant coach of the RANAFA Men’s team, he will also be proudly taking on the role of senior coach at the Albatross Demons. 

Nathan is very enthusiastic, passionate and dedicated to football, and he promises to bring some fresh and exciting ideas to the Demons in 2015, which will hopefully produce some good results.

He will be bringing youth, skill, passion and a great football background of his own to the Demons, and everyone at the club is excited for the upcoming footy season.

Nathan was born in Westmead, NSW in 1983 and spent his first five years in NRL territory, before making the move to Ferntree Gully in Victoria.   His family moved close to the local AFL club known as the Knox Eagles.  Being only a whistle away from the ground, curiosity finally got the better of Nathan and he headed down to Pickett's Reserve to check it out.  When he got there, Nathan saw some of his school buddies playing and knew he had to give this game a go!

He joined the under 8s Knox Eagles Junior Football Club and his life long passion for Aussie Rules football began.  Over the next eight seasons he played 152 games with the club, won runner-up best and fairest in the league, club best and fairest three times, and won two premierships in the under 11s and under 15s.

Nathan joined the navy at the age of 17 as a Boatswains Mate but in 2007 changed category to become a Naval Police Coxswain, and his 14-year career has seen him serve on ships HMAS Brisbane, Stuart, Ballarat, Newcastle, Gascoyne, Maryborough, Glenelg and Brunei, and at establishments Cerberus, Kuttabul, Watson, Penguin and Waterhen.  He has served one tour of Iraq, and in Operations Relex, Resolute and Sovereign Borders conducting border protection. His honours include the Australian Active Service Medal (Iraq 2003 and ICAT, Iraq Campaign Medal, Operational Service Medal Border Protection and Defence Service Medal).

Narhan did his recruit training at HMAS Cerberus, where he started playing AFL with the Cerberus Dogs Football Club in Melbourne's Southern football League in 2005, and took out the club best and fairest award and leading goalkicker in his first year.   Proving it was no fluke, he won the leading goalkicker honours again in 2006 and 2007, and was selected in the Southern Football League's Team of the Year in 2007.

In 2008 Nathan was offered a contract to play a season for the Balmain Dockers in the Sydney AFL Premier Division alongside many ex-AFL stars.  In 2009, he moved closer to home and played the following season for the Manly Warringah Wolves in division one where he was coached by ex-Sydney Swan, Daryn Creswell.

While living in Sydney, Nathan married Wendy and they have three children Nathan, Cooper and Rachel.  Wendy had not seen Aussie Rules prior to watching Nathan play, but she's now the lone Swans supporter in the household, while Dad and the kids all follow Richmond.  The kids currently play soccer, but given Nathan's passion for AFL, that may be subject to change in the future. 

As with a lot of navy families, Wendy and the children stayed behind in Sydney when Nathan moved to Darwin in 2011, but when he was next posted, to Cairns, the family was reunited and they have been there for the past two years enjoying all that Cairns and North Queensland have to offer. 

Wendy says they have loved their time in Cairns, but with Nathan still often at sea, they are looking forward to a shore posting and having him home for a while.   She said while living in Cairns has been a wonderful experience, they are happy to be moving to Nowra, which is a lot closer to their home base of Sydney,  and they plan to buy a farm somewhere on the South Coast within the next couple of years. 

Wendy says Nathan is very committed and enthusiastic and he can't wait to get to Nowra and start his new role.  The whole family is looking forward to becoming part of the Albatross Demons family. 

While he was based in Darwin, Nathan played a season and a half for the Banks Bulldogs in division one, and his senior AFL career has taken him all around Australia.  Nathan has played finals football with every club he's been involved with and it's now his mission to keep that record alive at the Demons. 

Since his appointment at senior coach in late September, Nathan has been in constant contact with his players and committee members, even while serving on HMAS Brunei, which is currently out to sea off the Northern Territory.

Nathan is ensuring the club is ready for his arrival in early December, and has already scheduled the club's first pre-season training session.   This will be held at Tom Smith Oval, Albatross Road Nowra, at 5pm on Thursday December 11, and will be followed by a barbecue and refreshments. 

He has set up a website on "Team App" for the club and, while this is still being populated with relevant information, it has gone live and all players, members and supporters are encouraged to join the app (either via smartphone, or your PC) to stay in touch with all team announcements, club news, information on upcoming social events, sponsor information and, once the season starts, all game day information including team selections, fixtures, and scores. 

You can download Team App via the app store, search for Albatross Demons and sign up.

The club is currently embarking on a recruitment drive, looking to find players interested in joining us for this exciting period at the Demons.  If you are interested in playing AFL with the Albatross Demons in 2015, or know someone else who may be looking for a game,  please contact the new coach on 0409 147 559 or email him at nathan.darvill@gmail.com or the secretary on 0409 044652 or email cc23@live.com.au

The committee and players at Albatross are thrilled Nathan has chosen the Demons to share in his expertise and football knowledge, and they look forward to welcoming Nathan, Wendy, Nathan Jnr, Cooper and Rachel when they arrive in December.