2014 EFL Pre-Season Wiki | Tomorrow: Scoresby
by Ben Warren-Smith (Broadcast Manager)
AS the saying goes, a week can be a long time footy. And no club over the past five years knows that saying better than the Surrey Park Football Club – the club that went 244 weeks without a senior victory.
But that all that changed in Round 1 2013, when the Panthers finally broke the hoodoo against Park Orchards.
From that point on, the confidence and belief the group had in itself saw it have a very realistic chance of playing finals in 2013. But it was not to be, finishing eighth with seven victories for the season.
However that was then and this is now – and the Panthers know that to match it with the best in Division 4, a lot of hard work and a desire to continually improve could mean success might not be too far around the corner.
Senior coach Andrew Toop, who heads into his fifth year at the helm, has had a clear message for his playing group over the summer.
“We are all about winning the war. Victory in a skirmish here and there isn’t going to help us,” he said.
And with an average of 40-plus players on the track right throughout the pre-season, it seems the players are readying themselves for battle.
“I have little doubt we are setting ourselves up to be able to better navigate those major battles along the way. We have to keep doing those little things well and the big picture will look after itself,” Toop said.
After years of struggling just to get players on the field, this pre-season has been different, with the club in a position to target certain players for key positions.
“We have added some height over summer,” assistant coach Chris Welch said.
“Ruckman Luke Francis joins the team from Templestowe, as well as Steve Howard from the VAFA.”
Those are two big inclusions who, no doubt, will be looking to have an instant impact among the playing group.
PLAYER REGISTRATION ACTIVATION
The door has also opened for others in the team to step up into the leadership group. Andrew Crighton, who captained the Balwyn reserves team last year and is also the captain of the New Zealand AFL representative side, was an obvious choice to be added once arriving at Surrey.
“Andrew has been fantastic since arriving at the club, and has really lifted the bar for the players,” newly appointed assistant coach Peter Baird said.
“Not only does he bring excellent skills and leadership qualities, he was also a big hand in bringing down three more New Zealand representative players to the club.”
And by all reports, all have settled in well and looking forward to the season proper.
But it’s not only the tall players and New Zealanders who have made an early impact around the place.
Sean Morris (Goulburn Valley FL) now joins brother Dan and will no doubt add some class around the ground. Matt Carey (Rowville) is a solid backman who will bolster the defence significantly.
Off the field, the message is much the same as it is on the park.
Newly appointed senior president Malcolm Cook and his committee share the same vision of Toop and his group.
“We must keep pushing forward. Through hard work and a willingness to get the best out of ourselves, the club can only move in one direction,” Cook said.
You do get the sense this football club is ready to take next step.
Gone should be the days where Surrey Park, by default, holds the title of everyone’s second-favourite team in the competition.
It’s time for the Panthers to become the hunted. Not the hunters.
