2014 EFL Pre-Season Wiki | Tomorrow: Doncaster
by Andrew Wiles (@andrewjwiles)
EACH year, a football club goes through the football circle of life.
Some players are added, some players move on or hang up the boots. It’s the natural process.
Somebody, though, must have forgotten to explain this to the Ferntree Gully Football Club over the break.
The Eagles have managed to retain their entire senior playing list from 2013 for the upcoming season, while still adding as many as eight ready-made senior players to their list.
“We haven’t lost any players,” coach Bernie Ryan said.
“We would like to think that we have really strengthened up this year, so predominately our whole senior team will be different looking to the one of last year.”
The list of inclusions has strong Division 1 and 2 connections, but there is one name still to add.
Murray Silver, a well-known goal kicking machine who has had stints at Scoresby, Rowville, St Kilda City (SFL), Keilor Park and Starthmore (EDFL), has made the switch to Ferntree Gully Reserve and will line up in the forward line alongside a returning Ryan Pierce, albeit in a slightly different role.
“Ryan Pierce is important to have back,” Ryan said.
“He is a key forward, but Matt Pierce is going to be our key forward, so Ryan will probably play across half-forward and through the midfield.”
Twelve months ago, Ryan spoke of how Ferntree Gully would become a running side and use its pace to take the game on.
Although this style will still be evident in 2014, it will be executed in a different way – via the corridor.
“We have got the running game going, but last year predominately we had to come down the flanks and the wings. We really didn’t have a big spine at all,” he said.
“We are going to play a lot more corridor football. Our spine has grown in height. It’s looking a hell of a lot different.”
“This year with the five or six ins, they are big units and they are spinal players, which is really going to straighten us up.”
After finishing the 2013 home and away season in second position with 13 wins and three losses, many people had tipped the Eagles to be playing off against South Belgrave in the Grand Final.
However, they were unable to overcome an in-form Forest Hill in the ”Choose Tap” preliminary final, going down by 19 points.
After a solid summer, redemption is firmly on the Eagles’ minds. And they won’t have to wait long to try and achieve it.
“We didn’t play well in the prelim there’s no doubt about it,” Ryan said.
“Full credit to Forest Hill, but we have got them in Round 1 and we want to come out and smash them basically.”
“We thought we should have played in the Grand Final, so they [the players] have been reminded right throughout the pre-season that we want to go a lot further.”
When speaking to Ryan, you could sense the hunger, the confidence and the belief he has in his group.
“We want this to be our year,” he said.
“It’s been a solid preseason. We have really got a hardened edge now and no nonsense approach.”
The expectation coming in to 2014 is a basic one.
“Every coach and every club says they want to win a premiership,” Ryan said.
“We want to finish high up the ladder, we want to play finals and certainly we want to be a contender.”
PLAYER REGISTRATION ACTIVATION
Ferntree Gully has arguably flown under the radar in the preseason.
Ryan wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“I like everyone else in the spotlight and we will just go about our business,” he said.
“Everyone is saying it’s going to be an even competition, which it could well be. But we would like to think we could be a bit of a standout here.”
“No one really knows much about us and normally we don’t get rated to highly anyhow so I like that way. We are just going to go out and let actions speak louder than words.”
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Now in his third year at the helm of the Eagles, it is the new look leadership group that has impressed Ryan over summer.
“Ricky Aitken really stood out, so he is one of our co-captains,” Ryan said.
“Paul Hager, who I brought across from Moorolbark three years ago, has been another standout, so he is the other co-captain.”
“We went for two vice-captains in Josh West and Ben Rawlings, who was captain about six years ago and we just think he is a good balance.”
While the spotlight may not be firmly on the Eagles in the lead up to 2014, it would take a very brave person to not have them firmly in contention for the Division 4 premiership.
They take on Forest Hill at Ferntree Gully Reserve in their first game on 5 April.
