Murray Magpies name Darwin product Dylan Dos Santos as playing coach

Darwin born and bred Dylan Dos Santos played four games for the Magpies this season, but will move to the Border early next year.

"I'm a very, very proud Indigenous man," the 25-year-old declared.

"I'm a big advocate for young Indigenous men breaking a lot of the cycles and helping communities do better for themselves, going down south to play footy or whatever their endeavours are.

"The Northern Territory has probably the highest rate of domestic violence in communities and as sad at it is, I've always been one to try and push family and friends to do better."

Dos Santos has represented Australia in Indigenous sport - as a soccer goalkeeper.

"I played for the Australian Indigenous 'Roos last year but, unfortunately this year, I was riddled with injuries, so I missed that opportunity," he revealed.

And while it will be the key defender's first football coaching role, he does have experience.

"Coaching footy has been a passion of mine, it's something I've always wanted to so, but I've also coached netball and soccer," he explained.

"My partner's netball team needed a coach so I put my hand up and we made the grand final."

The 187cm, 90kg key position backman knows he faces a baptism of fire in his football coaching after the Magpies had a winless season.

"We had a hard season at the Magpies, so this will be starting from scratch to try and rebuild the club," he declared.

"We'll go back to basics, incorporating some better club culture and get the supporters involved and hopefully the footy starts to improve."

That will be helped with the full-time arrival of two players.

"Matthew Motlop is a cousin of Daniel Motlop (former Kangaroos and Port Adelaide player), he played a couple of games at the Magpies this season and will be a fly-in for us, while Michael Mummery also played some footy at the Magpies and he was an AFL Draft prospect around 2016-17," he said.

The club is delighted to have the coaching position filled before the end of Hume League finals.

"We got Dylan down for the last game as we knew he was keen on the coaching and we've been speaking to the players and now they know who the coach is, it's all been very positive," Magpies' president Ted Miller said.

Dos Santos will play in the Northern Territory Football League for home club Wanderers over summer, but the club has plans in place to cover for his absence during pre-season training.

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