It’ll be a new Norwood era from now on according to coach Marty Pask as the Norsemen target a finals berth in 2021, following a fourth straight failed finals attempt in 2019.
The Wooders finished the 2019 season in sixth position – a position they’ve become akin to (three 6th placed finishes in four seasons) – just percentage behind eventual semi-finalists South Croydon with a positive 10-8 win-loss record.
Pask, who came to Norwood in 2019 following stints at Balwyn and as an assistant at Vermont, has been pleased with the way his squad presented upon their return to training this pre-season as the largely homegrown squad builds towards the new Premier Division season.
“We’ve been reasonably pleased with how the guys have presented themselves coming back, which is something I’m sure all coaches were worried about after such a big lay-off, but from our point of view we’re really pleased with how they’ve been training and the condition they’re in,”
“The depth of the squad is really pleasing as well, and that’s off the back of the work we did in 2019 exposing some younger guys to senior footy and those guys have come back with another year of work into their bodies and with a high level of motivation for more opportunities,”
“And given the reduction in the salary cap, homegrown talent is going to be at a premium and we’re lucky as that is something we’ve really focused on in the last year or so.”
The Wooders have lost some of more the experienced homegrown talent that Pask is cooing over.
Premiership stars and club royalty Stuart Hill and Leigh Williams have left the club since they last played a competitive fixture, both heading to the AFL Outer East to play with Upwey Tecoma (Premier) and Seville (Division One) respectively.
Hill departed during last season’s eventually void pre-season to chase coaching opportunities, whilst Williams’ departure came due to a number of external circumstances.
Pask was full of praise for Williams and believes his move to the Yarra Valley will benefit the club in the immediate future.
Leigh Williams has moved to Seville in the AFL Outer East
“Leigh was a fantastic player for the Norwood Football Club and I was only able to work with him for one year, but he did everything that was asked of him and did just as much off the field as he did on it, and he leaves with our blessing,”
“But post Covid-19, list management is going to be so important, as we figure out how to position our players, how much you invest in certain areas of the ground versus development of your own and your club,”
“What Leigh’s departure has allowed us to do is attract really quality guys who have experienced VFL Premierships to our club full time and contribute to our next wave of Norwood football players and that’s something we’re really excited about.”
Pask isn’t lying when he says the club has attracted some serious VFL talent.
They’ve locked in powerful midfielder Blake Pearson to the club full time along with Tom Maloney and welcomed 204cm Port Melbourne ruckman Michael Wenn to club from Cranbourne, as well as former Oakleigh Chargers captain Daniel Beddison.
Three key Norwood signings – Photo Norwood Senior Football Club Facebook
The coach is excited to see the group continue their on-field growth and overall evolution after a strong second half of the 2019 season.
“It took us until about round six in 2019 to really grasp the way we wanted to play and who we were as a football team,”
“Our form after that point was really strong and it was great because guys really invested in how we wanted to play, and the thing that really evolved for our side was that for the previous five or six years, everybody who looked at Norwood would think – Poynton, Aver, Hill, Williams, Johnson etc,”
“What we’ve been able to do is create a new identity… we’ve completely changed the look of our side and we changed the way we wanted to play and the way we wanted to be perceived,”
“Because we haven’t played finals for some time and everyone is judged on finals, so we’ve got to adapt, change and look forward to our next finals side.”
And despite a fairly radical change to the local football system, Pask doesn’t expect the standard of the EFNL Premier Division to drop, nor does he think that the Wooders will be handed that elusive finals spot.
“From where I sit, the Eastern Football Netball League is the best competition going around and I expect it to be another fierce, strong, hard competition across the board,”
“I expect that the usual suspects will be strong and the teams that are looking to bob up and get themselves into a finals campaign will be nipping at their heels,”
“And I’m hoping that our guys are ready to take another step forward.”
Norwood take on local rivals North Ringwood at Quambee Reserve in Round One (April 17) this Premier Division season.
